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Strike! I photographed this Great Blue Heron at Bass Lake Park in Holly Springs, N.C. at the moment his head pierced the water while he was hunting for prey. Scroll through to the next photo to see what he caught. With a range reaching from Florida to Alaska, the Great Blue Heron are seen pretty much everywhere water and small aquatic animals are found throughout the United States. North-eastern populations of Herons migrate to the southern states or all the way down to the tropics for the winter. Here in central North Carolina, they occur throughout the region all year round. These majestic birds can be observed hunting a variety of prey in a range of wet habitats. Fish are it’s favorite food source, but amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and invertebrates are all on their menu at dinner time. Great Blue Herons employ multiple feeding strategies. They can be seen hunting alongside each other, wading slowly in the water, or may be found standing alone for long stretches of time, still as a statue waiting for just the right moment to thrust their bills at unsuspecting prey beneath the surface. Interestingly, Great Blue’s are sometimes seen hunting for rodents in inland farm fields or even stalking a sandy beach shoreline in search of live (or dead!) crabs and fish. This remarkable ability to find prey in multiple habitats is probably a big contributing factor as to why Great Blue Herons are found in every state in the Union. Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc Canon 5Ds . . . . #birdnerd #birdsofinsta #birdsofinstagram #ncwildlife #birding #birdwatching #birdwatchers #bird #birds #ncbirding #ncbirds #ncbirdwatching #canon #canon5ds #ncoutdoors #ncnature #canonwildlife #ncwildlifephotographer #northcarolinabirding #birdwatchingnc #northcarolinabirds #audubonsociety #birdoftheday #naturesbestphotomagazine #earthfocus #basslskepark #hollyspringsnc #greatblueheron #heron #wakeparks365

A post shared by Bird Watching N.C. (@birdwatching_nc) on Dec 13, 2019 at 3:56am PST