The Great Blue

[catman1]

I got lucky and got a photo of a Great Blue Herring.Very rare in our part of the country.

[peteybird]

They were very common where I used to live and would eat the fish out of my dad's pond. I got lucky enough to get pretty close to one and saw just how big they really are.

[catman1]

At one time there used to be a lot of them here to but we have had a big increase pn our Eagle population so they may have moved them further East.They are a very beautiful and majestic bird.I felt fortunate to get that photo.
catman(Lou)

[Jenny]

Do you mean "heron"? lol That is a wonderful photo, you must've been at the right spot at the right time! What kind of camera did you use, and where do you live? Here in KS they are very common, esp. since lots of man-made ponds are popping up along with all the new housing developments. We also occasionally see little blue herons and some type of night heron, along with lots of egrets. No bald eagles though. :(

[catman1]

Do you mean "heron"?
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ROFL... Thanks Jenny.We use herring to fish for salt water fish here.I from Washington State and i used a old FI Cannon.I collected a lot of old camers and love to play with them.I used a 500mm lense for that picture.I have taken a few Eagle pictures also.I love to take pictures of animals.
Catman(Lou)

[Kaye]

Very nice picture! I live in nebraska, we see bald eagles A LOT. During the fall ecspecially my mom sees them almost every day when she's out working (she's a rural mail carrier). And hawks too. It's awesome, we'll be driving to Omaha and a hawk will be perched on a fence post close to the road so we can really see it. It's amazing.

[catman1]

Kaye wildlife is amazing and majastic.I found a Red Wing Hawk one time and it had its wing broke.I went over and wanted to pick it up and it acted like it was going to bite me.I moved very slowly and stroked the back of its head and after that we were friends.I picked him up and tied his wing to his body and then called the Game Dept.They took him and healed his wing and invited me to watch him fly back in the wild.His wing was broken by a car.
Lou

[Jenny]

I used to live in the country and we'd see lots of red-tailed hawks. Occasionally there'd be 2 or 3 together and they'd be calling, and to this day I think it's my favorite sound to hear! Last summer we were driving down a highway and there was a huge great-horned owl sitting on hte side of the road getting drenched in the rain. My family stopped & I got out and walked up to him expecting him to take off, but he just sat there. I could've touched him (but didn't want to risk a bite!). At the time we didn't have any way to catch him. About 4 days later, my neighbor called about a great-horned owl doing the same thing, just sitting and not flying off when people got near. It was about 1 1/2 miles away, so probably not the same one. Anyway, this time I was able to catch it & stick it in a crate and my vet came to look at it. Other than being very thin, we really couldn't see anything wrong other than a reddish streak by his eye so we think he flew into a telephone pole. Then he was taken to a rehabilitation center. It's so neat getting up close to the big wild birds, they're so gorgeous.

[Kaye]

He might have been hit by a car Jenny.. it does happen! I don't remember if I've told this story before but here goes:

Mom had to get up very early in the morning and drive to Lincoln to do some class thing for her new job. On the way there.. all of a sudden this great horned owl swooped down right into the windshield of the truck! The windshield shattered all the way across and the owl kind bounced off it. Mom had to drive the rest of the way to Lincoln looking through a 3 inch section of windshield that wasn't shattered before she could get it fixed! On the way home she saw the owl, dead, stuck in the barb wire of a fence. :( So sad! We think he was diving for something on the highway and just flew right into the truck.

Okay done with my story. :rolleyes:

[catman1]

It's so neat getting up close to the big wild birds, they're so gorgeous.
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Jenny wild animals are like any other living thing it wants to be loved but enjoys its freedom.I even hate to see animals in the Zoo.I was raised in the mountains with the animals and understand some of the ways the think.
Lou

[catman1]

So sad! We think he was diving for something on the highway and just flew right into the truck.

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Freat story Kaye.In the fall Kaye birds feed on wild berries and cherries and other wild fruir.Sometimes they actually get drunk on them.They should be arrested for DWF (Drinking While Flying).The main reason is they see a reflection in windows and fly into them.
Lou

[Jenny]

I agree with what you said, "they want to be loved but enjoy their freedom"... It is sad seeing animals in zoos esp. with small enclosures and little to do. I've been going to the zoo near me recently and visiting the chimps & orangs, and although compared to most exhibits their enclosures are "big", it was just so depressing watching them, in the same old place doing the same old thing day after day. One was even sitting down totally desensitized to having people watch him, just banging his head against the wall. Kaye~ I'm pretty sure the owl wasn't hit by a car, since my vet checked him out real well and there were no broken bones or anything. Also, the one we were able to catch was by a road that gets very little traffic. That's really sad about the owl hitting your mom's car.

[catman1]

Jenny do you think the owl wasn't getting enough food.With the wild animals losing more and more of there habitat food will get real scarce.
Lou

[Jenny]

Lou, I doubt it. Both were by huge fields and in the country, and there were plenty of mice, moles, small birds, squirrels, rabbits, and other critteres around. Also we had a pretty big hawk population that summer, so I assume food wasn't very scarce.

[catman1]

It sure dosen't sound like it Jenny.The reason i was wondering is because Owls usally come out at night and do there hunting.
Lou