Taking full advantage of the late afternoon sun on a late September day is a great blue heron. The earlier, overcast skies have cleared and the air is getting noticeably cooler as the sun nears the western horizon. Forecasts for below normal overnight temperatures seem to have resonated with the heron as it absorbs the last of the warming rays while it stealthily walks the shoreline for a meal. I have watched this beaver pond very near our cabin in northeastern Minnesota for many years, the pond seems to be a magnet for all sorts of wildlife but I have never seen a heron there. I suspect the heron is migrating from further north as most local herons find better fishing in the larger, nearby lakes. The pond is only a home to populations of minnows, so shallow it freezes out in some colder, snowier winters. I checked back on the heron early the next morning and he was long gone, never saw it again.