Green Heron Diving From A Willow Tree photos by Larry Jordan
I heard the load skyow call of this Green Heron and watched as it flew into the top of a willow tree, overlooking Secluded Pond at Lema Ranch. It perched atop the willow for quite awhile before diving down toward the water
Then pulling up and flying to the edge fo the reeds where it continued its fishing activities in earnest.
I have yet to get close enough to a Green Heron to get a good photograph. They are generally a shy species, avoiding human activity. One of the most interesting things about them however, is that they bait fish. They will drop insects, worms, feathers, or other small objects into the water and wait for fish to come to them, making them one of the few know tool using bird species. Watch this video.
Then go see some great skies over at Skywatch Friday!
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I’d love to see that! Great action shots Larry.
.-= gwendolen´s last blog ..Lady M =-.
Superb photos and video Larry!!
.-= MaineBirder´s last blog ..Dunlin Video =-.
I had no idea they baited! Thanks for the info..and the video is soo cool! thanks for sharing that!
I would like to link to this for my weekly reader..would that be ok?
.-= Dawn Fine´s last blog ..BwBTC MN Hyland Lake Park Reserve =-.
@Gwen it was fun to watch, that’s for sure
@John thanks for the comment. Someday I will get a good capture of one of these shy birds
@Dawn you can link to anything I post, whenever you want 🙂 Oh, and thank you for the kind words too
Wow, great action shots, Larry. I’ve never seen them dive like that — I was fully expecting you to say that he had gone straight into the water!
.-= Kyle´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday =-.
Beautiful capture. I don’t think we have green herons in Florida, or at least, I’ve not seen one.
.-= Tara R.´s last blog ..SkyWatch Friday ~ 15 =-.
@Kyle thanks. I would have posted the entire series but the light was terrible and the shots of the bird pulling up short of the water were not good. They do spend quite a bit of time in the trees though, so I think this is normal behavior for them.
@Tara there are Green Herons in Florida, but like I said, they are shy and a bit reclusive as far as I’ve seen. If you want to see a great Green Heron photo from Florida, check this out from my friend Klaus
Never seen before a bird thats fishing like us, great post and very informative!!
Love the movie!!
Have a nice SWF.
.-= Eric´s last blog ..Skywatch Friday 21-08 =-.
Hi Larry,
Wow truly incredible to see that and the video is awesome… Well done on the shots!
.-= chris´s last blog ..Second target species: The short-toed eagle =-.
Hi Larry – I know how hard it is to get a picture of a Green Heron – good job. That video is the coolest thing…I never would have guessed. I feel like saying, “they’re so SMART!” – but then I start to think about the way they (birds) communicate with each other, travel across continents, etc, and I realize…of COURSE they’re smart!
.-= Amber Coakley´s last blog ..BirdLife International on Quest to Find Lost Birds =-.
That was a great little video performance. Very clever bird tactics.
.-= Arija´s last blog ..SkyWatch ~ 47 A Spring Afternoon =-.
I loved that video. What a smart bird! So many people think primates are the only animals good at using tools, but this bird sure proves them wrong.
.-= David Childs´s last blog ..Tracking Hope, the Whimbrel =-.