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Daily Bucket - Friday sequence, Little Blue Heron [1]

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Date: 2023-08-25

I normally see Little Blue Herons when they are in non-breeding plumage. This is a typical photo of the species in my files.

Photo taken July 15th, 2023

More after the page break.

I headed back down to Grenada lake to see if I could repeat the sighting of the Limpkin from August 16th. Here is an aerial view of the site showing my position and each bird location.

Grenada Lake, near Bryant boat ramp. Birds within 200 feet of me.

To my right, I heard the croaks of Egrets and Herons. Suddenly, a Little Blue emerged from under the low limbs of nearby trees. It hunted as it moved forward.

46 second video

The Heron stopped on the shore and began hunting. I had not seen the hunting technique it used before. I suspect it was sweeping it’s head back and forth to focus on the prey. The tip of it’s beak was also used in this movement (possibly as a lure?).

left on one

right on two

left on three

right on four



left on five

center on six

Now you should see it in action. Here is a video of the motion.

53 second video

It moved on a few yards further and got into shallow water. This is what I am familiar seeing with this species when hunting. The motion was a bit faster than other birds I have seen, but flushing and catching fish is unlike the long frozen posture of Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets.

50 second video

Getting it’s fill, the Heron moved to a tiny sand bar to preen. It was there a long time. I was able to get several minutes of video, but edited to reduce time. I wanted to show the special moments (under the wings, breast plumage fluffing and a solid head scrubbing.)

You can see the lighter colors of feathers under the wing and near the breast. The head was buffed by the leading edge of the wing. It was a very thorough preening.

48 second video

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