We have a Great Blue Heron who visits us frequently. Big Blue struts slowly along the edge of the water, spearing anything he can with that sharp beak of his. Mostly he just takes small minnow sized prey. But I have seen him get a small fish probably about 7 to 8 inches long, and then really struggle to control it and swallow it afterward.

He is very skittish. A human coming outdoors anywhere around the lake will put him up into the air. When truely startled or challenged by another bird, he is the loudest animal on the lake. The noise he makes I can only compare to the sound of someone banging bamboo sticks together very rapidly.

Because of his timidity with respect to humans, I had to take this shot from inside the house thru window glass and screen. Thus it’s photographically not really up to the quality I try for – pale, washed out, and slightly soft (diffusion effect of the screen I suspect). But I couldn’t just not show him to you. So I will apologize for the quality of the photo, and hope maybe someday I can catch a shot of him from outside the house.