Yes, I agree. I saw this Great Blue Heron catch and eat a fish! I was so surprised because it was indeed just standing there and the moment sure took me by surprise. I love this bird. I hope to see it many more times.
We have many birds here, including several hawks, owls, and two days ago, I saw a large and seemingly very happy Red-bellied Woodpecker!
I look forward to springtime. My son is going to be my neighbor soon too! We are having some pretty hard times as I write, but soon, maybe things will change for the better.
Sorry times are hard! Sending you good vibes, and hopes for positive changes.
If you have great blue herons, you might get snowy and great egrets, night herons and green herons. The egrets are wading birds like the heron but pure white.
May the spirit of nature carry you and your son through the hard times. Nature cares for those who care for her.
Hi Michelle, lovely to see you posting again, and this is a wonderful Sign too.. as well as a great photo capture.. Reading the above looks like you have managed to make the move.. I hope all went smoothly and that you are not too exhausted by it all… Looking forward to hearing more from you, and as always sending you a Big Hug and lots of love.
Blessings to you Sue xox
Dearest Sue, Thank you for writing. I am okay, but the move put me in lots of pain. I should have hired some folks to do the lifting and moving. I did way too much. My son helped me. I think for sure it was the hardest move I’ve ever made. I like it where I am. It is in the city, so very different! We have a nice park though and nice trails along the creek. The park has beautiful sculptures. I am close to everything! I like that. I made a wonderful friend too. He is an older English (French/American) gentleman. What a lovely time we have over coffee. He tells me about his travels on the sea in a sail boat and the interesting people he’s met. I like having a nice friend 🙂
I hope to blog more this year. I haven’t forgotten about the award you gave me, so maybe I can accept that very soon. I hope you are doing well. We’ve had some cold weather. The sun has shined for two days and my family visited today.
I look forward to visiting your blog again. Sending you my love, and a big Hug to you too!!!
What a beautiful photo. Did you take it with a zoom lens? I’ve had trouble getting photos of these and other wild water birds. They have a very strange sense of danger. One took a liking to a drainage ditch across the street some years back, when I lived at the edge of the marsh.
A UPS truck could pull up next it, and the bird ignored the truck. But let little old me quietly try to come a few steps closer on the other side of the road, and the bird took off. What a sight in flight. Amazing wingspan. They’re color is natural to blend into their habitat, which also makes clear photos difficult. I discovered that if I drove my car slowly up beside the bird, and stopped, I had a good chance of photographing it through the driver’s side window.
It’s nice to hear from you, especially since much time has passed. I am not unpacked yet, by any means, but wanted to share this photo.
I dreamed about this bird, or one that looked like it, the night before moving here, and when I saw it fly, I was in awe! The heron likes to perch alongside the edges of our community pond. I can’t get too close, but without my dog, I can get within about ten feet!
I have a Canon G-11 and yes, there is a zoom lens on it, which I used. I was pretty close though and have scared it away twice. I’m going to be more careful next time I see it.
I also have taken a few photos of the heron from my car. I love our pond! You can drive around most of it, but each time I’ve seen this bird, I was walking.
The blue shows up clearly in this image, I think, but I must admit, I did wonder why sometimes they don’t look blue at all. We have a smaller green heron too. I hope to get a photo of that one soon.
Thanks for commenting, John. I hope to be more active in the blogging community this year. I hope too that you are doing well.
Yes, really good color in your photo. I think the background is shiny water, which makes the bird clearly visible. If you look at one of these birds against a background of light brown and gray winter marsh vegetation, they almost blend right in. Their plumage may change with the seasons, don’t know for sure.
I don’t know if they have any natural predators. Never seen a dog or cat try to approach one, as they would with other birds or squirrels. Think dogs and cats might be afraid of that big beak. Plus when they extend their wings, they must look like monsters to a dog or cat. Many dogs are frightened by opening an umbrella.
And of course, the heron can simply fly away from any ground predator. But mostly they just like to stand in shallow water waiting for food to come to them. Perfectly adapted for their habitat.
Hope your move went well. My move was right for me, but still creates a dislocated feeling.
John, Thanks for sharing your knowledge of the Great Blue Heron! I will learn more about them, I’m sure, but I think you’re right about dogs being afraid of them. Mine didn’t know what to think when she saw that big bird! She stood there, looking rather stunned. I’m not sure if she saw it fly away.
My son saw a large heron when he was young and we were in Texas. (Everything does look bigger in that state). Well, he was going fishing and came running back, had left his rod at the pond, declaring to us that he had seen a, “dinosaur bird.” It was the shadow above him that he had seen and with the big sky out there, it did look mighty big!
I’m glad you like your new place. I like many things about mine too. My move put me in lots of pain. It was super hard! I like the pond and creek, and there is a great city park nearby too. I like the people. Chapel Hill is a pretty cool place to be.
The nights are strange though. The city lights make it look like it never gets dark. I miss the night sky, the sound of silence, and my beloved birds. Today was better. I had many winged visitors. I don’t have spiders crawling anymore and have met some nice folks. I still feel unsettled and like you say, dislocated. I hope we both feel at home soon 🙂
Chapel Hill sounds like an excellent choice of location, to me. Intelligent, open-minded people around. Relatively mild climate, but still have seasons.
I’m in the congested, materialistic, soulless suburbs north of D.C. — Montgomery County, 1 million people. It must be the largest, richest jurisdiction in America without a university. But still, a highly educated and diverse population. Positive: I’ve met quite a lot of my neighbors. Negative: apartment mgmt doesn’t allow cats, dogs or herons. Don’t know if that’s sustainable for the long term.
Green Healing Girl 
Your photograph captures the real and the essence of the great blue heron. An interesting bird to watch “fish,” as it so patiently stands waiting.
