Heron on ice - Please C&C

[Judobreaker]

2 shots of a heron standing on the ice.

What do you think of them?

 

[dxqcanada]

I like the second shot, a very different view of wildlife captured in the wrong season.
I have never pictured a Heron on ice. I have seen Heron's caught in an early snow, but never in the Winter on ice.

 

[UFLGator]

Cool photos! Are you sure he's not frozen in place? Those poor uninsulated feet! lol

UFLGator

 

[Judobreaker]

Well he was quite able to fly away once he noticed me.
That first shot was actually shot after he flew away a bit.

 

[pgriz]

Compositionally, the second shot really works for me. There is equivalence between the bird and the open area he landed on – the black shoulder spot is matched by the dark water of the open area, and the grey of his/her body corresponds to the grey opening of ice in the snow. I’m thinking you did some post-processing to blur out the horizon as the reflections in the water seem to imply some detailed background, which I can’t see.

I’m thinking that the bird is getting hungry with the cold snap that you are experiencing – how does it look for its usual food when everything is frozen over?

 

[Judobreaker]

Nope, didn't blur anything out, the horizon is actually just a bit above the photo. This is just a matter of cropping.
I did clone out a few small reeds on the top right because I didn't want to crop any further.

Normally these birds stand at the water edge or just in the water along the edge waiting for fish or frogs to swim by.
They strike very fast so they always look kind of like a statue.
The main difference between the pose in the 2nd picture and its normal pose is that he is usually looking down into the water.
Right now he's just resting seeing as he's on one leg and has his neck completely retracted.