If you’re just looking for information on Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias), I very much recommend this website: heron conservation — it doesn’t have my photos, of course!

Published December 20, 2017: Sing to “🎶 If I had a hammer…🎵.”  Click here to open a performance in a new tab. Ignore the brief delay while it loads….

Actually, the title should say,
“If I had a dollar —  ever’ time some’un asks me—
if I’ve “seen the heron” —,  I’d be able to buy —
that new lens that I covet!” (Repeat.)

But that’s much too long a title, not to mention that someone stuffed the Genie back in the lamp and erased the password!

I wrote about Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) in my piece on water birds of 2016. In this post, however, I want to give the GBHEs their own place to shine, with a retrospective of some of the fascinating individuals I’ve been privileged to met….

NOTE: Click any single image to enlarge it in a new tab….

On “my beat,” I see numerous GBHEs, many with features of appearance (that can sometimes betray me!) and idiosyncrasies that enable me to recognize them, even, Gob fordib, to name them. The one I know best was already named by the residents on Belmont Pond — “Ralph.” Nobody really knows if he’s a Ralph or a Ralphina, but that’s the burden shared by all herons I know….

In the three years we’ve been here, I’ve discovered that Ralph is the calmest, most photographable of the GBHEs in the area. I encounter him in other locations besides Belmont Pond, including Thomson Marsh’s West Pond, and Michaelbrook Pond. Other herons also frequent these locations, but regal Ralph stands out, so much so that I’ve taken to calling him Sir Ralph of Belmont.

I think this is Ralph, because I’ve watched him move from this location to Belmont and from Belmont to Michaelbrook and from there back to West Pond. Other herons, of course, may share these locations, so then I have to fall back on Ralph’s calm demeanour which sets him apart from most of the others I observe. However, since I don’t want to strain my credibility, I’ll drop the naming aspect and focus on the photos….

So here from my growing, indeed, groaning, Great Blue collection are some favourites marked with the dates (yrmmdd) when I stole their souls:

Herons in Belmont Pond: As long as there’s some open water in either of the two Belmont Ponds (connected by an intermittent stream) we’ll see herons. The young ones sometimes take a while to catch on to the mystery of Hard Water….

Click any of these  photos taken two months later to enlarge them all…

The juvenile below photographed in a similar pose to 151122 bird, almost two years later,  — struggling with soft water….

Five days earlier, near the same spot:

And elsewhere:

On high perches and in flight:

Capturing herons in flight is always a bit of challenge, but rewarding when you succeed….

Click any of these  photos from 150922 to enlarge them all…

When gliding towards a landing, or making a short takeoff and landing, GBHEs often stretch their necks out like the ones below:

Herons waiting:

Click any image to enlarge them all and read the full captions….

Herons foraging:

Winter GBHEs are no less discriminating…

And finally (“Whew!” you say), a few portrait shots:

And most recently, from December 30, 2017, in Thomson Marsh, West Pond….

Hope you enjoyed the show….

• *Musings
• Birds
• Herons