Little Blue Herons are great birds…with the range of blues and purples in the plumage, but this image is as much about the reflections that frame, and set-off, the bird as it is the bird itself. If you could pull back you would see that the reflected colors come from the urban surroundings of this pocket refuge at Famosa Slough in San Diego, in the residential area at the head of Point Lomos. Still.

Canon SD4000IS behind the 15-56x Vario Eyepiece on the ZEISS DiaScope 65FL Spotting Scope for the equivalent field of view of something like a 2500mm lens. 1/320th second @ ISO 125, f7 effective.

Processed for clarity and sharpness in Lightroom.