Thursday Animals "Heron"

youhavewings (58)in #monomad • 6 years ago

Talk about big presence! This majestic, large bird stood motionless like a statue watching over this placid lake for nearly 20 minutes. Of course, this stillness is actually a 'hunting technique' the heron uses with great mastery. We stood in awe as this large bird lifted off his perch and glided across the water like a silent hang glider plane.

We followed him from spot to spot for several hours around the lake - enamored by the majesty of his size and presence. Many miles were walked that day!

Heron's primarily live in fresh water areas and wetlands. They are carnivorous birds feeding on a diet of aquatic animals, including fish, reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans, molluscs, and aquatic insects but have also been known to feed on other birds and bird eggs.

From our experience, they seem to be quite the loner bird. Not very social...even though we tried to strike up a friendship. ;) He did seem to be very annoyed by our intrusion of his zen-like space.

Category	(animal photography )
Camera	(Nikon coolpix)
Location	(NC Wildlife Sanctuary )

This is an entry to the MONOMAD contest hosted by our @brumest at his new account @monochromes

TOPICS LIST:

Monday - Macro
Tuesday - Street
Wednesday - Abstract
Thursday - Animals
Friday - Flowers
Saturday - Silhouettes
Sunday - Skies

#photofeed #photocircle #animals #photography

6 years ago in #monomad by youhavewings (58)

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jbreheny (55) 6 years ago

@brumest, I think we have a winner here. @youhavewings, what a great picture and now that you mention it, they do seem to be very much loners. Having lived the past 4 1/2 years in Florida I feel like I should know more about these magnificent birds. Thank you for the education.

I think this bird is from the Heron family as well. Although I don't take such good photos.

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youhavewings (58) 6 years ago

@jbreheny - They are very difficult to take photos of unless they are in that observation/hunting mode. My little Nikon coolpix (very old) has a telephoto so the bird wasn't as alarmed. However, as we followed him across the lake, he was well-aware of us there (we aren't very good bird photographers ;) Ooohing and awwwing). I'd get him within focus and he'd move or fly off right away - all those photos are blurred.

They truly are beautiful and graceful birds though - such a big presence. Special.

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jbreheny (55) 6 years ago

I agree. They are awesome birds. We got to see a bright red Cardinal yesterday at the park we were staying in. We didn't get an opportunity to take any pictures.

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youhavewings (58) 6 years ago

Well, maybe you'll have another opportunity. They seem to stick close to home and with their mate - look for mama cardinal (she will be light brown). And listen for their little calls: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/sounds

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jbreheny (55) 6 years ago

we’ve moved to a new site and aren’t seeing many birds now. :-(

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bashadow (65) 6 years ago

It's amazing how close some critters will let you get when taking their pictures, while others just flit as fast away as possible. Nice photography, and you got bombed by the hive.

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youhavewings (58) 6 years ago

These guys definitely don't like people close to them ;) I happened to bring my Nikon Coolpix with me (it has a very modest telephoto on it). We were on a field trip with a park ranger who had the whole area to the dock gated off - I don't remember a word he said as I was too busy taking as many photos as I could of this beautiful bird. Very few made it as viable - that NECK! Within the time it took to push the button, the bird would extend or contract its neck - so funny! I have photos with a bird with no head in many and in others no bird at all ;) And the trek around the lake to capture more photos were all very blurry. I don't think they appreciate human interaction that much - preferring to be alone. Very skiddish birds and hard to photograph unless at a distance.

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