The Little Blue Heron at dawn.

[Chato]

Probably my best series of shots of this bird, and I've taken a few thousand.

These were taken at dawn, and the light changed from moment to moment. I was in disguise and slowly worked my way around the bird, to try to keep up with the light. By the time of the last shot, the sun was up, and sigh, ruined the mood. I have another twenty shots in this sequence, but these will give you the idea.









Ding, ding, ding, the sun is up!




Dave

[nymphetamine]

the third picture is so beautiful..frame it

[Hards80]

nice series. good sharpness and good timing.

i am particularly fond of the composition and reflections of #4

[Chato]

Originally Posted by Hards80

nice series. good sharpness and good timing.

i am particularly fond of the composition and reflections of #4

Isn't this an odd visitor from outer space? These are actually amazing birds. I have one series of shots, where one of them catches and scales a minnow, and then uses it as bait.

So much for the expression, "Bird brain," as an insult...







Dave

[Hards80]

another couple winners. i really like the 1st shot of this pair. the water drops and reflections are very nice.

thats quite a story, must have been something to watch. what did he catch with his newfound bait?

[bhammitt]

Great series!!!!!!! #4 in the first group is stunning as are both of the second group, excellent work Chato!

Bob

[Chato]

Originally Posted by Hards80

another couple winners. i really like the 1st shot of this pair. the water drops and reflections are very nice.

thats quite a story, must have been something to watch. what did he catch with his newfound bait?

The Green Heron has long been known for using bait, I can't find any reports of the Little Blue doing the same, other than my shots.

I'd have posted them a long time ago, but as photographs their not up to speed. As nature shots, their fantastic. The fish he caught, which I call a "minnow," after scaling was dead white, and the scaling process covered the end of his beak with white. He would go around this little pond, and drop the littler minnow into the water, and bingo up would come some six inch or larger fish. He kept repeating this...

A few shots from the series.

Here he is scaling the minnow.



Getting ready to drop it



A close crop of the above







He caught quite a few fish with this method. He's the only Little Blue I've seen doing this.

Dave

[Hards80]

thats pretty amazing really. a bird using a "tool"

[Chato]

Originally Posted by Hards80

thats pretty amazing really. a bird using a "tool"

Ravens are known to use tools. But the weirdest example of tool using I've ever photographed was of a juvenile Herring Gull, who used a paper cup to put clams in. He would then fly up, and drop the clams on rocks. Since a Gull can't use their feet for this purpose, they normally carry pretty small clams, whereas this guy was lugging up the real thing!

A couple of years ago, a convention of Ornothologists issued a mea culpa. A rough quote from them would be, "We are sooooo sorry. Birds are as bright or brighter than mammals and have an equivalent of the mammalian cerebral cortex."

Dave

[flutelady]

Awesome photos. #4 is outstanding, very beautiful.