First hatch year Little Blue Heron catching an American Bullfrog
Why is this not so little white heron called a Little Blue Heron? Compared to a Great Blue Heron, it is relatively smaller. As to the entirely white plumage, this is a first hatch year Little Blue in its white phase. In the second spring and summer, the white feathers will gradually be replaced by beautiful slate blue feathers, giving the bird a temporary and unique calico appearance.
Little Blue herons are closely related to Snowy Egrets and the white immature morphs feed alongside the Snowys. You can tell them apart easily not only by bill and feet, but by their feeding habits. Snowy Egrets forage with a great deal of flourish, agitating the water with their feet, and vigorously fluttering, flapping, and flying along the shoreline. Little Blue Herons are stealth hunters, moving with slow deliberation before executing an exacting capture.
This is such a wonderful picture, so incredibly sharp. Would you share what kind of camera, lens and aperture you used? Thanks so much. If I were able to produce something comparable, I’d be overjoyed.
M. Huttner
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Hi Marcia, Thank you for the good words. This photo was shot with the Fuji X-E2 camera body and Fuji 100-400mm lens. I love my Fuji cameras because I can shoot entirely in manual mode. Photographing on a sunny day helps tremendously with clarity. Most likely shot on f8, and I usually push up the ISO to get the fastest shutter speed possible. I hope this is helpful.
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This was a close one and great capture of the moment fight or flight. Very vivid expression on both Heron and frog. Thanks Kim. 🙂 Dave & Kim 🙂
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