Look Alike?

When you're hunting for dinner even the crazy photographer doesn't bother you!

This White Faced Heron, photographed on the beach at Kaikoura on the South Island of New Zealand, at first glance looks very much like our own Great Blue Heron.  In truth, though, they are not even related.  These smaller, dainty, look-alikes have been revealed by DNA testing to be more closely related to the egrets than to the herons--a somewhat confusing situation since the name implies that it is a heron.   

White Faced Herons can be found throughout most of Australasia.  They were self introduced to New Zealand in the late 1940s.  

This fellow was intently hunting along the sand dunes, looking for his favorite food of small aquatic creatures, such as insects, frogs and small reptiles, and didn't seem disturbed at all by the crazy photographer laying on her belly in the sand. 

What A Mouthful!!

On a recent trip to Charleston, SC we went to the Magnolia Plantation and took their swamp tour.  We spotted this Great Blue Heron hunting at the edge of the reeds and were fortunate enough to watch him make a catch.  Now, we really thought this would be a case of his eyes being bigger than his stomach--but he was up to the task!

The primary food for this majestic shorebird is usually small fish, although they may also take shellfish, rodents, amphibians, reptiles and small birds.  

Great Blue Herons are the largest and 

most widespread heron in North America and can be seen on almost any lake, river or pond -- at least here in the midwest.  The one pictured here is the most 

commonly seen color.  However, there is a white morph found in southern coastal areas which is called the Great White Heron.  This color phase is often confused with the Great Egret.  The easiest way to tell the two apart is that the Great White Heron's legs are black, while the Great Egret has yellow legs.  There is also a third color morph which looks like a combination of the other two.  This intermediate bird is known as the Wurdemann's 

heron and has a white head and a grey body.

One of the greatest dangers to this beautiful bird is discarded monofilament fishing line. As they wade the shallows hunting for prey they often become entangled in the fishing line left behind when a fisherman's lure becomes snagged on a low hanging branch or rock.  Once entangled, the bird is unable to hunt and gradually starves to death.  So, if at all possible please recover your line and dispose of it where it poses no threat to wildlife.  

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

Our favorite photographer, Gay Schroer, sent me these amazing photographs of a yellow crowned night heron hunting crawfish, taken on her recent birding adventure. They are breathtaking!

Mmm...