Finding Shadows in the Day

(Yellow-crowned Night Herons)

I finally found these striking Herons in mature plumage lounging on boat decks in a marina near Long Beach. That was just a couple of years ago. They seemed preternaturally calm, either napping or giving me the side-eye. “What’s your game, bud?”

Classically, they have represented peace, tranquility and prosperity. But in today’s era, their presence, particularly in the southeastern states where they have never been before, is a harbinger of the ever warming climate.

So many canaries, so little attention paid.