Wading Great Blue

A great blue heron wades in the shallows of Tampa, Florida's Lettuce Lake Park.... more

by Norman Johnson

Title

Wading Great Blue

Artist

Norman Johnson

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

A great blue heron wades in the shallows of Tampa, Florida's Lettuce Lake Park.

Great blue herons (ardea herodias) can be found in any watery habitat from Alaska and Canada, down through the United States into Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and the northern tip of South America. They are a partial migrant, moving only when the water freezes over and a rare vagrant to Europe.

The great blue heron is a opportunistic feeder, eating mainly fish, but will devour almost anything edible that comes within striking distance. It tends to stand very still waiting for its prey to come to it. You will see it wading slowly, up to belly deep in water, or standing like a statue.

They build stick nests in bushes or trees in colonies, usually over water or on a small island surrounded by water. They lose the occassional chick that falls out of the nest to alligators, but in exchange the alligators keep other predators like raccoons from getting to the nests.

Uploaded

August 15th, 2019