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Project Noah Nature School
Ardea herodias
Whether poised at a river bend or cruising the coastline with slow, deep wingbeats, the Great Blue Heron is a majestic sight. This stately heron with its subtle blue-gray plumage often stands motionless as it scans for prey or wades belly deep with long, deliberate steps. They may move slowly, but Great Blue Herons can strike like lightning to grab a fish or snap up a gopher. In flight, look for this widespread heron’s tucked-in neck and long legs trailing out behind.
The Great Blue Herons at Garin Regional Park in Hayward are expert gopher hunters. The meadow is loaded with them and the herons can catch 2 or 3 in an hour. After first catching the gopher, the heron turned it around in order to swallow it tail first.
Spotted on Jun 1, 2012
Submitted on Jun 1, 2012
6 Comments
Great series, Donna. I like your description of gopher hunting.
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I was thinking that they only eat little fish ! Interesting !!
Absolutely awesome spotting! Maybe the Heron was really hungry and didn't care which end went first as the prey is rather round on both ends? hehehe
They do usually swallow their prey head first. Don't know why this gopher went down the other end.
Interesting. I wonder why he would swallow it tail first. They usually swallow their food head first.
Awesome series. Was that some kind of rodent it was eating?