Every year they visit, deplete the pond of goldfish and frogs, and off they go. "In Chinese culture, the heron represents strength, perseverance, purity and long life" Hagwe ...
... in European culture means "smooth stubbornness in achieving one's goals, and high awareness of one's territory", in heron culture "clawy troubles not amusing to deal with", and in goldfish culture "smaller problem than herons". Marcus
Pic 4, with a faster shutter speed could have froze wing motion. But difficult to anticipate, and I'm not sure you were going for that look. If you are not careful a wild "drg" may appear uninvited. 😂🍻
I did not intend the look on picture 4, which is my favourite, but the whole episode lasted less than three minutes and takeoff was unexpected. Thanks for your comment and observation.