I’m excited to share this interesting encounter I had with two Great blue herons in Moss Landing, CA.  It is not uncommon to find Great blue herons resting on the banks of the Monterey Bay’s tidal sloughs.  But on this encounter in September 2021, I spotted two Great blue herons wading at the estuarine edge.  The birds stood approximately 30 feet away from each other and appeared to be fishing.  A Great egret stood another 30 to 50 feet away from the furthest heron.

Sony A7RIII + Sony 200-600 mm  G.  1/500 sec @ f/8,  ISO 1250

There was suddenly a change in behavior in the closest Great blue heron.  Instead of focusing its attention at the water where they normally strike, this individual pointed it head upwards.  The occasional tern or Double-crested cormorant flew overhead.  But these birds weren’t fishing in the area, so I was unconvinced the heron was watching these other birds.  With its head still high in the air, the heron began walking in 10 to 20 foot lines.  The movements looked heavier than the usual stealthy approach of these wading predators.

Sony A7RIII + Sony 200-600 mm  G.  1/500 sec @ f/6.3,  ISO 640

The Great blue heron further away mimicked this behavior.  It too walked short lines in the water with its head held high.  They performed this display in bursts of a few minutes at a time before either relaxing or assuming a more typical fishing stance in shallow water.

I found another account of this behavior from wildlife photographer Ron Dudley’s blog, Feathered Photography.  Ron describes a similar encounter where Great blue herons also used this defensive strategy against other Great blue herons.  His research indicates that this behavior can also be directed towards other bird species and even humans.

Thank you for exploring my portfolio and blog.  Please reach out if you have any questions or comments about this encounter or the Great blue herons I have previously photographed.