Heron Fishing

I decided to walk to the pond to see what might be there, and was greeted with a flock of Hooded Mergansers and this beautiful Blue Heron. The mergansers were suspicious of me, but gradually forgot I was there, and swam fairly close. Then out of my line of sight I noticed a movement...it was a beautiful blue heron flying in to do some fishing.

Check out my photos on flickr...

Here are some cool facts about Blue Herons...

Thanks to specially shaped neck vertebrae, Great Blue Herons can curl their neck into an S shape for a more aerodynamic flight profile and to quickly strike prey at a distance.

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.

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.