I took this pic this morning near Marshall NC.

I saw one standing in a bean field in locust NC last week...

good pic

They sure need thinning out.

Really nice pic. We get to see them on our pond occasionally. My dad watched two males fight to the death a few years back. He said it was pretty brutal.

one has been in the retention pond by the fire house on Spencer for a few years now. It's not stupid enough to mess with the turkey herd a bit south of it.

Yes, yes they do.

This was the most foul smelling crap I've ever had to clean up. Imagine rotting lutefisk. I'm just glad the SOB missed me.

I have a tree stand looking over a creek. Last year every afternoon one would could walking down the creek looking for dinner.

They are the host for the little white worms that get in fish here. I hope they all fly somewhere else.

They frequently use my pond as a buffet for bream.

They’re pretty. Trail camera took this pic at the little creek on my farm, near Shelby, NC, back in May. I see it regularly and it’ll let me get fairly close. I guess it’s used to seeing my old truck.

Found one by my pond a month ago with its back eaten out. Don't know what did it, but I'd like to thank it.

shoot it.

Prob’ly common knowledge in these parts that herons host species of tapeworms where the alternate hosts are small fishes. In the fish the tapeworm larvae lodges in the brain. An affected minnow, still able to feed and survive, will periodically spin as it swims, making it highly visible and easy to catch.

Such that a significant proportion of fish caught by a heron or egret are these afflicted fish. In the heron the tapeworms regulate their own numbers so as not to kill the host.

An entire predator/prey dynamic regulated and driven by the parasite.

It is my understanding that the various spoons and spinners used by fishermen actually mimic parasitized fish.

Charley is a legend on the docks of Siesta Key.

Saw one standing along side the road while I was still in high school. Thought it odd that, one, it wasn't near water, and two, it didn't fly as I passed by. So I turned around and went to investigate. Walked right up to it and picked it up. It was obviously distressed, but I couldn't find any external damage.

I put in the car and drove to my girlfriends house, where I retrieved the bird as I got out of the car. All the family that was home at the time came out to see the heron. As I was standing there holding bird, it did nothing more than watch everyone. Except my girlfriends brother. The heron evidently didn't like the looks of said brother, and promptly speared him in the head with the pointy end of the beak, it's mouth open about a half inch. It must have hurt a bit since I thought I saw a puff of smoke from around the area of the furious rubbing.

Great story. David, is that you? Gee, nice to see you back. Hope you are doing well.

We call them cream shidters.

Friend of mine had one caught in a muskrat trap. Since the sensible thing to do was / is illegal, he decided to throw his coat over it and release it. Damn thing speared him right in the eye, ruptured the eyeball, permanently blinded in his right eye.

Back in the late 90’s when I was a helicopter pilot for Columbus P. D. A homicide detective called and said they had a tip on a missing woman. Tipster said her husband killed her and threw her body into the Scioto River. I flew that detective low and slow as safely possible from Columbus south to Circleville (about 30 miles). I counted 35 Blue Herons along the way. Didn’t find the missing woman though.

Ron

I just go down there to walk the dog, and there is always a heron or two fishing in the river. I like the way they look.
What is the problem you have with these big birds , are they eating the fish in your catfish pond or what?

I must say this bird looks like a badass with that neck coiled in a big "S."
A little froggie or a minnow wouldn't stand much of a chance.

We were out of town for a full day, when we returned about fifty of our fan tail gold fish and koi were laying around the pond. One of those cute heron birds found the pond, any fish too big to swallow, got tossed out on the bank to die. Cute ain't it.

It flew off and I did not see it ever come back, something may have happened to it.

See them often in our extended backyard which is a tidal marsh off the Ashley River. More white herons here, though. When I was a kid up north (60s) they were rare. Usually there’d be one down in the marsh behind the house for a week or so in the spring, then again in the fall. Spooky as hell, if it saw you 200 yards away it would take off. Around mid 70’s you started seeing a few in the summer, now they are all over up there. A number of bird species are common now that we seldom if ever saw in the late ‘50’s and early 60’s. I’ve often thought it must be tied to the elimination of DDT in the ecosystem.

Following me around when fishing on a beach, when we lived in Florida. He thought I was a better fisherman than I was, he was disappointed.

A 243 works well.

Let me guess, they are federally protected.

Great pics ss336. I am shooting a Nikon with a 6x lens, and then had to blow the pic up again in photo editing. I think you were closer to that guy on the beach.

He was pretty close. I think he was trying to pick my pocket.
Took the picture with my iPhone.

A 6mm or 6.5mm Creedmore n more is required for Blue herons.

You saw Paladin’s post before I did. In Texas a guy picked up an injured great egret (a kind of heron) and it nailed him in both his eyes at once by striking with an open beak. IIRC he didn’t lose an eye, but it didn’t help his vision any.

Herons of all descriptions are notorious for that.