Feeding A Great Blue Heron

[Dave]

Had a pretty cool encounter today with a very large great blue heron while fishing a cove at the Martin lagoon in Middle River. I was showing my girlfriend how to use the new rod and reel that I bought for her today and caught a small pumpkin seed. While removing the hook from the fish, she said "look behind you". Turning around, there was a 4' - 4.5' heron no more than 10 feet away from me, eyeing the fish in my hand. So I tossed it to him. Thirty minutes and three fish later, he left with a full belly, and left me with a cool memory. I just wish I had my camera with me. These are awesome birds.

[bluegillboogieman]

That story is so cool, it has to be true! I'm glad you didn't attempt mouth to beak. I did once, on the family pet dog. He ran about a hundred miles an hour into the sliding glass door. No pulse, no respirations and my little girls were crying "daddy do something". So I sucked it up and gave the breath of life to his nose. After about thirty seconds of that, HE CAME TO! Now he didn't say it out loud, cause all I heard was him growling, but telepathically I definitely picked up GET YOUR MOUTH OFF MY NOSE, RIGHT NOW. In my years as a professional firefighter, I gave CPR to a number of victims both on and off the job. The dog was my only survivor, and boy was he pissed.


Boo Gill!
Bluegillboogieman

[John Sikkila]

Man 0 man!.....I can feel that 6" long beak smackin me in the head like a pile driver....Lol!....Lucky he didn't get it in the eye for sure!....bet he 's got a dent in his forehead!......I get the shivers just thinkin about it!.......I paddled up to a big heron yesterday while flyroddin and got about 10' away...He didn't look real happy I might add.....don't think I'm doing that anymore!...Lol!...here's a pic of that heron "froze" in his statuesque "don't get anycloser" position......Lol

[Howard Webster]

I once wached a heron eat a chipmunk. It was a fast fight for a few minutes

My other Heron encounter was years ago. A freind and I were in a duck blind that was just room enough for the two of us. As we were waiting for ducks to pass this large heron was flying straight at the duck blind. When that bird got at about 10 oclock it spied us veered up and released about a softball wad of heron crap. We both got covered with no place to dive out of the way every time I see a heron I think of that morning. The wonders of being outside and free I would not trade it for anything

[James Feasel]

While ice fishing a couple years ago, I watched a great blue clean up the minnows that some guys dumped on the ice as they left. Seemed that this bird had done that before. A few minutes later, it approached me to within 30 feet. I had just pulled out a gill from the hole I was working. I held up the bluegill and the heron turned his head to look with one eye. I tossed the bluegill his way. He picked it up, gave it a little flip and swallowed. The gills I was catching were small. I ended up tossing 9 fish to that heron as he patiently waited for each one. He was less than twenty feet away for the last three. I imagine that he needed some pepto bismol and a stop at the outhouse before he could get off the ground again.
I've also seen some other interesting behavoir. I've seen them standing in reeds with beak pointing up and swaying in the wind like the reeds. The most surprising thing I've seen is a great blue beating up on an osprey.

[Steve Fleckenstein]

We fed a Heron once also.It was pretty cool,h was on a cement tower at a local lake.When we'd hook a fish that would get his attention and he'd come over and gobble the fish up that we threw to him.They are awesome birds.