Thursday, December 7, 2023

Great Blue Heron stalking gophers on the Monterey Peninsula




While driving around the Monterey Peninsula, we saw this great blue heron beside the road at a city park. After we watched and photographed him for a while, we realized he was hunting gophers, the animals that made the mounds he was walking over. We even saw it take a stab at the ground trying to snag one, unsuccessfully. The blood stains on his bill especially visible in the closeup photo may indicate that he has been successful in past attempts. 

We drove on later to look at more parts of the peninsula, and then, when it started raining, we turned around and headed back. This heron was still there, on the hunt.

The first image was taken with a Canon Powershot SX530 HS at f5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO 100, 51.9 mm.

The closeup was taken with a Canon EOS 90D with a 100-400 mm zoom lens at 400 mm with 1/125 sec., f5.6 at ISO 400 exposure.


Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!



No comments:

Post a Comment