Quarry Curiosities, Part 3 - The Green Heron

Or, "Life below the Surface"

Green Heron

From various vantage points around the quarry rim the green heron scans life below the water surface in search of his next meal.

The sight of a good prospect tautens its posture like an arrow in a drawn bow.

The heron springs on a tadpole surfacing to breathe, returns to the rock and swallows it headfirst.

 

In another corner of the main quarry it stalks through the cattails nabbing minnows in the shallows.

The bird developed a knack for fishing in deeper water. It maintained an observant vigil from a rock and launched forth on opportunity, sometimes spearing and sometimes snatching its prey.

 

 

Back on land it flipped the fish in the air to orient it for swallowing head first, spiny fins pointing harmlessly astern.

 

 

 Over the course of several days the heron demonstrated its prowess at catching what appeared to be a variety of fish species in the quarry.

 

 

This predatory pageant riveted me as only mortal intrigue can. It was a vignette in a far larger drama that ends and sustains life everywhere. Presumably that is why fish reproduce faster than herons and herons are relatively scarce.

 

The samples of fish retrieved by the heron extended my curiosity about life beneath the surface. What were they, and how did they get into the quarry?

Next week: "Science Convenes"