Great Blue Heron

[Donkees]

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Great Blue Heron enduring today's snowstorm, hunkering in at the edge of the Pond in Central Park, reminiscent of a beautiful Japanese print.

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[Donkees]

1. Heron hunting

Feb 7, 2021

Hampton Court Home Park

[3Hotdogs]

2. Excellent photo.

Out of water, they a stand up to about 4 feet on land.

[csziggy]

3. I love the one of the heron taking off

With the perfect arc of water off his feet!

Here is my favorite great blue heron picture:



The thing he has caught is a greater siren, a kind of salamander that lives in the muck in Florida swamps. This picture was taken at the Circle B Bar Reserve, south of Lakeland, Florida.

[Donkees]

4. ''The Big Gulp"

A Great Blue Heron has speared a Greater Siren. The siren is stuck on the end of his beak. After shaking vigorously repeatedly, the siren is dislodged. The Heron then proceeds to eat it whole.

The greater siren is an eel-like amphibian and one of the three members of the genus Siren. The largest of the sirens and one of the largest amphibians in North America, the greater siren resides in the coastal plains of the southeastern United States.

In the video and credits I erroneously referred to the siren a couple of times as a Great Siren. The correct name is Greater Siren.

Audubon Swamp Gardens
Charleston, South Carolina

[csziggy]

5. Cool - I wish I'd known how to use the video function on my Nikon

The day I saw the great blue with the greater siren.

The bird I saw wasn't lucky enough to stab and kill the siren. He caught it, then tried to swallow it alive. The siren kept fighting and the heron had to cough it up two or three times before he finally managed to beat it to death and get it down.

Here is his second attempt to swallow the siren:

You can see the tail thrashing around. But here it comes back out:


After I thought the action was over and I stopped taking pictures, the great blue heron took off and flew over the path I was on. He was flying so low I could feel the breeze from his wings as he tried to gain altitude.