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<\/a><\/p>\nFor a week or so before Christmas this Great Blue Heron hung around one of the few spots that had open water at Farmington Bay.\u00a0 When I’d arrive in early morning, temperatures were always just above zero degrees F. and this bird was usually in the same area.\u00a0 It was approachable because of the cold.<\/p>\n
Most\u00a0of these shots\u00a0were sidelit\u00a0so this post is more about behavior than it is image quality.\u00a0 Sorry, but this morning I simply don’t have time to post techs.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This shot provides the viewer with a better appreciation of the conditions.\u00a0 Everything was covered with hoarfrost and there are frost flowers growing on the surface of the ice.\u00a0 The only open water was where it was flowing relatively fast out of frame to the right.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Soon the bird decided it was time to go fishing so it walked\u00a0on the ice to the open water.\u00a0 This was fun to watch.\u00a0 The ice was as slick as it could be and the heron was obviously very concerned about falling so it walked ever so slowly and\u00a0carefully as it approached the edge of the ice.\u00a0 With such long legs its center of gravity would be very high so it would easy\u00a0for its legs to go out from under it.\u00a0 I likened\u00a0it to one of us trying to walk on the ice using stilts.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I expected the bird to fish from the ice edge but it didn’t.\u00a0 The ice is extremely thin where it meets the water and I wondered if it might have fallen through some time earlier.\u00a0 It stood erect and looked out over the small patch of open water, apparently looking for a promising fishing spot a few feet in front of it.\u00a0 When it had made the decision…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n it flew to the spot, perhaps 40′ away.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As it landed with those huge, intimidating wings\u00a0spread out\u00a0it scared the poop out of a coot, which is doing a belly-slide across the ice.\u00a0 At this point I left for opportunities elsewhere because the heron soon moved into the shade.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Six mornings later I found the same heron (most likely) in almost the same spot as before.\u00a0 It was even colder than before and if you look closely you’ll see a large and heavy mass of ice frozen to and hanging from\u00a0its belly feathers.\u00a0 This happens when the bird is fishing in open water and the air is very cold.\u00a0 I’ve seen the same thing several times before.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n