Three Houses Down the Lane

Description

Three herons hold three stations across one cottonwood crown, the ripening canola glowing gold through every gap in the leaves. The center bird stands trim on its white nest of twigs, the left neighbor keeps its back turned among the branches, and the right one peers in from the edge of the frame like someone checking who got the bigger place. Evening light picks out the pale bark and the streaked young feathers alike. A study in how close the neighbors live at the top of a Montana rookery.