{"id":6171,"date":"2015-01-08T07:08:43","date_gmt":"2015-01-08T12:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/p4td.lightshedder.com\/?p=6171"},"modified":"2015-01-08T08:43:37","modified_gmt":"2015-01-08T13:43:37","slug":"aba-bird-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?p=6171","title":{"rendered":"ABA Bird of the Year!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Green Heron. Anhinga Boardwalk, Everglades NP<\/p><\/div>\n

“Hey! What are you looking at?! I swear, since they made me ABA Bird of Year, I can’t go anywhere without drawing a crowd. No privacy. No time off for good behavior. I am expected to be super-star quality all the time, every moment. The pressure! I can’t peek out of my reeds and brush without some photographer snapping a pic. And fishing? Forget fishing. Have you ever tried to fish with a crowd of photographers looking over your shoulder? They are trying to photograph every fish and caterpillar I take. I think they are keeping score. Green Heron 4, fish 24. Like that. Pressure.<\/p>\n

“And the other herons are giving me a real hard time about it. “What makes you so special all of a sudden. What are we? Feather dummies?” And the Egrets. They are fit to be tied…you have not been snubbed until you have been snubbed by a Snowy Egret and don’t even get me started on the Greats! The Cattle Egrets just blow raspberries and giggle. It is really doing a number on\u00a0my nerves.<\/p>\n

“And they aren’t paying me anything at all…certainly not what I am worth. I mean, this is some kind of endorsement deal right? I need a new agent. Near as I can see the ABA is raking it using my name, my reputation, my star-power, and I get nothing! How is that fair? I don’t remember signing the papers that said they could use my face in this Bird of the Year thing.<\/p>\n

“And now I got the IRS on my back too! Give me a break. I can’t wait for 2015 to be over. I ought to go just hide in the deep reeds until then…and I would, but I do feel some obligation to my fans. Maybe at least everyone will stop calling me a Green-back Heron by the end of the year. Didn’t anybody get the memo about the name change? What does a bird have to do? I don’t need the INS on me too.<\/p>\n

“So, buddy, this is the face you get…this is my\u00a0ABA Bird of the Year face! Like it or lump it. It is not like I asked for it or anything…”<\/p>\n

Sony HX400V. 818mm equivalent field of view. 1\/640th @ ISO 500 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.<\/p>\n

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