Our Guest Heron Du Jour: It’s Easy Being Green (Green Heron, That Is)
The Green Heron skulked about on the shoreline, seeking out small frogs for dinner, oblivious to the fox sniffing around the dock not fifteen feet away. The heron’s cap feathers were fully erect as though it was alarmed, but it kept on rooting in the muck as though a nearby fox was an everyday happening.
Great Blue Heron and Green Heron posing.
I was mesmerized the first time I saw a Green Heron – by the heron, but also by the fox. I had seen neither of them before in the cove, and I didn’t know which to photograph, and so I alternated between them.
The fox seemed unaware of the green heron, and paid no heed to the mallard ducks paddling off the end of the dock. He was on the scent of something on land, not water.
The green heron poked and prodded in the muck at water’s edge, pulling out small frogs. Apart from erecting his cap feathers to make himself appear larger, less vulnerable to predators, he seemed oblivious to the fox not fifteen feet away and kept on poking the muck as though a nearby fox was normal.
There’s little that is green about it, and with erect cap feathers channelling Don King’s hair, the green heron looked like the Rodney Dangerfield of herons. I found it an amusing little bird, and watched intently, wondering exactly why it was called “green” and what made it a heron?
My question was answered in part when the preening green heron assumed the pose shown in the photo at top here. Brings to mind an odd sort of “separated at birth” comparison.
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Thanks once again to Stewart Moncton for the Wild Bird Wednesday prompt.
Thanks also to Sue for the Word a Week Challenge: Pose.
Thanks to Ailsa for the Weekly Travel Theme: Short. (The Green Heron is so short, it’s hard to imagine it having much in common with the Great Blue Herons.)
Thanks to the kind folks at NaBloPoMo for the National Blog Posting Month challenge this November.
And thanks also to Michelle for the Weekly Pet Challenge Roundup nudge.
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A selection of my heron and flower photos are now available at the Five Crows Gallery in Natick, MA. Drop in and see the work of the many wonderfully creative artists who show there when you’re in the area.
Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2013 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Green Heron, Great Blue Heron
Posted on November 19, 2013, in A Word A Week Photo Challenge, ardea herodias, Birds, daily prompt, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Michelle's Weekly Pet Challenge, NaBloPoMo, Nature Photography, postaday, Weekly Travel Themes, Wild Bird Wednesday, Wildlife Photography and tagged great blue heron, NaBloPoMo, postaday. Bookmark the permalink. 42 Comments.
Babsje Heron 
That pose that green heron’s make is extraordinary – it looks so uncomfortable! RH
I agree it IS extraordinary. In the great blue heron it looks more graceful, less of a strain, but the green heron gets credit for effort. Many thanks for your comment!
Green herons are rare in Europe:
and
Thanks, that’s fascinating! They are not very common at my lake, either. I saw only one this year, down from previous years, due I’m sure to human-caused habitat destruction. Thanks for the ping packs. Best, Babsje
Probably, they only come rfto Europe if there is a strong west wind.
That makes sense. I wonder if the huge storm that hit the UK and Europe earlier this month brought many unexpected birds from the west. Thanks for your insightful comments!
Something about that storm in Britain:
http://pennyshotbirdingandlife.blogspot.nl/2013/10/norfolk-bird-news-in-raging-storms.html
Wow, phenomenal birds reported. Many thanks for this link!
Great captures! The Green heron is one of my favorites.
Many thanks for your visit and kind compliment, Eileen! Glad you like the green herons – I do, too.
Great photos of both herons. So how did it end? did the fox and heron both keep ignoring each other??
Thanks for your kind comment! Yes, they continued to ignore each other. The fox eventually wandered off away from the water into the underbrush, and I haven’t seen him since. The green heron spent the rest of that afternoon exploring both the north and south shores of the cove. Pretty interesting encounter all things considered.
Amazing pictures Babsje. Thanks for the entry 🙂
You’re welcome, glad you like them!
Both herons are beautiful birds.
So glad you like them both, thanks for your kind words!
Your birds photos are nice.
Greetings from Holland
Many thanks for your kind comment, I’m glad you like the herons!
What an amazing photo of the Green Heron with a fish. I put up three films about Green Herons last summer. I was thrilled with some of the footage I got, but none of it approached the clarity of that shot. I pointed out in the narration of one film that any Green Heron ever born could put a karate master to shame. Even when he was on one leg, his body oozed smoothly forward and he had a fish before I saw him strike.
Many thanks for your kind words! Funny you should mention it, but I do remember your observation about the heron putting a karate maste to shame, its a good point.
Wait, you remember my observation about karate masters? You saw that movie?
Yep, I remember seeing it!
Well, whaddaya know.
I agree that this heron is badly named. Red-bellied Woodpeckers are like that; Red-naped Woodpeckers would be a more accurate name. Who gave somebody permission to give that heron such a misleading name? Yes, I’ve seen the green, but only in perfect lighting and close up.
Indeed, some of the bird names make little sense to me. Every green heron I’ve seen has more brown and teal/blue than green. Go figure!
Oops. I just realized that the marvelous photo is of a Great Blue rather than a Green Heron.
Yes, I thought that was the one you were thinking of, no worries.
I wonder why the Green Heron did that pose?
Good question, Wayne. I’ve seen other types of Herons do that maneuver and I believe they do it to stretch. Great Blues do it a lot. I mean a LOT! I’d love to see a Goliath Heron doing that! Best, Babsje
Must be stretching?
Thanks Wayne! On the one hand, they use those long necks to strike out abruptly to spear fish and stretching would to keep them limber makes sense. On the other hand, the Heron is performing the yoga “down facing dog” position. Take her pick!
practicing spearing technique
Bingo, that’s it! I know Egrets do this, too, but I wonder about Cranes. I have never seen any Cranes. We apparently don’t have them here.
We don’t have any Cranes as well? I saw some Sandhill Cranes down In California once,so I suspect they like warmer climes?
I think you’re right! Your area is a subtropical rain forest, milder than here in winters. I suspect they may move there if the drought in California continues? Has that Egret been reported again?
temperate rainforest,a bit cooler which is why they don’t visit us.
Ah sorry I remembered rainforest but got the type wrong. You do have some flowering plants in the winter, right?
yes,I think we do?
Hi Wayne. Many thanks for your kind comment. Apologies for my delay in replying, but your comment ended up in WordPress spam unfortunately. Best, Babsje
https://www.cleanwatergrow.com/blog/2018/10/16/10-winter-flowering-plants-for-your-pacific-northwest-garden
Thank you for this link, Wayne. The idea of a trellis of Clematis in bloom in mid-winter is heavenly and those Camelias sound divine. We have Heather but not in winter. If you have blooming flowers, are the the Hummingbirds around as well? Thanks again for the link!
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