Because of the pond near my place we sometimes see more exotic birds than one might usually expect to see in West Virginia.

We have a perennial nesting pair of Canada Geese (**** farms in my opinion) and the female is currently sitting the nest while the male is 'on patrol'.
I heard a commotion this afternoon and saw the male tear across the surface of the water going after something unseen; I had seen a dog messing around the bank and figured it probably ventured too close to the clutch. Then it caught my eye - a young Great Blue Heron (known to eat small goslings) was being harassed by daddy goose. As I grabbed my camera and headed toward the pond mamma came off the nest to join the fray as poppa apparently wasn't intimidating the blue.

I managed to grab the 300mm lens but my approach still distracted the big bird and he became wary. The geese used the opportunity to withdraw to more dense cover.

I managed to snap several pics with the motor drive until the heron decided to decamp to an overwatch position in a tall pine . . . .

I gather he (she ?) is a young specimen as the 'crest' plumage hasn't yet developed.
We see egrets of different types at times as well as the owls and red hawks that call this their hunting ground.

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Qui plantavit curabit

Great capture of in flight pics. I have enjoyed seeing them many times back in the Shenandoah Valley and out here in Colorado. They are always a treat !

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Y. B. Ord & A. Ree

Here in Ohio, the GBH is a common sight. In and near the flyways folks see the uncommon. Around us, not too many unusual ones.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

We have a small lake at the end of our street, about 1/8 mile away. There is usually a great egret and coots there along with the ubiquitous domestic ducks. We also get green herons, great blue herons, yellow & black crowned night herons, cormorants, pied billed grebes and black bellied whistling ducks to name a few.

I have a great blue Thunderbird

We travel to Northern Illinois four times a year for business, we spend a total of two months up there. We stay near Fox Lake and the chain of lakes area. April, 2023 we are looking out and see about 1000 white birds landing in the lake outside the house we rent. Huge white birds! We looked at each others and said, “Pelicans?” Indeed, apparently, the birds migrate to Canada to mate and stop in the Fox Lake area. Cool, but certainly a bit of a surprise!

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

Saw the same Pelicans at about the same time you did. Private lake North Barrinton IL.Clients home. There was thousands!!!

I used to have an old farmer neighbor who also ran a family commercial fishery business. He had numerous small stock ponds all around the farm & the Blue Herons were always present from early summer on. He told me it was amazing how much damage they could inflict on his stock if left to their own ways. He also told me the strangest thing, when he found them on his stock ponds they had a tendency to spring leaks and then just topple over. He just assumed they had some sort of affliction.

We get them over this way, mostly in the fall - winter.
I think they’re all gone now.
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

I guess I'm spoiled. The land I hunt borders the Rainey Audubon sanctuary and we see blue herons, ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, countless shore birds like rail and gallinule, flocks of hawks (who sometimes snare a downed duck) the occasional pelican along with ducks. It truly is a birder's paradise

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Forum consigliere

We also have a pond. I once had one land about 15 feet from me, walk right by me within touching distance and go to the pond to hunt. As it went by me it looked at me like I owed it money.

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The best I can with what I got

Blue herons eat small fish and frogs...not good if you have a pond...I like the post #8 above from the farmer about them springing "leaks"...

Fortunately (or not depending on your point of view) the location isn't conducive to such hanging around for long. The nasty Canada Geese on the other hand . . . .

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Qui plantavit curabit

....were canoeing in the upper part of the Ashley river on a beautiful fall day and a Great Blue kept landing in the trees ahead of us. When we caught up with him he would take flight and move ahead a few dozen yards. He did this about 5 times untii he flew away. What a GORGEOUS sight!

Another story. Once when I was kind of hung over and headed to work the sun was shining in my eyes and I was squinting right into the sun. Ahead of me standing in the middle of the road was this 'thing' in the glare of the sun that stood over the height of my hood. I thought it was some kind of alien from outer space but when I got close to it, it spread its wings and flew off. Beautiful Blue Heron.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

The second weirdest Bird I ever saw at the Bosque del Apache was a Pelican.
Who was heard to say - I must have taken the wrong turn at Galveston!
The Top Guy - see this big white bird in the middle of the largest pond.
Ask when I leave , what is that?
It’s an Arctic Swan.
Our first one.
Me too!
Just checked, I do have a not very good pic.
He was a loong ways out!

