Blue Heron
Categories: Vi Making Friends With The Outdoor FolkThe great blue heron is one of the shore folk and his metallic blue-gray
body gleams in the sunlight, as you sight him from your canoe, standing
tall and slim, a lonely figure on the bank. He flies slowly and
majestically, with his long legs streaming out behind. When out in a
small boat on Puget Sound a large heron escorted us some distance. As
we rowed near the shore he would fly ahead and then wait for us,
standing
to fly again as we approached.
This escort business seems to be a habit of the heron family, for the
same thing occurred on the Tomoca River, Fla., the home of the
alligator, when a small, brilliantly blue heron flew ahead of our boat
for several miles, always stopping to wait for us, and then going on
again.
The heron is a fisher and when you see him standing close to the water,
on one foot perhaps, he is awaiting his game. It matters not how long he
must remain immovable, there he will stand until the fish comes within
striking distance, when the long, curved neck will shoot out like a
snake and the strong beak grasp its unwary prey.
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