A Great Blue Heron is entertaining to watch on a warm June Saturday afternoon. These amazing hunters love the ponds in our area for their plentiful small fish and frogs and there are plenty nearby.
I'm thinking this must have been a younger bird as it was quite uncomfortable with an audience. My wife, Dani, and I saw this majestic bird, which had to have a six foot wing span, fly over our house.
We grabbed the camera (Pentax X70) and headed for the water. The first sighting was from a distance of about 100 feet but before we could get the camera ready, away it went. After chasing the heron to three different ponds, the bird either got comfortable with us in the area or was just too hungry to fly away again.
What a fascinating bird to watch hunt. Patience combines with powerful striking ability that rarely misses.
The heron, it is said, hunts using keen eyesight. The recent rains made the water slightly grey/green. It seemed to favour the more shallow areas although did wade into water up to it's body.
It is interesting to watch the distinct shape of the neck just before the strike. When standing fully erect, the bird seems to be about four feet high.
We could watch this bird feed all day. The colour mixes in with the surrounding reeds and mud.
Wikipedia tells me the bird has few natural predators because of it's size. Occasionally eagles, hawks or horned owls will take down a heron, but it is rare.
The slow movements disturb nothing and it's amazing that a bird this big can move so quickly.
When it decided to leave each of the ponds you could hear the power of the wings.
It was quite a show.
No comments:
Post a Comment