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

I bought a GBH confidence decoy long ago. A couple of years later, I bought a decoy shaped identical painted white, like an egret. We hunted small potholes in the marsh we had to hike to. We would put our backs to the wind if we could. Decoys out in front of us scattered about. We had to wrap the white bird in burlap to keep the mud off. After building a makeshift blind, I would walk about 80 yards in front to our 10 o'clock
at the edge of the hole and place the
egret decoy on a small pole for a confidence decoy. We usually saw more egrets where we hunted than GBH.

One mid morning, a white egret cupped into the wind and lit about five to six feet to the decoy's side, all lined up like two were sitting there.
We watched Romeo sit there without even turning his head toward the decoy for about ten solid minutes. Never looking at the decoy, he started preening. He preened about five minutes then settled back motionless.
After about another five minutes, he very s l o w l y turned his head and neck for a quick glance. Next came a longer gaze.. He flew away after not getting any attention. We went back to watching for ducks. Where is a video cam when needed? It was quite the treat.

STRAW HAT, ST. MARYS Ohio HAS A LARGE FLOCK OF WHITE PELICANS IN GRAND LAKE ,ALSO A COUPLE OF BALD EAGLE NEST.

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age is just a number

Brazos Bend State Park is about 25 miles south of us. Before Mom's dementia got so bad I used to go down there and hike around with my camera for a few hours a couple times a month. The last time I went there was a gaggle of baby alligators with Mom close by.

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We get great blue herons in New Jersey

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They are wonderful birds, We called them "Goony Birds".

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No baby we aint

Interesting note: the term for a group of alligators is a congregation. Same for crocs.


Means Rusty has a congregation in his shoe closet.

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The best I can with what I got

Good photos. I love those birds. I've always thought they have a prehistoric look to them...

I was fortunate enough to capture one as he went for a fish. I took these from the deck of our apartment:

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I live on a canal (big drainage ditch) in S. FL. I see all sorts of wildlife on this canal, ranging from birds to coyotes. My backyard is recognized as the local Dew Drop INN for numerous Black-Bellied Whistler ducks daily. If it flies, I see it in my backyard. Bobcats, great big lizards that live in water, you name it. I get to see it all. I pity the city folks that only get to see pigeons. It's nice to sit on my patio in the evening with an Old Fashioned in my hand while watching the wildlife world go by.

Took a while but ol' Blue choked it down.

I was walking in the park yesterday and witnessed a heron in freeze mode then suddenly it struck and yanked a gopher from its hole.
Gulp. Swallowed.

Man, you guys have all the fun. All I ever get in my yard are doves, quail, house finches, mockingbirds, curved bill thrashers, sparrows, grackles, hummingbirds, and the occasional blue jay.

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Or something like that . . .

Somewhere in my photo collection I have a shot of a GBH standing in a boat that had an awning so he could keep out of the sun. Some kind of Night Heron used to live by one of the artificial lakes near where I first lived in Vegas. Turned the corner into my cul-de-sac one night and there it was, standing in the street.

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Release the Kraken

Build a pond and stock it with fish and you will have all the blue herons you want UNTIL THEY EAT ALL OF YOUR FISH!

We get them in my area in the Rock River,from Dixon to Rock Falls.

You know the little sucker fish that clean the walls of fish tanks? They get bigger when dumped in the wild.

You also never know when a yellow crowned night heron is going to stop by and stay a while on the house.

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Nature is truly majestic. Thank you for sharing these photos (OP/everyone).

Saw a mating pair of bald eagles yesterday afternoon, flying and socializing. It was both peaceful and awe inspiring...but I'm a 'softy' the older I get...

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Rather be outdoors

One more. Wife and I saw this one on one of our drives through the Flint Hills of Kansas (where we live). A number of years ago I was turkey hunting here, and walked in while still dark and sat down with a tree at my back. There was a small slough behind me. Before daylight I was startled by a loud "croak", and it continued off and on for the next 20 minutes or so. When it got light enough to see, I peeked around the tree and saw a Blue Heron in the slough. Now that I know what one sounds like, I can stop thinking alien creature.

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SWCA 3297 SWHF 583

Down town Sevierville, Tn; behind an auto parts store.

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Wow, never seen anything like that before!

I can’t believe it was able to choke down a baby alligator!
Larry

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Great pics!! Question do you ever see or hear WV bigfoot the Yahoo monster?

Well, I have seen a few things in Walmart after midnight that I couldn't positively identify . . .

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Qui plantavit curabit