Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Mr. Blue

We always keep an eye out for any one of the many herons which come to the pond to fish. A bit later into the summer, we'll begin to see the Night heron with great regularity and at some point, I hope to see a few more visits from the Green heron. Right now, not a day has gone by that we haven't seen the Great Blue heron.

A few days ago, we were walking the usual path around my local park. We spotted Mr. Blue across the pond and we slowly made our way around until we were fairly close. We wondered if our nearness would spook him and if all we'd be left with is a flurry of wings and the ripples in the water where he stood. But Mr. Blue was very cooperative. He allowed us to watch him as he showed off his great fishing expertise. He ambled back and forth in front of us catching minnows. Here are a few photos from this day.


heron13
His beautiful, sharp eye kept a cautious watch as he went about his fishing expedition.



heron21missed
A serious dunking of his head came up short. No fish in that attempt,



heron22shakeit
Just a wet head to shake and flick all over the pond.




heron17catch
But all his patience pays off eventually.



heron11eyelid
I guess that they need to close their nictitating membrane (or third eyelid) to protect their eyes while fishing. Try zooming in on this, or any photo by hitting Control+ (Command+ on a Mac). Hitting Control or Command- will bring it back down to size afterward.

More photos coming up soon.

43 comments:

Elizabeth Grimes said...

Amazing shot when Mr. B is shaking the water off. Wow! You must have quick reflexes to get these shots. Lol!

Reena said...

Love the blue heron and your shots ... great capture of his fishing!

ADRIAN said...

Another perfect set. The head shaking is my favourite.

Grayquill said...

You know I always love a good fishing story. The pictures are fantastic! You did way good.
Thanks for sharing. Sweet Sweet Sweet

Anyes said...

I am so glad Mr. Blue was in the mood for photographs :-)

Pierre BOYER said...

Lovely pictures Hilary...

Pierre

Robin said...

Well, I'm pleased summer is in full swing up in your part of the world! I look forward to the next episode of the summer adventures!

Birdie said...

Such great shots. I am wowed!

Ruth Hiebert said...

That has to have been the most cooperative Heron I have ever heard of.These pictures are excellent.

Anvilcloud said...

This is getting ridiculous -- all these super shots.

Brian Miller said...

haha the head shaking pic is awesome...thanks for the chuckle...really a wonderful set of pics...

TexWisGirl said...

these are FANTASTIC!!! you must be the heron whisperer! Anvilcloud is right!

Anonymous said...

I must say he is truly magnificent! You did a great job of showing him to us.

Di

Mental P Mama said...

Love him....

Out on the prairie said...

They stop me in my tracks when i see them.Lovely shots I went through each on over and over.

Bob Bushell said...

Brilliant Blue Heron, I do love the first and second images.

Suldog said...

How close do you get for photos such as these, Hilary?

DJan said...

Happy summer, Hilary, and happy ME for all the pictures I'm getting to ogle! Great shots, as usual.

Anonymous said...

I love the wet head shake shot... FABULOUS :)

Tammie Lee said...

such a beauty, or rather handsome bird. Loved seeing your photos.

Liz Mays said...

These are so fantastic! What a treat to get a look at Mr. Blue!

Gail Dixon said...

Great shots of this gorgeous heron. Nice to know you can ctr/command +/- to view larger! Well worth the extra clicks.

ellen abbott said...

very cool pictures of one of my favorite birds.

ds said...

Amazing shots--right down to the bubbles on the water (when he shook his head, he reminded me of my cat for some reason). Thanks so much for sharing them!

Bossy Betty said...

How did you know this is one of my favorite birds?

Betty Manousos said...

breathtakingly beautiful shots!

great captures and perspective!
love them all!!

have a great summer day!
betty x

messymimi said...

Love the head shake shot.

SG said...

Incredible photos!

Linda at To Behold The Beauty said...

These are wonderful, Hilary. What a cooperative bird you found. I saw a heron at the reservoir last week, but I hadn't taken my camera. Rain was threatening, and I didn't want the camera to get wet.

Barbara said...

So that's where my Blue went! Not really, unless mine got over his shyness! (I'm jealous!)

Unknown said...

How can a bird be so beautiful and so ugly all at the same time?

Karen said...

Oh, they are amazing, and wonderful photos. I especially like the "shaking head" one. YOU must think up some funny caption for that one. Great!

Cricket said...

Ah... beautiful pics, my dear. Such clarity... some of the bubbles in the first ones... wow. I don't see that clearly with my own eyes.

And what else but Mr. Blue would do? Heh, heh. I actually toured with the Fleetwoods way back when. All the original members and all very nice. Gary, the lead singer, had the softest singing voice I've ever heard. His mic was cranked. And the two "girl" singers, who had to be 60 or so, were still stunningly attractive, (and I would have been 22).

I think I'll have to dig that one up and put it on now.

Shammickite said...

there were two herons fishing in the storm water pond in my community yesterday, but I don'e know if they were Night, Green or Blue!

Cloudia said...

You are a true animal photog!




Aloha from Honolulu :)

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Lisa said...

So very beautiful..I love to see him in the water. Had one in my drive way a few years ago.

Anonymous said...

Wow wow wow! How on earth do you get so close to all the critters you shoot?

This is one of your best series of shots yet. Fabulous!

Zuzana said...

As always, absolutely beautiful captures! I think birds are very difficult to photograph as they move constantly, yet you even captured the motion so eloquently.
Congratulation on your win in the post above.;) I am a very bad card player and always lost to my sister.;)
Have a great week dear friend,
xoxo

Sarah Knight said...

Lovely!

Teri and her Stylish Adventure Cats said...

Great 'shake' shot! We used to call them Shitaquarts in Oregon, which is what you think if you ever got unloaded upon while out rafting...

Cricket said...

Gretchen and Barbara! Cripes. I mental-blocked their names when I typed the first comment. Woke up this am with that floating right to the surface. Ha.

I looked it up. They would not have been quite 60, but who cares. They still had it goin' on... that's how I remember it.

Hilary said...

Thank you for the kind comments everyone. Very much appreciated.. as always. :)

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

Such incredible images you've captured here!