Linking to Skywatch Friday
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Fishing...Great Blue Heron Style II
Normally, when I watch herons fishing they're standing in the water waiting or slowly wading and catching fish in the immediate vicinity. This heron did something a bit different that caught me by surprise. He was standing quietly on a stump in the lake when suddenly he flew off. I assumed he was moving to a different location, so I began clicking the shutter.
As you'll see in the photos, I was standing next to a dead tree as he flew by. The tree was in the way of my shots and I had to move to the left of it to continue shooting. As I cleared the tree, I saw the heron in the lake with a sizable fish in his bill. Evidently, the heron had spotted this fish from his perch some 30 yards away and made his attack from the air. Because I was blocked by the tree, I missed the actual catch, but continued shooting as he finished his meal.
Linking to World Bird Wednesday
Friday, December 23, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Vole. It's What's For Dinner
This is something of a first for me. Of the few thousand photos I've taken of the herons on a nearby lake, I've only seen them catching and eating fish. I know they will eat other things, but I've never given it a second thought with these herons because I've only witnessed them eating fish.
On this particular day, I photographed one of the herons catching and eating a vole. And he did it from the water. He was standing next to a high bank along the shoreline, but instead of facing out toward the water, he kept staring at the bank. He did this for quite some time and I couldn't figure out what he was doing. It was only when he made that quick heron strike that I realized he had been hunting something other than fish. If I hadn't been paying attention, I would have missed the whole thing.
I didn't know exactly what kind of rodent he'd caught until I got home and downloaded the photos. I'm 99.9% sure it was a vole. It wasn't a mole or a mouse, although voles are sometimes referred to as field mice. I compared photos from the Internet and I'm pretty sure I've identified it correctly as a vole. At any rate, it was an exciting moment and I'm glad I was watching closely.
The vole had dirt and debris on it from the muddy bank where the heron grabbed it. Since herons are quite majestic birds and would never consider eating a dirty meal, this heron dunked the vole not once, not twice, but three times in the lake before eating it. It's good to know they have standards.
And here is a close-up of the hunter and his prey.
On this particular day, I photographed one of the herons catching and eating a vole. And he did it from the water. He was standing next to a high bank along the shoreline, but instead of facing out toward the water, he kept staring at the bank. He did this for quite some time and I couldn't figure out what he was doing. It was only when he made that quick heron strike that I realized he had been hunting something other than fish. If I hadn't been paying attention, I would have missed the whole thing.
I didn't know exactly what kind of rodent he'd caught until I got home and downloaded the photos. I'm 99.9% sure it was a vole. It wasn't a mole or a mouse, although voles are sometimes referred to as field mice. I compared photos from the Internet and I'm pretty sure I've identified it correctly as a vole. At any rate, it was an exciting moment and I'm glad I was watching closely.
The vole had dirt and debris on it from the muddy bank where the heron grabbed it. Since herons are quite majestic birds and would never consider eating a dirty meal, this heron dunked the vole not once, not twice, but three times in the lake before eating it. It's good to know they have standards.
And here is a close-up of the hunter and his prey.
Linking to World Bird Wednesday
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Let's Get Random...
 |
| Let's get gnarly instead |
 |
| Waterfowl crossing |
 |
| Lunch time |
 |
| Barbed wire remnants |
 |
| The eye of the Maine Coon |
 |
| Early morning frost line on a foot bridge |
 |
| Colorful wood |
 |
| Rattlesnake under glass |
 |
| Let's hover |
 |
| The tree king |
 |
| You've been half-mooned |
 |
| Get bent |
 |
| Early morning dive bomb |
 |
| If you'll excuse me, it's time to feed the dog |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)