The king of waters meeting the landmark of the city!
Pete Poovanna, Guest Blogger
This blog is written by guest blogger Pete Poovanna.
It was Friday evening mid-summer in Vancouver. As most of my friends headed to weekend downtown parties, I decided to take my camera to the sea wall of English bay under the majestic Lions Gate Bridge. To many locals, the Lions Gate Bridge feels part of the fabric of the city and over the years the Lions Gate Bridge has become a landmark of Vancouver.
The summer air cooled under the bridge and it was getting gloomy, a very different feeling to the bridge deck, with its tremendous views of downtown. A Great Blue Heron lands along the English Bay as the sun sets over the majestic Lions Gate Bridge. I’m a big fan of herons, I think they’re among the most alluring and charismatic of birds and also among the most fascinating in terms of their majestic outlook. And I must mention here that I consider the Great Blue Heron as the king of waters!
Vancouver is also home to one of the largest urban Great Blue Heron colonies in North America. The Great Blue Heron was patiently waiting for its prey as I set my tripod and camera to capture this great bird in the backdrop of the majestic bridge. This blue Heron continued to wait and was catching the last rays of a setting sun and allowing me to capture this wonderful moment as long as I wanted. I loved the lights illuminated over the bridge and the summer pink flowers adding colour behind the Great Blue Heron and the tiny stones were illuminated by the sunset. After a few frames, it flew over the bridge.
A Great Blue Heron by Pete Poovanna
For me, this moment became a very key moment. It was the culmination of two great things: the landmark of the city and the king of waters.
A bit more information on the landmark and the king of the waters:
Landmark: The Lions Gate Bridge is designated as National Historic Sites of Canada! The bridge is often used in television broadcasts as a symbol of Vancouver; most telecasts of NHL hockey games played in Vancouver show the bridge at least once. The bridge is the namesake of locally founded film company Lionsgate.
King of waters: Herons are supreme fishermen, living near rivers, lakes and estuaries. They have been nesting in various locations in Vancouver as far back as 1921 according to the Stanley Park Ecology Society. There are five subspecies of Great Blue Heron, and on of them, the Pacific Great Blue Heron, is listed as special concern. You can learn all you need to know about this amazing bird here.
