Not far from where I saw Juvenile Little Blue Heron Hunting this fellow was feeding more out in the open and may even be the same bird.
He was catching little creepy-crawly things in the shallow water, swallowing before he lifted his head.
A juvenile Little Blue Heron poked along the edge of a pond in between some Cypress knees looking for a meal.
He quickly swallowed a couple of small finds.
After a bit he flew up onto a bridge railing and showed off his mottled blue coloration. Sometime in their second year the Little Blues become fully blue.
I missed the Little Blue Heron catching his lunch, but did see him wrestling a bit with it.
Seeing the action from behind the bird gave an interesting view of the fish.
Finally, lined up correctly…
… and down the hatch.
Herons like to land on things sticking out of the water rather than jumping right in if possible.
Sticks, rocks, and yes I’ve seen them land on Alligators.
This time the landing pad turned out to be a log.
The nearby Alligator didn’t seem to pay much notice as the Little Blue strutted by.
However, as the Little Blue turned, the Alligator sunk down.
Certainly the Little Blue Heron is not a threat to the Alligator, but he may not know that.
If this juvenile Little Blue Heron’s presence was any indication this pond-side vegetation must harbor a lot of snacks.
Last spring I spotted him feeding here every time I passed by for several weeks in a row.
Step and poke, back and forth.
Success! A bird this size has to find an awful lot of small creatures to consume to survive– a full time occupation.
April 15, 2019
This Little Blue Heron landed on the boardwalk railing for a look around.
I hoped to get closer but knew when he “roused” he be taking off soon.
And he did, flying quite close to me showing off his blue.
He didn’t go far, landing in the tall marsh grasses just off the boardwalk.
April 10, 2019
Shem Creek, Mount Pleasant, SC
This juvenile Juvenile Little Blue Heron is just starting to show some mottling as he turns from white to blue.
He was the only wading bird around this small pond at the end of the afternoon.
He took his time poking around the perimeter, going in and out of the dappled sun.
This juvenile Little Blue Heron was just poking along in between the swamp sunflowers.
Their preferred hunting ground is in the water which was just behind this flower clump, but herons will eat insects and anoles found on dry land.
This fellow in with the flowers was a nice picture, even if he didn’t find any lunch.
This pond was dried out by management earlier this summer as work was done on the infrastructure. Now that the water has returned different vegetation is thriving.
A Little Blue Heron was poking his way along between some plants, some with pink flowers.
He had the place to himself and took his time; I didn’t see him catch any lunch.
I spotted several Little Blue Herons around the old rice field pond one recent morning. The first one was standing on a pile of vegetation debris out in the middle of the pond, staring intently at the water.
The next one found a fallen tree branch to his liking, although that pose with twisted legs doesn’t look that comfortable.
This final fellow was actively searching for lunch, slowly and deliberately plodding through the shallow water.