Hi Phy,
Yes, I agree. I saw this Great Blue Heron catch and eat a fish! I was so surprised because it was indeed just standing there and the moment sure took me by surprise. I love this bird. I hope to see it many more times.
We have many birds here, including several hawks, owls, and two days ago, I saw a large and seemingly very happy Red-bellied Woodpecker!
I look forward to springtime. My son is going to be my neighbor soon too! We are having some pretty hard times as I write, but soon, maybe things will change for the better.
Hugs and Love to you my friend!
Sorry times are hard! Sending you good vibes, and hopes for positive changes.
If you have great blue herons, you might get snowy and great egrets, night herons and green herons. The egrets are wading birds like the heron but pure white.
May the spirit of nature carry you and your son through the hard times. Nature cares for those who care for her.
Hi Michelle, lovely to see you posting again, and this is a wonderful Sign too.. as well as a great photo capture.. Reading the above looks like you have managed to make the move.. I hope all went smoothly and that you are not too exhausted by it all… Looking forward to hearing more from you, and as always sending you a Big Hug and lots of love.
Blessings to you Sue xox
Dearest Sue, Thank you for writing. I am okay, but the move put me in lots of pain. I should have hired some folks to do the lifting and moving. I did way too much. My son helped me. I think for sure it was the hardest move I’ve ever made. I like it where I am. It is in the city, so very different! We have a nice park though and nice trails along the creek. The park has beautiful sculptures. I am close to everything! I like that. I made a wonderful friend too. He is an older English (French/American) gentleman. What a lovely time we have over coffee. He tells me about his travels on the sea in a sail boat and the interesting people he’s met. I like having a nice friend 🙂
I hope to blog more this year. I haven’t forgotten about the award you gave me, so maybe I can accept that very soon. I hope you are doing well. We’ve had some cold weather. The sun has shined for two days and my family visited today.
I look forward to visiting your blog again. Sending you my love, and a big Hug to you too!!!
Peace and Blessings,
Your friend,
Michelle.
What a beautiful photo. Did you take it with a zoom lens? I’ve had trouble getting photos of these and other wild water birds. They have a very strange sense of danger. One took a liking to a drainage ditch across the street some years back, when I lived at the edge of the marsh.
A UPS truck could pull up next it, and the bird ignored the truck. But let little old me quietly try to come a few steps closer on the other side of the road, and the bird took off. What a sight in flight. Amazing wingspan. They’re color is natural to blend into their habitat, which also makes clear photos difficult. I discovered that if I drove my car slowly up beside the bird, and stopped, I had a good chance of photographing it through the driver’s side window.
Hi John,
It’s nice to hear from you, especially since much time has passed. I am not unpacked yet, by any means, but wanted to share this photo.
I dreamed about this bird, or one that looked like it, the night before moving here, and when I saw it fly, I was in awe! The heron likes to perch alongside the edges of our community pond. I can’t get too close, but without my dog, I can get within about ten feet!
I have a Canon G-11 and yes, there is a zoom lens on it, which I used. I was pretty close though and have scared it away twice. I’m going to be more careful next time I see it.
I also have taken a few photos of the heron from my car. I love our pond! You can drive around most of it, but each time I’ve seen this bird, I was walking.
The blue shows up clearly in this image, I think, but I must admit, I did wonder why sometimes they don’t look blue at all. We have a smaller green heron too. I hope to get a photo of that one soon.
Thanks for commenting, John. I hope to be more active in the blogging community this year. I hope too that you are doing well.
Warmly,
Michelle.
Yes, really good color in your photo. I think the background is shiny water, which makes the bird clearly visible. If you look at one of these birds against a background of light brown and gray winter marsh vegetation, they almost blend right in. Their plumage may change with the seasons, don’t know for sure.
I don’t know if they have any natural predators. Never seen a dog or cat try to approach one, as they would with other birds or squirrels. Think dogs and cats might be afraid of that big beak. Plus when they extend their wings, they must look like monsters to a dog or cat. Many dogs are frightened by opening an umbrella.
And of course, the heron can simply fly away from any ground predator. But mostly they just like to stand in shallow water waiting for food to come to them. Perfectly adapted for their habitat.
Hope your move went well. My move was right for me, but still creates a dislocated feeling.
John, Thanks for sharing your knowledge of the Great Blue Heron! I will learn more about them, I’m sure, but I think you’re right about dogs being afraid of them. Mine didn’t know what to think when she saw that big bird! She stood there, looking rather stunned. I’m not sure if she saw it fly away.
My son saw a large heron when he was young and we were in Texas. (Everything does look bigger in that state). Well, he was going fishing and came running back, had left his rod at the pond, declaring to us that he had seen a, “dinosaur bird.” It was the shadow above him that he had seen and with the big sky out there, it did look mighty big!
I’m glad you like your new place. I like many things about mine too. My move put me in lots of pain. It was super hard! I like the pond and creek, and there is a great city park nearby too. I like the people. Chapel Hill is a pretty cool place to be.
The nights are strange though. The city lights make it look like it never gets dark. I miss the night sky, the sound of silence, and my beloved birds. Today was better. I had many winged visitors. I don’t have spiders crawling anymore and have met some nice folks. I still feel unsettled and like you say, dislocated. I hope we both feel at home soon 🙂
Chapel Hill sounds like an excellent choice of location, to me. Intelligent, open-minded people around. Relatively mild climate, but still have seasons.
I’m in the congested, materialistic, soulless suburbs north of D.C. — Montgomery County, 1 million people. It must be the largest, richest jurisdiction in America without a university. But still, a highly educated and diverse population. Positive: I’ve met quite a lot of my neighbors. Negative: apartment mgmt doesn’t allow cats, dogs or herons. Don’t know if that’s sustainable for the long term.