This pugnacious juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron decided to take on a group of Snowy Egrets for the best fishing spot in this pond at Bear River MBR three days ago.
1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
The heron approached the egrets slowly at first…
1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
but it quickly gained speed. Here it appears that it was threatening the first egret on the right but that wasn’t the case and the egret seemed to know it. The heron’s goal was to take over the far right end of this spit of rocks but there were two more egrets already there and it was intent on chasing them off so it could fish from that area.
1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
The herons threat posture was obvious so the first egret took it seriously and vacated the rock but it didn’t go far. But there was another egret on the best rock for fishing just out of frame to the right…
1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
so the heron turned its attention to that bird, chased it off..
1/3200, f/6.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
and took over the rock. It fished from here for a while but when it was unsuccessful it…
1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 250, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
moved to yet another nearby rock but it had the same bad luck here and caught no fish. And this huge carp seemed to be rubbing it in when it came in close and taunted the heron. The carp of course was much, much too large to make a meal for the heron.
Karma personified.
Ron
What sensational behavioral shots Ron! Thanks for sharing.
Charlottesville
That was great!
How fun. Makes my day.
Glad you enjoyed it, Deedee. Thank you.
Pugnacious, aggressive, punching well over its weight…
I wonder whether it would do better if it devoted more time to fishing strategies than aggression?
Mind you, we would miss a wonderful story if it did.
Thanks Ron.
Thanks, EC. This bird reminded me a little of a teen-aged bully.
Great story and photos Ron. I love it when Karma shows up, especially in this case. I feel lucky to get a good shot of the egrets, and then see your photos with egrets AND a heron in the same frame. Just goes to show, the Master knows where to be, what to anticipate, and how to fiddle with his camera settings to get the shot. Thanks for the education teach.
Thanks, Sterling. It was good to at least spot you on the causeway this morning – wish we’d had the opportunity to gab for a bit.
I don’t think I’d want to cross this Heron! Seems like it’s solution to everything is to be aggressive. I hope it calms down by the time it’s an adult, so it doesn’t get arrested for domestic terrorism.
I wouldn’t want to cross this bird either, Susan. It definitely meant business…
Sort of like the “dog in the manger” except this “dog” was also presented with a “car”–what if he’d caught it !
Kris, this heron wasn’t even tempted by the carp. Once a carp came up unexpectedly and startled the heron – that was fun to see but I was too slow with my shutter finger to capture it with my camera.
This series, with its comments, was fun to see and read…I didn’t realize these herons could be so tough. They look out of proportion …head and neck look too big for the size of the body and legs legs…
Prorportion???Jeez!!!
Patty, the juvies can be quite combative – something I haven’t often seen in the adults. I fixed the typo…
Thank you…
Patty, I saw you comment about your iPad text issue. I actually work with iPads in my day job and may be able to help you with that. Just drop me a note at readings AT tarotbyarwen DOT com if you like.
Thank you…I always enjoy your comments…
Absolutely fantastic!! The carp episode is wonderful! Thanks for a fun series!
Jane, A couple of times that carp (or another one about that size) came up much higher out of the water than this one did but I missed those shots.
Wonderful series Ron!
Thanks, Len.
What an hilarious series, Ron!! And the use of “pugnacious” was the perfect choice to describe this little guy. I’ve told you many times how much I am in awe of the beauty of you photos but I enjoy your storytelling too. You add so much by sharing your experiences photographing your wildlife subjects. Thanks fo putting a smile on my face this morning.
Glad to know that you enjoy my storytelling, Jo Ann. When I was a kid my mother wasn’t quite so appreciative of some of my stories…
Oh this was a hysterical Teaching Tale. 😀 The 4th image is really fun.
Thanks, Arwen. I enjoyed that shot too.
That had to be a ton of fun watching this behavior develop! And, the heron isn’t even an adult! Great shots and enjoyable comments.
A ton of fun it was, Dick. And I missed some of the potentially best shots because I was fiddling with camera settings.