If only dogs had wings, great blue herons would be no match for them. But they don’t, so all they can do is sit, and stare, and bark at the big bird sitting high in the trees. The herons will sit and wait, one hour, two hours, as long as it takes for the dogs to give up in frustration, and leave them be, so they can swoop silently down to the banks of the pond to fish.

The herons have great patience. They need it to be good fishers. They can stand in the water, as still as statues, until a hapless fish swims too close, and they stab it with their long beaks.

I dread to think what would happen if the dogs ever caught a heron. A few times they have come close.