The importance of good grooming

Not only politicians need to be well-groomed for election day:

I was kayaking on our beaver pond a month ago, and startled a Great Blue Heron, with time only for an action shot, his twelve tail feathers spread, and a curlicue of water droplets trailing from his feet:

On the way back, I was watching for him, and caught him majestically rising in flight:

In close-up, you can see every feather. Each wing has 28 or 29 primary and secondary flight feathers, with several layers of coverts on top, and can propel him at up to 30 mph.

These feathers require constant grooming with that intimidating beak:

So do his newly-growing pectoral feathers, the long feathery breast feathers that are only there in the breeding season. They can eventually be up to a foot long. He is fussy. One tiny inaccessible downy white feather is out of place.

But a precision lunge with that unwieldy-looking beak finally gets a grip:

Then back to fishing:

and a final pose:

PS I think this is a juvenile, because his crown lacks the central white of an adult.