Great Blue Heron

Here's a Great Blue Heron I met a couple months back. (Despite the holes in the branches and that impressive beak, this is not a giant woodpecker.)

Most of the time I'll see these herons hunting/fishing in shallow water or just out of the water. (In this picture, the branches themselves are over water.) I'm assuming a perch like this serves a couple purposes:

  1. It's relatively safe from attack from land animals (dogs, coyotes, etc.) and maybe snapping turtles being out of water but surrounded by water. (My understanding is that the Golden Eagle is the only bird that will routinely prey on these largish birds, so attacks from the sky are probably rare in most places and virtually unheard of at Duke Farms.)
  2. Being this close to the water may allow the heron to spot promising areas when it does decide to rustle up a meal, and the perch probably does give the heron a good vantagepoint to spot both dangers and scary non-dangers (like photographers).

June 5, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 136368638, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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