On occasion, I'm going to post visual reviews of particular species and their behaviours. Photographs that I've taken over the past 2 years. Starting us off is the ubiquitous Great Blue Heron. **Warning** not for the squeamish.
(As always, click the images for the juicy details.)
Dressed alike.
Non-serious nest building at the Palace of Fine Arts.
Crissy Field night fly-by.
Predators have forward facing eyes.
A large-mouthed bass fished from the Palace of Fine Arts Lagoon. 10 minutes of thinking, 2 minutes of swallowing.
Sunset illuminates a heron with gopher hunting history evident on its bill.
7 foot wingspan.
Balancing at Lake Merced.
On the hunt, with a stylish bracelet on to boot.
Lovely profile.
Top view of head and dagger-like bill.
Nesting for real at lake Merced.
Gopher for dinner.
This took many minutes. The heron kept dunking the gopher to make it slide down a bit easier.
15 minutes later and almost done, when the resident Great Blue came charging in and scared it off.
Flying away with the gopher still in progress.
A more manageable morsel.
In flight with a profile on the wing.
Cruising past the footbridge.
Chased off at Crissy field.
Dressed alike.
Non-serious nest building at the Palace of Fine Arts.
Crissy Field night fly-by.
Predators have forward facing eyes.
A large-mouthed bass fished from the Palace of Fine Arts Lagoon. 10 minutes of thinking, 2 minutes of swallowing.
Sunset illuminates a heron with gopher hunting history evident on its bill.
7 foot wingspan.
Balancing at Lake Merced.
On the hunt, with a stylish bracelet on to boot.
Lovely profile.
Top view of head and dagger-like bill.
Nesting for real at lake Merced.
Gopher for dinner.
This took many minutes. The heron kept dunking the gopher to make it slide down a bit easier.
15 minutes later and almost done, when the resident Great Blue came charging in and scared it off.
Flying away with the gopher still in progress.
A more manageable morsel.
In flight with a profile on the wing.
Cruising past the footbridge.
Chased off at Crissy field.
2 comments:
WOW! What a fantastic set of photos, Walter! The night fly-by and gopher gulping sequence are just amazing. I imagine our paths may cross - you & I have been birding exactly the same locations for the past week!
If you'd like to play, I tag you for the 6-word-memoir meme. See http://adampaul.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/six-word-memoir-meme/ for the rules, which are very simple.
These photos are stunning! Thank you for sharing them and helping me learn more about the Great Blue Heron.
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