The Great Blue Heron is a patient bird. Yesterday, it spent an hour on a dock ramp just watching for a fish before it caught a small meal.
This seems to be an adult female heron. It has a white crown, but even though it is breeding season there is only scant evidence of plumes on its head and neck.
It spent most of the hour staring at the water off the edge of the ramp. It would occasionally walk a short distance and stretch to its full height but was fairly dedicated to the task of watching for a tasty fish.
Once, it had a good scratch.
And once, it saw something in the water and dove in, only to come up empty.
On a second dive into the Lake, the heron did catch a fish.
And swallowed it. The gullet is swollen and the tail is visible. The heron then flew off.
Happy Heron! Fantastic swallowing shot of the fish beginning to swim the gullet.
Such an interesting bird to watch fishing…and catching!