Little Blue Heron

Little Blue Heron

(Egretta caerulea)

I accompanied my daughter to work on Wednesday, confident I could amuse myself while she toiled at her job.  Much to my delight, there is a trail behind the college that circles a small pond. 

As I quietly made my way along the well-worn path, watching and waiting, listening for anything and everything, I spotted this little head.

Freezing on the spot, I waited patiently as it slowly emerged from the vegetation.  Ah, yes, a Little Blue Heron!  My heart started to race as I stepped as quietly as I could to get a better view.  Don't see specimens like this in the far north  Atlantic Maritimes, and rarely in the marshes of Maine!  I felt pretty lucky because I know Little Blues are secretive, blend in well, and that I'm on the very western fringe of their range.

Standing approximately 2 feet tall, with a 40 inch wingspan, one might say that a Little Blue Heron isn't quite so little.  But compared to the Great Blue (Ardea herodias), it's name is significant.  The Great Blue Heron measures 36-55" from head to toe, and boasts a wingspan of up to 79"!

There is no distinction between the plumage of the male and female Little Blue Heron, but an immature is all white for approximately the first year.  Mother Nature, being as smart as she is, saw to it the immature herons remained white to enable them to feed alongside the Snowy Egrets, who tolerate them while they are white much more than when they turn blue.



Preferring freshwater swamps, lagoons, coastal thickets and marshy islands, it's a pity the Little Blue's choice of diet is small crustaceans (crayfish) because there were hundreds upon hundreds of damsel and dragonflies on and around this pond.



I don't know if you can see the dragonfly just above and to the right!
Some were as big as small birds!

 More on the lotta' odonata in the next post.  Hope you are having a nice weekend!

~karen

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Thanks for hosting this meme, Michelle!