Sunday, April 14, 2019

Green Heron Fishing

Hello, what's this? A blog post? Can it be so??

I've been struggling these last few years to find the time to write. Sooo much going on since we went to Yellowstone in 2016 and I've been utterly overwhelmed. But we are finally on our first vacation since that trip out west, and I've decided, instead of throwing some photos up on Facebook and calling it good enough, that I would throw some photos up here and then share that on Facebook. Trying to get back in the groove.

This April finds us in Hilton Head, South Carolina, having rented a week at a condo here. It's a great time for nesting birds and turtles down here, and it's snowing back home, so we are really happy to be in the low country.

Across the street from our condo is a canal/ditch. I birded the area this morning, and saw the green heron fly by, her bright orange feet flashing, but I didn't see where she landed. Turns out she didn't go far, and I found her hunkered on a branch in the water. I took some shots before she started to walk down the branch, away from me. I followed along.






Not long after I got my tripod set up and focused on her she spotted something in the water. Stretching her neck out, she paused...


...then struck with a splash!


She was nearly completely underwater at one point...


...but she came back up with a juicy morsel!


She hopped up on her log...


...gave the impaled fish a few shakes...


...and down the hatch it went.


She gulped and swallowed, working her tongue around the small fish.


Now with a full crop, she walked back down the branch, turned, and hopped up into the shrubs overhanging the canal.

Excuse me, madam, but your pantaloons are showing!



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