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Cool. A mouse is pretty big prey for a magpie. I’ve seen ravens catch ground squirrels but I wondered if they swallowed them or just pecked off pieces.

Yeah these herons are really talented in that regard. I’ve seen them hunting gophers when they sway left and right very much but keep their head still. Their tails and body are wagging back and forth yet their eyes are still. It’s a very strange effect.

It’s right next to drone helicopters, model airplanes, a gardener, a drilling rig installing a well, a road with people walking and cars driving, a shooting range etc. This bird doesn’t seem to mind a lot of noise.

My pleasure. Thanks

Thank you very much!

Interesting point. I know some animals are very sensitive to vibration in the ground. I’ve seen deer stamping a warning to other deer. Whether in the water or land, it would certainly be useful to detect vibrations.

I understand why you think that. It looks a lot like a screech owl. A screech owl is quite small and this bird was quite large, bigger than a red tailed hawk. It is a juvenile and missing the “horns”. I’d love to see a Western Screech Owl. I have never seen one but i did hear one in Arizona. You can look up juvenile Great Horned Owl and I’m pretty sure you’ll agree with me.

Interesting idea. I was with a heron last week hunting right next to a noisy water pump.

I’m pretty sure it does so to help wash it down. With this heron , I could usually tell when she would take the gopher to water. If they were small, she would just swallow them but if they were pretty big, she’d soak them to help lubricate them.

Yeah he’s about duck size (mallard).

I felt lucky. My two favorite videos and most watched were of this bird on consecutive days at the very same location. The light was very good and the bird let me set up just where I wanted to.

It kind of reminds me of smaller birds like warblers that can really gobble down a lot of food and gain a lot of weight very quickly. I’ve learned that these big birds can do it too. I’ve seen great blue herons eat three good sized gophers in a morning and look for more.

Thanks. I used to love birds of prey and looked down at herons thinking they were boring and not very efficient hunters. I’ve certainly learned otherwise.

I think the heron inadvertently (luckily) stabbed its bill into the gopher’s throat when it grabbed the gopher. Great Blue Herons typically stab their prey but this was the first I saw a night heron do that. It kills its prey by strangling it. I watched it frame by frame when processing and it was difficult to be sure. It certainly wasn’t typical that the gopher went into spasms and it stopped struggling very quickly. It still took over a half hour to eat that big gopher.

This is a black crowned night heron. You are correct that this bird is far shorter (shorter legs and neck) and smaller than other common herons like a great blue heron.

Thanks. Yeah it sure made my day.

I think you are probably correct. These types of herons seem to have no issues hunting in these exposed areas in other sections of the park but Red tailed hawks aren’t so prevalent there. The hawks would probably only be a problem robbing them of their prey.

Thanks. Lowe’s is still there and the bird was right next to there. It probably spent more time right behind the Lowe’s. It was very close to the road to the shooting range in the very northwest of the park. The bird was so close to the fence, the trucks in the back kept scaring it.

@@jimzenor9148Thanks for the uipdate. I think I've forgotten to mention but there's a creek that runs west tp east about 1/2 miles south of me. It runs righjt along the property line of my friend's house. There is ONE GBH that hunts for something there; I can't see what it pulls out. :-(

I tried to answer earlier and it said some error happened. I was just going to say I was a little jealous of your wilder wilderness there in Idaho. At least there is some wilderness here hidden in the parks.

Thanks Rod. I continue to see the gopher poisoners but the gophers still have some pockets where they are doing Ok. I think a little rain would help the herons. I’ve seen a lot of beaks bouncing off hard packed soil.

Thanks. Yeah I love that car.

Yeah it is, sharp, fast and very effective

You may be correct and I agree it certainly looked that way even to me in super slow mo frame by frame. I think it likely pierce a lung but that gopher really stopped quickly. That was Greta my favorite heron of all time by far. She was such a great hunter even for a seasoned great blue heron.

Thanks. I’ve seen so many different captures and the birds never fail to impress me.

Thanks. Yeah it seemed that gopher was just crawling around under that brush/ grass pile and the bird just flipped it out of it. It was a pretty unique technique.

So nice of you, thank you

It is always a tough decision what to remove and what to keep.

@@pajeetsingh I suspect that it flew to the tree because the gopher was too large to swallow quickly and the tree provides some protection from hawks which are very commonly seen both to the east and the west. The red tailed hawks will readily bully prey from herons, even the larger great blue herons. That is what I thought was most likely.

Thank you