Takes a lot of patience and a bit of luck to get a good hummer shot!

Jill, or a telephoto lens, with a camera set on sports mode that takes 10 shots at one second intervals. And, a good photo editing software program to make the final clean-up.

Yeah, I didn't think you were snapping those shots on your phone! LOL

This is primarily what I grow sunflowers for. I love watching the finches scramble for the seeds 💛

Absolutely lovely!

Zoë ~ I LOVE those little birdies!

Me too only when they get here, they are all in their buff winter coat.

I am a bit puzzled in re why you folks are posting in this 2020 thread rather than the 2021 thread. However, I finally found you here. So here is my latest effort:

On 6 September's I conducted another mounted (vehicle assisted) "patrol" in the Lehigh Parkway; I didn't observe anything of note between the Robin Hood Bridge and the Police Academy. I parked and dismounted at the Fly Shop and headed upstream; not a feathered friend in sight until, just short of the trout nursery, I spotted our newest Great Blue Heron on the other side of the stream. I call him (I don't really know if it is a he or a she) Groucho for two reasons. First, he went after two of the visiting Great Egrets last month; Herons are territorial in re their hunting/fishing spots. Also, he squawks a lot. In fact, during this single encounter, he uttered more calls than all of our other Great Blur Herons combined have made in the past four and a half years.

Here is a link for a sampling of Heron calls:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/...

He is a bit scruffy looking (I think he is a "seasoned citizen" (old)) Heron. He does not seem to be willing to expend much effort to catch a meal; the fish have to come to him! On several occasions I have seen trout jumping out of the water about twenty feet or so in front of him, without any response. None-the-less, he does appear to be well fed! While most of our Herons are often less than graceful when walking, Groucho seems particularly unsteady on the move, which does provide for some wing flapping image opportunities.

Conditions were less than optimal. It was late in the day, the lighting was highly varied (which produced some unusual color balance situations) and there were more that a half dozen folks fishing in the immediate area. They didn't appear to faze Groucho, but they did bug me on occasion. Towards the end of the encounter, Groucho flew to my side of the creek, and seemed to perform a turkey impression as he strode into the trees. I thought he was going to exit on the other side of the trees, but, as I was trying to get there, he squawked, went back to the creek and flew upstream.

Unfortunately, when I found him again, I had a screen of trees and brush on my side of the stream. Getting clear images was, at best, a challenge. He wound up hiding behind some shrubs, and I called it a day :

See Dropbox File:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vxta...

And there you have your introduction to Groucho.

I would counter with the opposite opinion, this is just as likely, even more so, to be a young Great Blue Heron. Probably very inexperienced.

He doesn't recognize trout as food. He likely has never stalked one. It could be only 4-5 months old. Plus we need to consider that even though Great Blues are large birds, there is a limit to what they can swallow. The diameter of their throat controls that.
Naturally all wading birds "have eyes bigger to their stomachs". I have watched a Great Egret try to swallow a 5" Painted turtle. No way can he get them down. I watched it for over an hour through my camera lens. He just couldn't figure out how to get it down. Not once did he try to break it up. I doubt that he could.
Similarly in Florida I watched one try to swallow little blow fish. He would pick it up, it would inflate and he would drop it. Now that was funny!! Floating blowfish we're everywhere!!
He had no luck with his over 20 attempts.
I saw a Great Blue try to swallow one of the half-beaks, like a needlefish. It was about a foot long. This was a mature bird. The needlefish has a hard, rigid, tooth filled 'beak' out front. Instinctively it tried to swallow it beak first. The fish would not bend, or break allowing the heron to swallow it down. It tried to break the hard beak of the needlefish several times in an effort to get it down. But he was not equipped to break it.

Young birds in the heron family do not get their peak color until 3 years of age. The top of the head is pale like a juvenile heron, the neck is paler, like a younger bird. It has been my experience, for what it's worth, birds dying of old age are rarely seen. Dying from injuries like broken wings and such puts them in a rapid downward decline.
He has little experience with fisherman to be afraid of them.
In Florida so many herons of assorted types approach people for food. They get fed so often! Why hunt for yourself if a human will do most of the work?
Plus fish are not high up on a Great Blues list of menu items. Experienced birds prefer frogs, snakes, lizards, small birds and rodents rather then fish. But young, inexperienced birds are prone to try for anything if they are hungry enough.

I almost forgot. I watched as a Great Egret tried to swallow a Norway rat. Too big. He got it halfway down, probably to the throat opening but the rat was too round to slide down. That went on for over a half hour. In the mouth, halfway down and up it came. Pretty gross really.

Robert, beautiful photos—a pleasurable, peaceful six minutes. I love how the shadows bring up the blue in his feathers.

Ann & Evelyn — I think they're sweet, too. Don't think I've ever seen them in buff coloring.

Didn't even notice the year on this thread!

BigBill said:I would counter with the opposite opinion, this is just as likely, even more so, to be a young Great Blue Heron. Probably very inexperienced.

He doesn't recognize trout as food. He likely has never stalked one. It could be only 4-5 months old. Plus we need to consider that even though Great Blues are large birds, there is a limit to what they can swallow. The diameter of their throat controls that.

Bill, thanks for the input. After some more internet research I would concur that Groucho is a youngin'. Given the typical breeding season, the age seems about right. The lack of the white strip on the top of the head and the mottled (camo?) coloring on the wings and body would seem to confirm his youth (Ah, to be young again).

I would note that he apparently knows fish are tasty; per a fisherman, Groucho had eaten a eight to ten inch trout an hour or so before I got there. Timing is everything!

All sources I have come across say that Herons will eat just about any thing that they can swallow. In some of my past images you can seem their necks expand/bulge as they swallow a large item. I have recorded them successfully eating twelve to fourteen inch trout, sucker fish, crayfish (which seem to give them the most trouble), muskrats (a total of eight so far), grasshoppers and a snake. I believe I saw one even take a veggy snack!

Oh, and after further review of the images, the Heron in the last set of images is another Heron; probably the one I call Graybeard. Act (post) in haste, be corrected and repent at leisure>

They are beautiful no matter what age they are!

I have found a rookery of Great Blues about 45 minutes from me. I discovered it in late May. The chicks were flying soon after. I got to check it out next year starting in early April to see if I can get some nest building and some flight shots with nesting material.
They are on a small 2 acre island high up in oak trees and some cottonwoods. It is a wide open lake edge and freshwater marsh.
Next spring I am going to get them with the 400/2.8. I'll use either the 1.4 or 2x converter.

There are around 15-18 pair.