Along the Montezuma wildlife drive yesterday morning, I was most captivated by the fishing show put on by the Great Blue Herons. Here's one of many video clips I took (the rest I probably won't have time to edit til -- who knows when?):
https://www.facebook.com/suan.yong/videos/10226398830855078 The GBH didn't seem to need a break between fishes, catching as many as it could swallow. When one bird had a string of consecutive catches, it would draw the attention of other GBHs who would fly in to join the cluster. They always maintained respectful social distancing, never trying to steal from each other like other species might. I got the impression that only a couple of the birds were proficient at fishing, able to pick out multiple fishes at a time, while others seemed less successful (this is unconfirmed observation as my camera was always focused on one individual at a time). Every now and then a GBH would mildly shoo away another, which didn't seem any closer to the flock than others. I got the impression that there were tribes, or perhaps family groups, which did not enjoy the presence of outsiders as much. At one point a couple ospreys came soaring by, and casually dropped in to pick up a snack. I caught the tail end of one such dive, but it was out of focus. Suan -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
