A long shot of the heron to give perspective. The beaver ponds are across the road from my house.Usually, the great blue herons don't come to the beaver ponds until after the red-winged blackbirds leave in August. The blackbirds mob herons; they hate herons. But they left this one alone on Monday morning. I think it is because the blackbirds don't have any nests yet. I have cross posted these photos on both blogs. These are my first great blue heron photographs and I'm pleased as punch! I took 109 photographs of him (it was 23°F or -5°C). I quietly took the screen out of the window, set up the tripod and shot until my battery, which was low, died. While I was doing this, the cats had fun jumping in and out of the window. I culled the 109 down to 18 showing different activities of the heron. Then Amy and I cut those down to these few.
The herons that come here nest on May Pond which is behind the ridge on the other side of the beaver ponds across the road. Their nests are usually in the top of a dead tree and are huge messy jobs.
I have read that herons will fish a pond clean and when there are no more fish to eat, will move on to another pond. I have a feeling that they might also eat baby red-winged blackbirds.
If you look very, very carefully in the photo above, at the bottom of the heron's head, at the top of his long neck, behind his jaw, he is swallowing a fish and you can see a bulge. I failed to get shots of the three fish it caught while I was photographing him.
Please click on the photos to view them full-size in a new window._/\_/\_
What a beautiful bird and some really fantastic photos you took.
ReplyDeleteBEAUTIFUL!!! Those are great shots. Good for you and your perserverance. MB
ReplyDeleteI must say that you did get a fabulous group of pictures of this bird, the Great Blue Heron. I suspect the blackbirds don't like them because they would or will eat the baby birds if given a chance. I would say this pond would be a favorite place for a lot of wildlife and if I had it I would hang out there all the time.
ReplyDeleteFantastic shots you caught from such a great bird.
ReplyDeleteLucky you to live in such a place.
These are some of the best shots of this bird I have seen.. I really admire these.
ReplyDeleteTom
Your perseverance paid off with some great photos. (Glad to hear that the cats had fun too.)
ReplyDeleteHow interesting and such great photography. Wish I lived close to a pond like that!
ReplyDeleteYou have had great luck in gettting such great pictures of the heron. I see herons regularly on the Yakima River, but only from the freeway. It is very hard to get a decent picture from the freeway, though I sometimes pull off and try. In flight, I think they they look like pteradactyls.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! So sharp and clear. And look at the reflections!~ Very nice post.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great day it turned out for me yesterday... first I came across your superb pictures.. I really meant what I wrote.. then Later Big Peter my mate turned up with some more fantastic Herons shots. Ours are Grey Heron.. very very similar but boy did he get close... when I post them for Peter on his blog I'l let you know.
ReplyDeleteTom
Great shots, beautiful nature. The reflections are nice too.
ReplyDelete