Saturday, March 20, 2010

Camera Critters # 102 - Great Blue Heron



The Great Blue Herons are back in Ohio at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and building their nests.
Sometimes they land way up high and look for a good spot to build.
They are very picky as to the placement of every branch.

Some have paired off and are building the nest as a couple.

While others are just starting.
They are beautiful bird.

You can see a lot of other neat critters above.

54 comments:

abb said...

How wonderful is that? Wish we had nesting Great Blue's on our pond.

Jenn Jilks said...

Great to see spring springing!
A skiff of ice on open water; sun rises over the trees; another day springs with warmth and light.

wenn said...

wow, such beautiful bird!

Naturegirl said...

Great images Fishing Guy!!!
I had to enlarge the one with the pairs...COOL!!!!
Spring has arrived for sure!!!!!

Rajesh said...

Wonderful captures. They have built so many nests in one tree.

Michael said...

Wow. So many in one tree. Brilliant birds.

i beati said...

snowdrops how I love those- The great blue babies I saw the first this week ever. that's a lot of nests sandy

Chubskulit Rose said...

Oh my goodness, lots of beautiful shots here.

My Camera Critters post, have a nice Saturday morning.

lina@happy family said...

Great captures... love seeing all...

Coffeeveggie addict. said...

indeed,they are very beautiful birds....

Adrienne Zwart said...

These are great images Tom! I haven't gotten up to CVNP yet, but I did discover a small rookery near my home, and of course, I featured one of my photos of herons today as well. I love spring!

blog with no name said...

A circle is drawn once again... time to dance in the light of the sun once again! Let's all put on our dancing shoes!!

~✽Mumsy✽~ said...

Wow...wow..those are just fantastic shots..beautiful heron!

Jane Hards Photography said...

I still have not even got the shot of the local heron our way. Truly magnificent birds and captures. Something very prehistoric about these birds. Love 'em.

Tom said...

Fantastic set of pictures... beats my post on the local Magpies I posted this week... ha!

Shey said...

These are amazing photos! I totally enjoyed seeing them. Thanks. :)

imac said...

What wonderful shots Tom.

Have you packed you case yet??

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

These pictures are amazing.To see these large birds perched in the trees is almost comical.
Blessings,Ruth

Anonymous said...

Wonderful pictures of the great blue herons building their nests!

Cezar and Léia said...

Ha! The first picture gave me the funny impression that the bird was going to crash into the tree! :) Anyway, this animal is full of grace!
God bless you!
Cezar

KaHolly said...

What an amazing photo essay! That first picture is classic! Thank you so much for sharing this series of pictures. I'm loving it!! ~karen

Snap said...

I LOVE great blue herons -- one of my favorites. Wonderful!

jabblog said...

Lovely sequence of photos. I believe the American Blue Heron (is that the same as the Great Blue Heron?) is very closely related to our Grey heron. Ours have been nesting for some weeks nowand share their nest site with a gulp of cormorants.

eileeninmd said...

Great shots of the herons. It is fun to watch them build their nest.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Tom, I love seeing the rookery.... The herons are such gorgeous birds... Keep checking on them and posting pictures for us. Okay???
Betsy

eden said...

Beautiful shots as always, Tom. They are such beautiful birds.

Carolyn Ford said...

Fabulous! I learned something today! I had NO idea where the Great Blue's built their nests...I love these shots! And, so many in one tree. Amazing.

George said...

You got great pictures of the herons building their nests. You're right -- they are beautiful birds.

Willard said...

A fascinating series, Tom. I have not gotten to document this activity by these beautiful birds.

Martha said...

Great captures. I love the one building the nest :-)

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

How cool! They are beautiful birds.

myonlyphoto said...

Wow look at the collection of nests, you must be seeing them a lot in your area. We have some but only some, and never seen their nests. Excellent images thanks for sharing, looks like spring is around the corner with a snow fall for us. Anna :)

LadyFi said...

Wow - great close-ups of these gorgeous birds!

Johnny Nutcase said...

ah! really nice! I love when they are in their breeding plumage, great post! Who doesn't love Great Blues!

Rose said...

These are great shots...I have seen a couple here also. The ones I see are so skittish it is very hard to get a shot.

SandyCarlson said...

These are amazing. Beautiful shots.

Small Reflections said...

Lucky YOU ;-)
Thanks so much for sharing your good fortune with us in these magnificent photographs!
Hugs and blessings,

Unknown said...

He's gorgeous (and so are your shots!).
I've seen them (well, their grey brothers in Europe and here) many times, but never ever nesting.
Lucky you!

Craver Vii said...

Yes, this sure is a beautiful creature. I am surprised at how close it let you get.

Hilary said...

These are incredible. I saw one heron do a fly-by the other day and they visit my local pond frequently during the warmer months but I've never seen them nesting like this. That is just too cool.

Tammie Lee said...

Oh what fun to see this and capture it in photos. Thanks for sharing these.

Tipper said...

Wow-now that is a big nest : )

Sueann said...

Wowzers! I have never seen a heron nest building like that! Great shots!
Congrats on your POTW award too
Hugs
SueAnn

Tabor said...

The one resident heron just returned to our end of the river with spring. They are tremendously awkwardly elegant. Congrats on your POTW

Dianne said...

they're so graceful yet prehistoric looking at the same time

great photos

congrats on POTW

Cricket said...

An amazing series of photos. Congratulations on the potw.

Daryl said...

Congrats on POTW mention from Hilary

Land of shimp said...

Absolutely fantastic! Wonderfully captured images, and I thank you for sharing them. I'm making a mental note to show these to my husband tonight, he'll be so pleased to see them, as he has a great love of Herons. You see? The gift that keeps going, and giving to others.

Congratulations of the post of the week mention over at Hilary's blog.

You made me think of something, just an ordinary memory, but one I've had for years. So much happens around us every day, but I remember this perfectly. I was out for a swim, the only person in the pool, floating on my back staring up at the sky when a Heron passed by overhead. It was such an impressive sight, that long body just gliding by about ten feet above me. It was very startling and I shot up to watch it continue on its way.

It's funny how that kind of beauty just stays with you, it's an impressive kind when it comes to Blue Herons. They seem so incongruous, don't they? That big bird perching on the high branches.

I wonder if, back in the day when men first began to dream of flight, if it wasn't birds like that making them believe it was possible. This huge creature conquering the air so effortlessly.

Well, clearly I'm musing too much this morning.

Unknown said...

congrats on the POTw,

and I echo Hilary's comment. We see them sporadically around here , but I had no idea they nested in trees like this.
These are great photos, thank you for sharing them,
and I look forward to checking out the rest of your blog.

Unknown said...

Wow. These are just beautiful. What a magnificent post! I loved every image!

Cedar said...

It was like Condos for Heron...you think they get fish take out?

järnebrand said...

Nice. :)Loved those photos... Beautiful birds. Congrats on the POTW mentioning at Hilarys! Enjoyed this post.
Love/ Jo.

EcoRover said...

That's a great rookery! We had one like it nearby, but the bald eagles got on it and wiped it out in 2 or 3 years.

Twisted Fencepost said...

These are one of my favorites to watch at the lake.
Love the picture with all the nests.