Heron Headshot
This juvenile Great Blue Heron looked to be singing the "throw me a fish song" as I walked by. If I’d had a fish, he probably would have convinced me to oblige.
Whether poised at a river bend or cruising the coastline with slow, deep wingbeats, the Great Blue Heron is a majestic sight. This stately heron with its subtle blue-gray plumage often stands motionless as it scans for prey or wades belly deep with long, deliberate steps.
They may move slowly, but Great Blue Herons can strike like lightning to grab a fish or snap up a gopher.
Despite their impressive size, Great Blue Herons weigh only 5 to 6 pounds thanks in part to their hollow bones—a feature all birds share.
Great Blue Herons in the northeastern U.S. and southern Canada have benefited from the recovery of beaver populations, which have created a patchwork of swamps and meadows well-suited to foraging and nesting.
Along the Pacific coast, it’s not unusual to see a Great Blue Heron poised atop a floating bed of kelp waiting for a meal to swim by.
Great Blue Herons have specialized feathers on their chest that continually grow and fray. The herons comb this “powder down” with a fringed claw on their middle toes, using the down like a washcloth to remove fish slime and other oils from their feathers as they preen. Applying the powder to their underparts protects their feathers against the slime and oils of swamps.
Great Blue Herons can hunt day and night thanks to a high percentage of rod-type photoreceptors in their eyes that improve their night vision.
Great Blue Herons congregate at fish hatcheries, creating potential problems for the fish farmers. A study found that herons ate mostly diseased fish that would have died shortly anyway. Sick fish spent more time near the surface of the water where they were more vulnerable to the herons.
Thanks to specially shaped neck vertebrae, Great Blue Herons can quickly strike prey at a distance.
The oldest recorded Great Blue Heron was found in Texas when it was at least 24 years, 6 months old.
(a9II, 200-600 @ 211mm, 1/2000 @ f/8.0, ISO 1000)
- edited to taste
Heron Headshot
This juvenile Great Blue Heron looked to be singing the "throw me a fish song" as I walked by. If I’d had a fish, he probably would have convinced me to oblige.
Whether poised at a river bend or cruising the coastline with slow, deep wingbeats, the Great Blue Heron is a majestic sight. This stately heron with its subtle blue-gray plumage often stands motionless as it scans for prey or wades belly deep with long, deliberate steps.
They may move slowly, but Great Blue Herons can strike like lightning to grab a fish or snap up a gopher.
Despite their impressive size, Great Blue Herons weigh only 5 to 6 pounds thanks in part to their hollow bones—a feature all birds share.
Great Blue Herons in the northeastern U.S. and southern Canada have benefited from the recovery of beaver populations, which have created a patchwork of swamps and meadows well-suited to foraging and nesting.
Along the Pacific coast, it’s not unusual to see a Great Blue Heron poised atop a floating bed of kelp waiting for a meal to swim by.
Great Blue Herons have specialized feathers on their chest that continually grow and fray. The herons comb this “powder down” with a fringed claw on their middle toes, using the down like a washcloth to remove fish slime and other oils from their feathers as they preen. Applying the powder to their underparts protects their feathers against the slime and oils of swamps.
Great Blue Herons can hunt day and night thanks to a high percentage of rod-type photoreceptors in their eyes that improve their night vision.
Great Blue Herons congregate at fish hatcheries, creating potential problems for the fish farmers. A study found that herons ate mostly diseased fish that would have died shortly anyway. Sick fish spent more time near the surface of the water where they were more vulnerable to the herons.
Thanks to specially shaped neck vertebrae, Great Blue Herons can quickly strike prey at a distance.
The oldest recorded Great Blue Heron was found in Texas when it was at least 24 years, 6 months old.
(a9II, 200-600 @ 211mm, 1/2000 @ f/8.0, ISO 1000)
- edited to taste