Posts Tagged ‘great blue heron’

The Great Blue Heron and the Snake that Wouldn’t Give Up!

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

It was lunchtime when my wife called excitedly to me: “There’s a Great Blue Heron across the lagoon trying to eat a snake – and it looks like the snake is wrapped around the heron’s neck!” I quickly grabbed the video camera and picked up the action with the heron trying to figure out how to get the snake off its neck and into its gullet!

I’m not sure what kind of snake it was – either a black racer or a water moccasin, I believe – but its head was already part way down the heron’s throat when I started the video. (Take a look at the heron’s neck – it’s pretty fat with the snake part-ways in to it.)

But that snake must have seen the “Never, ever give up!” cartoon with the frog wrapping its hands around a heron’s throat, as it had wrapped itself around this Great Blue Heron’s neck and head. The heron was trying to figure out how to get itself out of this predicament and devour his uncooperative lunch. We’ll pick up the action there …

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Great Blue Heron – N.I.M.B.Y.

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Here’s another addition to my N.I.M.B.Y. – “Nature In My Back Yard” – collection of pictures and videos.  I was biking around our neighborhood near Bluffton and saw this handsome Great Blue Heron (is it a male or a female? not sure how to tell with these herons …) heading to a nearby lagoon in search of dinner.  It was no more than 25 feet away from the road, and I happened to have my pocket camera along with me – something I’ve learned to do more often now!

I rode on past, then parked my bike next to a tree and slowly walked back to where I could see him and snapped this shot – a very handsome bird framed by the trees with the lagoon behind him (or her):
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