Cold Weather Blues

We had a ton of great submissions for our call for great winter photos, but the story behind Greg Stablein’s photo of a blue heron he found frozen by Patriot Lake really caught our attention. While snapping photos of the frozen lake early one cold Saturday morning, he came across the heron lying unusually still on the bank. When the bird didn’t react to his presence, Greg quickly realized something was wrong. Due to the extreme cold, the heron’s wings had frozen to his body, making movement impossible. Fortunately, Greg was able to pick the heron up without any difficulties and carefully transport him to the Park’s Visitor Center where the bird quickly de-thawed in a room with sunlight coming through the windows. With the use of his wings restored, the heron happily waddled out the door and flew away. Don’t try this at home—Greg is a biologist and very familiar with wildlife.