"That Dinosaur Bird"

"That dinosaur bird." That's how a friend of mine who didn't know or couldn't remember what great blue herons are called referred to them once. Of course we now know that all birds are descended from dinosaurs, but it's more apparent in some than others. If you've seen a great blue heron fly overhead without being reminded of a pterodactyl then you must not know what a pterodactyl is. If that's the case you should look it up, sometime after reading this blog. 

Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias. The long, sharp bill and even longer neck are essential to this bird's hunting methods.

At four and a half feet tall with a six-foot wing span the great blue heron is the largest member of its family in North America. It can be found, at least seasonally, from the south of Mexico up through the bottom half of Canada. Here in Washington state they are found year round, as is the case in more than half of the contiguous United States. Great blue herons are common in Seattle where I live, so as a naturalist and wildlife photographer I have taken an interest in them. All but one of the pictures in this post were taken around Union Bay, but I have seen great blue herons at various other parts of Lake Washington, around Lake Union and at the edges of Puget Sound. 

I watched this heron stalking behind the cattails for a few minutes before its long body rose into clear view while stepping over a dead tree.

Great blue herons are generally seen in shallow water, fresh or salt, where they feed on fish, frogs and anything else within the reach of their long necks and bills. They are capable of standing perfectly still for long periods of time, waiting for prey to swim by. These diligent hunters are also known to take prey on land such as rodents, snakes and small birds. Their catches are swallowed whole as birds have no teeth and herons don't have the hooked bills that raptors use to tear their victims into bite-sized pieces. Later bones and scales, feathers or hair are coughed up.

Waiting for some food to swim by. 

Closing in on a potential victim.

This heron was at least a hundred feet away from me and the light was low for photography. But I was glad that I took pictures anyways when it struck and came up with this big catfish.

This other heron caught an even bigger catfish. It was too big to swallow whole, but the bird managed to behead it with its sharp bill. Then it swallowed the head without much apparent difficulty.

After the head it still had the huge body to eat. It took several minutes, and I thought it might choke, but it finally got it down! I don't think this heron needed to do anymore hunting that day.   

The satiated heron found a nice spot to digest and I went on my way. I don't know for sure but I'm guessing it stayed there in a food coma for a long time.

Great blue herons show incredible patience when using their wait-and-ambush fishing method. They're definitely more patient than me. There have been numerous occasions when I watched and waited for a heron to catch something but eventually gave up and left. The birds needed to eat to survive. I wanted pictures of them with fish in their bills, but I didn't need them. 

These large, striking birds are popular with wildlife photographers. Their hunting method affords ample opportunities to get shots of them in interesting poses, and their large size makes it relatively easy to fill a large portion of the frame with them without needing to get super close. Many of my subjects are birds that are only four to eight inches long, so even with a 600 millimeter lens I need to be less than twenty-five feet from them to get a good photo. Their size and habits make it relatively easy to photograph great blue herons, but that doesn't mean it's easy to get good photos of them. After amassing a collection of similar images I pretty much stopped photographing them while they were stone still waiting for prey. But I can't resist stopping to watch them. I meter the exposure, adjust my settings and wait for them do something different. Sometimes it's the same old statue routine. So it ends up being some down time by the water, watching an amazing creature in the struggle to survive, which is fine with me. But other times they reward me with cool behaviors and photo opportunities. 

Alighting in a willow. Something alarmed this heron and it flew up to this branch for safety. Great blue herons actually spend a lot of time in trees. They roost in them every night and nest in them every spring when it's time to produce the next generation. 

"Don't talk to me until I've had my coffee."

Ruffled. Birds fluff up their feathers to increase their insulation value, while they are preening, and to appear larger to rivals. But it wasn't cold when I took this, the heron did not proceed to preen and there were no other herons in sight. So I don't know why this heron ruffled its feathers briefly but it made for a cool photo.

Creeping. By moving along this dead tree branch the heron is avoiding detection by its quarry in the water. While I most often observe these birds using the wait-and-ambush hunting method it's not uncommon to see them actively stalking prey. Oh, and speaking of "dinosaur birds", look at those feet! 

The Best Spot on the Pond

This heron was at rest, as is indicated by its neck being curled up, but that didn't mean it couldn't keep an eye on the water for potential snacks.

Thanks for reading my blog. I hope you learned a little bit about great blue herons and that you enjoyed my photos. Please follow the "Portfolio/Shop" link at the top of this page to see more photography and buy inexpensive prints.  There are also links to my Facebook and Instagram pages for those of you who are into that sort of thing.