unexpected sighting

lf sees birds on her commute to work. I usually see rabbits and some crows on my way home. Over by the garden, there are these cute little chartreuse-colored birds that hang out on the butterfly bush and are practically camouflaged. Holding a bag full of kitchen scraps, I was walking through the lawn and headed towards this muddy incline that I walk up to get to my garden plot, when I noticed this car that was slowed down and seemed to be looking in my direction. I was vaguely annoyed until I noticed, a couple of yards ahead, this gigantic bird.

Ok, so crows are large birds. Some of them could be about the size of a chicken, but this was a large bird, that later internet research revealed to be a great blue heron. It was about three feet tall, if not more, and was just hanging out in grass. It was like walking in the university library stacks that you thought were deserted and unexpectedly running into an elementary school kid. Running into a bird is not normally a big deal, but when that bird has taken on unusual proportions where it's ten times the size of birds that you regularly see, then it becomes a big deal, like it would be if you usually shop for one person and then accidentally find yourself in a Costco warehouse among restaurant-sized vats of mayonnaise.

All excited, I ran back to my apartment to get my camera. When I got back to the grassy area, the heron was still there. I started to inch closer to it, but the grass was covered with fallen leaves and the plastic bag of kitchen scraps started making rustling noises. The heron looked at me warily. I tried being quieter, but still wanted to get closer. Then a car drove by and the heron flew away. All I got was this blurry picture.



Once the bird-sighting adrenaline wore off, I started to wonder who would win if we were to get into a fight. On the one hand, I'm taller by maybe a foot or more and it has a small neck. On the other hand, it has a really long beak and large wings. Good thing it's afraid of me.