Photo by Sarah Phelan

Every winter, a flock of night herons shows up one evening in some grassy fields near my place. And each year, I try to figure out why they show up when they do. I think it happens when the tides are high (so there are no exposed mudflats to forage in) and after it's rained (so the fields are water-logged providing the herons with alternative hunting grounds.)

So far, there's been no rain and no herons, which tends to support my thesis. And so I'm forced to stalk herons along the shore or track them down at Lake Merritt like this ridiculously tame one here.