Viewing post #2600327 by marsrover

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.