Surprise Encounter with a Great Blue Heron

It all started on my trip to St. Andrews State Park, Florida one morning to check out the rookery of nesting water birds. From the observation deck, the birds were so far away I would need a zoom lens the size of a rocket, which I did not have. The park posted signs not to get off the paths and had warnings of venomous snakes and alligators. I should have abided but no, I made up my own rules and ignored the signs. OOPS I was a bad boy! As I was bushwacking my way thru the swampy grass to get closer to the birds, I scared up a large alligator about ten feet from me. Whoa! my heart started pounding and I started thinking I should have gone to school to learn how to read park signs. As I was having an anxiety attack, I decided to go a little closer. At this time the dirt started to turn to muck and I almost stepped on a 5 foot coiled water moccasin. He looked at me , I looked at him and he slid into the water. I had enough and was about to turnaround when there was loud plop behind me. I thought a branch had broken, so I turned around and there sat this Great Blue Heron no further than 8 feet away. I took my lens and pointed at him, funny thing was he was not even scared of me. I have a video of him yawning click this link to watch. https://youtube.com/shorts/v4I24GOLEwQ?feature=share. Wow I did not know they had such large tongues. These birds do not usually let people get so close, so I must be a Bird Whisper lol! I made it back to my truck without dying. The End.