Blue Heron Day

Warning - if you're squeamish about photos of birds eating things or of snakes, you may want to skip over the first three images.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to visit a nearby nature preserve called Fernhill Wetlands.  Although this place is a wastewater facility for a nearby town, it has set aside several acres of wetlands for natural treatment.  These ponds and swamps attract lots of wildlife, especially birds.  It's a popular place for birders and wildlife photographers, like myself.

I've visited Fernhill for quite a few years, and my favorite time to visit is in the spring months, when migratory birds pass through and several other species hang around to rear their young.  

A great blue heron eating a snake

Upon my arrival, I'd no sooner started down the main path from the parking lot when I spotted a great blue heron (GBH) up ahead that had just caught a garter snake.  What a great start to my walk!  I got lots of good photo ops of the heron with the snake in his beak.  The GBH shook the poor reptile many times before finally gulping him down.

A little while later I came upon another snake-eating heron

After swallowing his lunch, the GBH flew away.  But I caught up with him a short time later on another path.  Again, he flew away.  Then I took a side trail to a pond overlook.  There, sitting in the water was another GBH (not sure if it was the same one) with a snake in his bill.  Another photography session ensued, until that snake went down the hatch.

Down the hatch!

I came out on one of the main paths, and there was another heron!  As he walked away, I watched him pick up another garter snake.  This one got quickly consumed, so I had to act fast.  But I managed to get a few shots of this guy too.  (I was beginning to think it was "Blue heron snake eating day.")

This GBH was just sitting in the water

The main path at Fernhill travels around a large lake.  As I was rounding the far side of this water body, another man traveling in the opposite direction struck up a conversation.  Seeing my camera with its large zoom lens always attracts attention, and often people will point out interesting wildlife sightings to me.  This man said he'd seen a GBH in the water just ahead that was acting strangely.  He told me to check it out.  Of course, I headed straight over to where he pointed.

Then he suddenly dived in

I came upon a GBH partially in the water.  Normally when these birds are hunting, they will stand stock still watching for prey with only their feet and legs are in the water.  This one had half his body submerged.  It appeared very odd.

And came back out

Then suddenly the bird dived head-first into the lake.  After a few seconds, the GBH popped back up in a huge spray of water.  It shook itself and fluffed its feathers.

Another dunking

At first, I though the GBH was hunting for fish.  But it kept diving and rising back up out of the water without anything in its bill.

I've never seen a GBH taking a bath before

After several iterations of this dive-and-resurface I realized the GBH was taking a bath.

Fluffing his feathers

I've seen lots of smaller birds splash around in puddles or birdbaths, but I'd never seen a GBH do anything like this.  It was really fun to watch this guy splash and fluff his feathers.  And the heron didn't seem to mind me taking photos.  Which was a good thing, as I clicked my shutter several dozen times.

A very soggy GBH

The GBH was backlit by the sun, so capturing these images was a bit tricky.  I had to overexpose the bird itself, and employ a quite bit of editing to get these photos.  But I really liked how they all turned out.  

I also caught this great egret in flight

To end the day, I was getting ready to leave when I spotted a white object at a nearby pond.  A great egret!  Hustling over, I arrived just in time to click a few shots of this lovely bird.  Then another man with a camera walked over and startled the bird.  But my camera was ready.  As the egret flew away I captured him in flight.  The man apologized for scaring the bird, but I told him it was okay because I'd gotten some great action shots.

Sorry I've gone so long between postings!  Life has been busy and blogging hasn't been high on the list lately.  But I'll get back to recapping a couple more ski trips and a hike or two.  Stay tuned!