I went to the boat today ...

[willmarsh3]

and I saw this.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2098280012

I am continually amazed by this large bird. He has a wingspan of about 6 feet. He likes to hang out on the docks. Usually I see him only after I have startled him with my presence and he takes off.

Will.

[uncas]

Based on the picture.. a Great Blue Heron.... Loves hanging around docks and pilings.. lots of minnows...etc....

[Donn]

Cool birds. Any daytime low tide will find one fishing my end of the canal. They must have great tidal software, because they never miss the really low water, unless it's getting dark. That's when the Night Herons move in, like winged footballs. The Great Blue is much bigger, but the Night Herons rule the night.

[elf]

Scarey, the price of the lens one needs to get really good pix of those creatures. Around $2500 or more.

The other amazing thing about them is how little they weigh. In the top of a white pine you can't tell them from the tree. The branch doesn't bend.

Amazing.

[Paul Pless]

Will, I see alot of those Herons down on the Coosa where I paddle and fish. You can get quite close before they fly away to the next rock a few hundred yards away. At dusk and before dawn I imagine they are teradactyls.;)

Better anglers than I'll ever be.:)

[rbgarr]

They were common where I lived on the Georgia coast. I saw one snagged by an alligator and dragged under water. Another time I saw one hit by a garbage truck as it flew across a road.

[Donn]

A few winters ago, this fellow stood, one-legged on my boardwalk in the snow, watching the icy tide fall:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/donnwest/misc004.jpg

When it was time, he hopped down onto the ice, and strolled to the thawed corner of the canal:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/donnwest/heron005.jpg

He stood, ankle (Do Herons have ankles?) deep, fishing..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/donnwest/heron002.jpg

Until the Night Heron swooped in and landed in the Locust:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/donnwest/heron013.jpg

And the Blue Heron left:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/donnwest/P0000722.jpg

[willmarsh3]

I just got a bit of time to put up a crop of the picture here:

http://www.willmarsh3.net/pictures/greatblueheron.jpg

Paul, the word teradactyl crosses my mind too. They take off squawking and flapping their wings about once per second. Then they go in a circle and after about a minute they land somewhere.

Will.

[geeman]

I remember when I was about 5 or 6 years old.Looking up at the sky and seeing a great dinosaur bird.I ran into the house and swore up and down to mom that I had seen a dinosuar bird.I KNEW I HAD.Mom just said it was a modern bird and ignored me lol
Funny you remember things like that, that you hadnt thought of in 50 years or so.

[Concordia...41]

Donn - I think your bird got tired of the snow and being run off by the night heron.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid220/p1388bccafc91dcb4cbd1df9df6dcaa4b/ebac480c.jpg

The weather is better here & the guy fishing is no competition. ;)

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid220/pd2f96d673af68209822b30c401b43822/ebac481a.jpg

[Milo Christensen]

Canoeing some of the smaller rivers around here, I come up on Great Blues and Kingfishers. They see me coming and fly off downstream, again and again and again. I sometimes feel a little guilty for being on the river and disturbing them. Then I tell myself that all they have to do is fly over my head and get behind me, but they never do.

Great Blues are incredibly fragile. We took one to the vets once with a broken wing due to hittig a power line, the vet tried a whiff of anesthetic and the bird's heart stopped.

[Donn]

He does look happier, Margo. Long flight, though, especially during the holidays.