Thwack! The Blue Heron Hunts
We saw a Great Blue Heron hunting on the far side of the Great Meadow, so I took my Nikon D200 with its new 18-200mm lens and walked across the field to take pictures. As I approached, the heron took flight, and I snapped away as the bird flew toward me.
When I walked back to the Pickleweed picnic area, Bruce pointed out that the heron had landed near the road. I decided to try to get some more pictures and sneaked over to the far side of the road, keeping my distance in the shade of some trees.
When I had advanced enough to get the sun behind me, I turned and edged closer, screening myself behind a eucalyptus. I saw it walk forward slowly.
As I watched, it spotted something and its head darted forward, drilling its bill into a hole.
For a moment, the bird looked like a low-slung ostrich.
Then it emerged with a gopher in its beak.
December 11th, 2007 at 11:23 am
Pete,
You did not take any photos of the swallowing part?
Nice shots, but I bet some gopher lovers will see that as in-humane!!
Do you have a phone number for that Heron? I need him(or her) to come to my house to catch some of “my” gophers!!
Brian
December 12th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
Never eat anything bigger than your head.
December 13th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Terrific shots of nature’s basics Pete!
December 16th, 2007 at 5:07 am
Wow, fantastic pictures Pete!
There’s a huge Great Blue Heron that lives near me. When I come idling home by boat at night after a day of fishing, it lets out a prehistoric sounding screech as I pass by, and takes slow flight in front of me down the canal, landing on another docked boat. When I reach there, it repeats, taking off, squawking, and flying in front of me down to another docked boat. This repeats for about a mile before I get home.
For years, I have regarded her as a late night distant friend.
Now, I’m a bit concerned that, after a day of fishing, I probably look alot like a gopher!
Tom
December 24th, 2007 at 8:25 am
Hi Pete,
Fantastic pictures! I have been following a ‘White’ Heron over at Foster City for awhile now and finally got a few pictures of ‘the hunt’ myself. I’ve watched the bird stun/kill its prey by using its bill to literally ‘Shishkabob’…maybe it would like some bell peppers with that meal?
Would like to see that heron swallow that Gopher though, I though mice were large enough!