Seen on my walk this morning.

[Diamond_Dog]

This statuesque blue heron stood so nice and still, just begging me to take its picture! All 3 photos are of the same bird.

[livetohike]

1. Beautiful! Great shots. They are such beautiful birds.

Love watching them fish. They are so focused 🙂.

[Diamond_Dog]

2. I've never seen one this close up.

I was surprised they are so big! This one was nearly 3 ft. tall.

[livetohike]

5. They are huge and their wingspan is 5 - 6'! Maybe

you’ll catch one taking flight. Awesome.

[Diamond_Dog]

33. Wow!! What a sight that would be!

[MontanaMama]

3. Something that I didn't know about herons

is that they eat small rodents too. I saw one waiting outside a gopher hole and when the gopher came out, the heron stabbed it with its beak and ate it whole. Nature!

[Diamond_Dog]

7. Wow! I did not know that, MM!

You’re right, nature sure amazes!

[ShazzieB]

31. Whoa, me, neither!

Reminds me of that line from Tennyson about "Nature, red in tooth and claw." And also beak!

[3Hotdogs]

4. On land, they are probably 4 ft high.

Inside feathers are pink/coral.

[Diamond_Dog]

8. This one was perhaps a young one then?

[3Hotdogs]

26. Not necessarily.

I've only. seen the pink color two times, out of a couple of hundred sightings over the years. My eyesight isn't that good.... cataract surgery next month.....

But I did get photos of the "Pink" at Forsythe Preserve in southern N.J. There are usually two or three on site. One time, one of them caught a fish that was larger than most that are in the estuary. I watched the Heron for about 20 minutes, as s/he tried to juggle th fish around in order to swallow it.

After that time, I had to leave so I don't know who won--- fish or bird.

[Diamond_Dog]

27. You made me think of a pink flamingo 3Hotdogs!

Nature is truly amazing, isn’t it?

Good luck with the surgery, I just got through with mine no problem. 👍

[secondwind]

6. I love the pic with the reflection in the water!

[Diamond_Dog]

9. Thank you secondwind!

I thought I’d better mention that all 3 pics are of the same bird, because they look so different.

[Evolve Dammit]

10. Actually he was probably distracted from focusing on fish! They are very patient.

[Diamond_Dog]

14. "Focused" is the operative word, for sure!

Thank you Evolve Dammit!

[Evolve Dammit]

22. I admire their persistence and patience. I wish I had more of both!

[Warpy]

11. Probably hoping you'd mistake it for lawn art

and not take it home for your lunch.

(great pics, by the way)

[Diamond_Dog]

16. Haha no doubt

From the size of him, I think I’d leave him alone!

Thank you Warpy!

[wendyb-NC]

12. What a treat

They are beautiful birds.

[Diamond_Dog]

18. I agree 100%

Thank you Wendyb-NC!

[pjyonemura]

13. Oscar is my neighbor

My husband and I live on our trawler in Friday Harbor, WA. That is, when we're not cruising the beautiful inland waterways of Washington and British Columbia. Our nearest neighbor is Oscar the grouchy blue heron. He literally fishes next to our boat. He's called Oscar because of his grouchy squawk.

[Diamond_Dog]

19. How cool is that

to live on a trawler, see such beautiful scenery every day, and have a blue heron for a neighbor!

I would love to visit your area one of these days!

[niyad]

15. Beautiful pics of a beautiful bird. Thank you for sharing.

[Diamond_Dog]

20. Thank you for your kind comments, niyad!

[japple]

17. Spectacular!!! Thanks for sharing this beautiful heron with us.

eom

[Diamond_Dog]

21. Thank you so much, japple!

[70sEraVet]

23. Good shooting, Diamond_Dog! Handsome bird.

In my little town in Tennessee, right by the Cumberland River, there's one grassy spot where a large flock of vultures hang out when they're not off eating something. And usually, there's one Blue Heron standing in the middle of them. He looks like he's guarding them, because he stands two feet taller than they do. Has anybody else noticed this?

[Diamond_Dog]

28. Haha What a sight that must be!

That sounds like one brave Heron!

Thank you 70sEraVat!

[crickets]

24. Lovely! Thanks for sharing these. nt

[Diamond_Dog]

29. Thank you crickets!

Glad you enjoyed them!

[PWPippinesq]

25. My encounter with a great blue heron

One made a three point landing on the green in my hometown of Brunswick, Maine. It seemed hurt, so I picked it up holding its wings close to its body and held it almost stiff armed away from me. Luckily, I had sunglasses on and it didn’t try to peck me. I walked it about half a mile to the nearest vet. It was calm the entire way. A couple passed commenting on my beautiful decoy and three boys on bicycles were fascinated by the story and being so close to such a large bird. I was amazed about how light it seemed, almost weightless. I felt honored to have had this experience with such a magnificent animal. After observation, the vet returned the heron to the wild, this time near water.

[Diamond_Dog]

30. Wow! What a story, PWPippinesq!

And what a compassionate thing to do! That Heron was lucky that you found him!

[applegrove]

32. Love them. There was one that would make a nest in the bay by my cousins'

Last edited Fri Oct 7, 2022, 01:09 PM - Edit history (1)

cottage. They'd be mid flight when they came by our cottage. So graceful.

[Diamond_Dog]

34. What a majestic sight that must be, to see them in flight!

Your cousin was very lucky to have that pleasure! Thank you applegrove!

[George McGovern]

35. WHATTA BIRD! Great shots Diamond! Beautiful watery reflections!

[Diamond_Dog]

36. Thank you George!

The bird was a perfect subject!