great blue heron with lunch-1024×768, originally uploaded by Phil Youngholm.

I was taking Chester on his first dog park walk with Kai on Sunday morning, December 30, when this great blue heron flew by us and landed in the shallow water about fifty yards ahead. When we got even with it, I noticed that it had a rodent in its beak. It was dipping the rodent in the water as if to wash it before eating it. This was at Cesar Chavez Park on the Berkeley waterfront. This may be the same great blue that I’ve seen hanging out in this general location several times in the last few weeks. (I’ve been taking Kai here regularly on Sunday mornings while our usual beach is closed due to the oil spill.)