I'm just experimenting here - trying to find ways to capture this bird landing here. Think of it as a work in progress, an experiment that will lead to better future pictures. The small insets just aren't big enough to see much detail, but they show the stages of the landing. So I added the bigger picture. I left this higher than normal resolution so you can see it much bigger by clicking on it.
This too, was at Ballona Creek the other day, where I took the pelican pictures. From the Washington State Fish and Wildlife:
"Mortality and Longevity
- Adult great blue herons don't have many predators, though bobcats, coyotes, red-tailed hawks, crows and bald eagles do occasionally kill an adult.
- Mortality of the young is high: both the eggs and young are preyed upon by crows, ravens, gulls, eagles, and raccoons. Heavy rains and cold weather at the time of hatching also take a heavy toll.
- Herons may live to be 15 years old, but six to eight years of age is the norm.
- Great blue herons were nearly hunted to extinction in the late 1800s because of a fashion trend for using their plumes on women's hats. In the 1960s, they were vulnerable to egg-shell thinning as a result of exposure to the pesticide DDT, which lowered reproductive success."
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