Dear Jere:

A few days ago, our friend James Holland (the one I go flying with) came over to share a big pot of seafood chowder that included some fresh pan fish he dropped off the day before. After the feast, he was sitting in our rocking chair watching some fledgling green herons in the bamboo over the pond in our back yard, then got up and took the photos below with a huge zoom lens.

Doesn’t he look like a big old bird looking for prey? When I fly with him and watch over his shoulder as he snaps away, I can see clearly what he sees—but can’t always tell the details he’s finding interesting. In the case of the birds in the bamboo, Hannah and I could barely see them, but James knew there was something to shoot, so to speak.