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.
A Little Blue Heron waded back and forth in a small, shallow pond, methodically hunting.
Occasionally he stabbed the water, without success as I watched.
Little Blues are all white when they hatch and around a year old start to transition to the full blue of adulthood.
From the other side of the pond I had a back-lit view of the Heron as he continued to hunt.
I was standing at the edge of a small pond when this Little Blue Heron landed in a tree above me. Surprisingly he stayed put even though several other folks walked underneath him, most without even noticing him.
With breeding season over the wading birds tend to ignore each other but this one had his eye on something, and was chatting about it.
Hmm, a big stare. I could hear an Anhinga also doing a bit of bird chat, too. I never expected it would be up even higher than the Little Blue, where he continued to stare.
When I moved on I finally spotted the Anghinga in the highest available spot looking out over a pond behind where the Little Blue Heron stood.
Just as I was leaving the pond one day last week a Little Blue Heron flew into the corner.
Of course I stopped to take his picture as he glided in.
He effortlessly dropped down into the tall grass so I didn’t get the full landing.
A juvenile Little Blue Heron learning to fly landed in a pine tree right above me when he veered away from the pond. I didn’t see the landing but it didn’t sound graceful as he flapped around.
He wasn’t sure what to do next and the adult that had been leading him down the pond had kept on going.
After a minute he figured out he’d been left behind and went off in the same direction as his parent and a sibling.
We don’t have as good a view of the Little Blue Herons learning to fly this summer because of the position of the nests but the glimpses we get are entertaining.
Little Blue Herons will perch on logs or rocks to search for food rather than wade if something solid is available. With the water completely covered in duck weed it’s hard to say how deep it is.
This pond has had a lot of water level changes, up and down, this spring which has freed a number of fallen tree branches that had been hung up on the edges. This Little Blue Heron took full advantage of a log as a hunting spot.
I couldn’t make out what he was plucking out of the water but it seemed to satisfy him.
It’s nice to have a breeze around the pond but sometimes it blows low hanging branches into your shot. I still liked the pose and colors of this Little Blue Heron.
I was able to move a few steps for a different angle, however the bird was on the move.
He paused for a quick look around.
See ya later!
