Its hard to photograph a white heron when the dogs decide to chase it!

mick · January 16, 2007, 05:22:33 AM

But I love them! It was 110 degress, power went off, no watering due to restrictions so we went for a swim.

buzzbeejr · January 16, 2007, 05:29:14 PM

looks like good eats to me mick :) good pics

Cindi · January 17, 2007, 12:29:24 AM

Mick, you still got the pic of the heron, hurray!!! I see two dogs. Seems to me that you said in a post some time ago that your pooch had a girlfriend. Is this her? Or is this another of your own dogs? Too lazy too look up an old post to recall what you said, I am guilty of laziness at times. Great day. Cindi

mick · January 17, 2007, 02:39:15 AM

Quote from: buzzbeejr on January 16, 2007, 05:29:14 PM
looks like good eats to me mick :) good pics

Gee BUzzbeejnr, youe worse than me! not much meat on these birds, all bones and feathers. Theyd put you in the slammer if you ate one! they are protected!

Same two dogs Cindi.

Cindi · January 17, 2007, 09:21:36 AM

Mick, now that is cool. I would imagine your doggie's girl must live rather close, close enough that she accompanies you when you are out doing stuff with your dog. Nice for your pal to have a pal of its own kind too. Great day. Cindi

Kirk-o · January 17, 2007, 10:41:36 AM

You know some of those birds have taken up in L A river and at the Silverlake here in L A
Beautiful creatures
kirk-o

Cindi · January 18, 2007, 10:15:55 AM

The Herons are a magnificent bird. We have the Blue Heron that live on our property. We have a very deep ravine that runs alongside our property, it is bordered on each side by tall, tall, coniferous and deciduous trees, with lots of skunk cabbage on the ravine bottom. The ravine base has a small stream that runs through it, full of crayfish and other small fish.

We have a family(ies) of herons that live down there somewhere. I have never seen their nest, so I don't know where, I have looked. But I see then fly in and out of our ravine many times. It could be possible that they are only coming in to feed down there in the dark murky ravine, but I kind of suspect that they live there. There is too many other more open spots that would be easier to obtain their food from rather than trying to manuever through the dense trees.

Many years ago I took a video tape of these beauties up in one of our trees "out back", that is what I call the back of our property. I was outside working and I heard a really really weird bird sound that I had never heard before. I followed the sound. It was early spring, before the leaves were on the trees. Way up at the tip top of a cottonwood there were two large birds (and I mean large). It looked like the tree top was going to break off. I looked and listened to them for quite some time. They were very noisy. I eventually went in to get my video camera because I was so intrigued. I knew that later I could look at the video and see what they were. So I filmed, I zoomed and that was when I discovered the species. The Great Blue Heron.

I love nature. I am grateful that I have my eyes to see and my ears to listen. If I had one wish that could be granted worldwide -- well one of the many wishes would be to have the people who are deaf and blind have the opportunity to have this lifted from their world, to enjoy the gift of sight and sound that I know I take for granted. Great day all. Cindi

reinbeau · January 18, 2007, 02:10:06 PM

Cindi, Great Blue Herons nest in trees, they build huge sticky platforms, and they nest in groups, called rookeries. It's really amazing watching them stand in tall pines. And you're right, herons are noisy!

Cindi · January 18, 2007, 11:01:47 PM

Quote from: reinbeau on January 18, 2007, 02:10:06 PM
Cindi, Great Blue Herons nest in trees, they build huge sticky platforms, and they nest in groups, called rookeries. It's really amazing watching them stand in tall pines. And you're right, herons are noisy!

Ann, it is so nice to get information on subjects. I enjoy you elaborating upon what I have said. It is amazing that they would build a sticky platform, so cool. How interesting that they would nest in groups too. So, I think that there must be a few rookeries that maybe live in the tall trees that grown in the ravine. I think the trees that could be possible nesting areas are mostly cedar and hemlock. I love the jargon related to so many different areas of insects, animals and what have you. Rookeries....whoda thunk?

Let's see if we can get a cool list of "jargons" going? Wanna try with me? Could be very interesting and certainly informative. What comes to my mind is::

"Gaggle" of geese
"Murder" of crows
Crows' "wedding"
"Pod"of whales

gotta be hundreds more, I just started with some that I am sure everyone is familiar with. Great day. Cindi

mick · January 19, 2007, 01:46:34 AM

My description was a bit loose, it is a great Egret that I snapped. :roll:

KONASDAD · January 19, 2007, 03:02:51 PM

Breat Blue Herons can be as tall as 5ft. Many yrs ago I found one tangled in fishing line. I waded into the water, fought this beast of a bird and eventually grappled him down to the ground. I disentangled the bird and no sooner than I did that, he attempted to gouge my eye out w/ his beak. It turns out they attack eyes. Be very careful of their beaks and wear sunglasses. In Florida, the egrets are very aggressive and will steal your bait from your pail if your not paying attention. Up close they also smell horrific. In Florida, you can also find rookeries w/ hundreds of nests.

Pride of lions
pack of hyenas

Kathyp · January 19, 2007, 09:51:42 PM

i had a blue heron that hung out in my pasture for about 6 months. it was not injured. it just liked my pasture. it would fly off and come back. never did figure it out. i had an infestation of voles that year. maybe they are good eats for the heron?

reinbeau · January 19, 2007, 10:58:26 PM

There's a small pond behind my sister's house, and for one summer a great blue heron used to sit on her roof overlooking the pond. Quite a site! :)