Great Blue Heron

This Great Blue Heron was hunting fish and crawdads one morning while I crouched under a small tree, trying not to spook it. These birds are the largest of the heron family, and excellent hunters. Their diet ranges from aquatic species reptiles and small mammals but they mainly eat fish and are common along rivers, marshes, ponds, and estuaries. They stand quietly in the shallows waiting for prey to come by, which they then spear with their sharp bill. The vertebrae in the herons' neck allow it to strike prey from a distance. As they hunt, they often take on various postures that make them an 'always interesting' subject to photograph.