A young Great Blue Heron surveys alligator alley from atop an old tree trunk buried in the mud on Horsepen Bayou. He/she will get those mature feathers in a bit, but I call them Great Brown Herons when they are in this stage…my own terminology. This truth is that I know very little about these birds except for the fact that are not as skittish as youngsters as they are when they mature.
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You’ve been out in the sun a bit too long canoe boy!! This another capture of the juvenile Great Blue Heron that I found on Horsepen Bayou last week. This one is perched on an old branch buried in the mud near the bank. I do sort of like the bisque and gray tones that he’s wearing.
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To say that these armored beasts have blood wars would be an understatement because this is not the first alligator that I have seen with an injury to its eye. I have also seen them with missing limbs and with disfigured jaws, so they do inflict damage during their territorial wars. They do fight and I have no idea how long ago this happened. It’s not a pretty sight and I have no idea if the mass of tissue will go away or not. I don’t think that the overall health of the alligator is threatened because of the healing properties contained in their blood. If you would like a bit more information about the healing properties in their blood, please click on the link below. I will continue to give this one a bit more room when I see him because of the injury. I have no idea of how he feels or how much more aggressive the injury makes him. This is not a small alligator either and is in the 12-foot range…give or take a few inches. Photo taken on Horsepen Bayou.
I guess I should be a bit more specific and say that there is a lot of damaged tissue where his left eye should be.
www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2008/04/alligator-bloo...
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I will quit complaining about not getting close to these monsters, because there would be two separate encounters on this particular outing. I had no idea that he was there and was concentrating on a Tri-colored Heron that was perched on an old snag nearby. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw him keeping an eye on me through the reeds. I did manage to turn the canoe around and grab a few shots before he went croaking off into the distance. Great Blue Heron captured in the flats on Horsepen Bayou.
I am sure that some of you are wondering why I don’t have more shots of birds when they fly away, but there are some things that happen in a canoe that you have to be aware of and especially in a solo canoe. The camera with the zoom lens attached requires two hands. Although I can paddle the canoe about with one hand, it is usually a two-handed operation. I am left with a choice. I can either take photos or allow the wind to push me out of range or position for a picture, but there is no way to do both. The birds that I encounter care little about the noise of the shutter for some reason but keep an eye open for any type of move that I make. The minute I put the camera down and reach for the paddle, the bird or animal usually bolts, and the session is ended, and the wind was blowing on this particular day.
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Tags: WanaM3 Nikon D7100 Nikon D7100 Texas Pasadena Clear Lake City Horsepen Bayou bayou reeds nature wildlife outdoors nature photography animal bird canoeing paddling heron GBH Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
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Not often that I get an opportunity like this and was able to take advantage of the juvenile Great Blue Heron as it attempted to figure out just how that fishing thingy should really work. I thought that I was done for the day and paddling near the boardwalk at Bay Area Park when something stumbled out of the grasses on the banks of Armand Bayou and flopped into the water as if it were passing out. I was moving along at a fair clip in the canoe and had a difficult time getting it stopped. I moved close to the bank and lo and behold, junior made his way back to the water’s edge even though I was nearby. He continued to search the water but was having very little luck with catching anything. Let’s hope that he was able to figure it all out. Great Blue Herons tend to be one of the more skittish birds that I encounter, but this was the second opportunity that came my way on this particular day.
Just want to let everyone know that Hurricane Zeta is well to the east of us and moving inland at a rapid pace. It poses not threat to our area but spare your thoughts and prayers for those who are dealing with their second storm. I know that they are still trying to recover from the last hurricane.
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Tags: WanaM3 Nikon D7100 Nikon D7100 Texas Pasadena Clear Lake City Armand Bayou bayou Bay Area Park park nature outdoors wildlife canoeing paddling nature photography animal bird heron GBH Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias juvenile
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