The quality of this footage is incredible... Amazing how they use their razor sharp beak like a spear and impale their victim... Truly remarkable and clearly a very very long evolution to get to such perfection.
Your videos are so beautifully steady n sharp… appreciate your hours of love & patience in the windy field to bring us these wildlife encounters, without which I’d never get up, get dressed, get going and get to see ❤
I have a chair that I sometimes use to video. Yesterday I had a heron walk up to me and it sure felt like I was looking up at it and maybe I was. It was a very large heron.
2 หลายเดือนก่อน +7
Imagine being under ground, thinking no one can see or hear you and then you just get stabbed and eating alive..lol
Thanks. I have a lot of practice. You just never know what is going to happen. Luckily they usually reward me with something dramatic if I wait for a while.
Ive watched them eat all manner of pond fish/frog/mouse/rat but it always amazes me how they nearly always hit the head on gophers, moles, and voles that are still burrowed. Beautiful camera work!
Thanks. Yeah I’ve seen gophers pulling plants down and herons seemingly blindly striking down and usually hitting the gopher in the head or neck. I thought about how hard that would be with a bow and arrow. It seems they choose their aim with good knowledge and consideration about what the gophers are doing underground. They are amazing
There's a GBH that routinely stalks the seawall in our backyard on the Choctawatchee Bay in NW Florida. One afternoon he captured a small mammal, probably a gopher, that was in in the rear of the backyard. Over the next 5 minutes, I witnessed the most violent display of pure savagery as the GBH repeatedly stabbed the scrambling gopher with his beak. The gopher would break loose and the GBH would stab it, toss it up in the air and then either catch it and shake it, or the gopher would hit the ground running and get a quick beak in the back. It was a horrifying death for the gopher to say the least - death by scores of puncture wounds. Once the gopher was dead, the GHB picked it up and flew to the end of the dock where he dipped his meal in the bay before swallowing it one gulp.
It always amazes me how big prey they can swallow. These gophers are fairly big, but yep, I know they can swallow much bigger fish. It surely helps if the prey is wet or slimey. Smart birds. Very well photographed, thank you!
the Heron usually hunts for fish in shallow streams or ponds it will wait as long as it wants wading in using their sensitive legs and sharp eyes it will stand very still until it feels something brush against its legs and strike I was told they can feel gophers beneath them because their feet are so sensitive
That last gopher really was a big one. Wonderful captures again, sir. My buddy who lives on Ring St. said it rained for a couple of days there. I sure miss Two Toes.
Excellent nature camerawork. Thanks 4 no cheesy soundtrack; just nature’s symphony in the background. Where’s this location? Gopher’ville is having many vacancies.
Wow, Natur pur. So liebe ich das. Mehr ist nicht nötig, das Video spricht für sich. Thx. Wenn ich könnte, würde ich mir den Vogel mal ausborgen um die Wühlviecher bei mir zu dezimieren 😉
It's strange that some gophers are swallowed quickly, even when they're moving, while others are battered and soaked even when they have been lifeless for some time. I have heard of herons taking aquatic creatures out of their element; killing them on dry land, while the opposite happens with land dwelling animals that are dunked in water, but in the vid. It seems gratuitous. Maybe they're easier to swallow, if they're big, with the water
Yeah, that’s been my main take. If the gopher is big, they are likely to fly it to water. They sometimes will decide to swallow it without water but that tends to be a long process. I’ve seen them take over a half hour to get a large gopher swallowed.
So unlike owls, herons don't cough up pellets full of gopher bones, so everything is digested I guess? I've seen GBHEs catch and eat sparrows but I like this better. I need this guy (?) in my yard which is being dug up by the critters.
I’ve seen these guys cough up crawdad shells. Really those were impressive. It was like a ball larger than a golf ball with mostly cleaned out shells but crushed real tight. I have also seen them cough up a goopy slimy mess which seemed to be the remnants of a gopher but I couldn’t tell. I’m not sure what that was but yeah I think they mostly just digest it all.
I usually use my Canon R6 with a 400 mm EF F4 DO lens. It is definitely my best lens and it just makes everything look better IMO. In the right light it can take very nice pictures.
That certainly could be. I guess I see it as a way to rough up the prey and keep them from biting. I’ve noticed that if the gopher starts reaching to bite, the heron will shake it. Also if it is crushing or squeezing lungs or blood flow, shaking would tend to add more force. It seems to be quite an effective way to still a gopher.
Menu at the Heron House. Monday: Gopher. Tuesday: Gopher. Wednesday: Gopher. Thursday: Gopher. Friday: Gopher. Saturday: Gopher. Sunday: Gopher. Guess what next Monday is?
@@Europa1749 yeah they are almost magical with their beak. I’ve seen them grab little minnows with the tips of their bill and toss them in the air and swallow them.
Yeah everything is feasting on them. Even the domesticated dogs catch them all the time. I know a guy that walks his yellow terrier and that dog is amazing at catching gophers. It likes to chase herons too.
@@AdamosDadyeah they really are. th-cam.com/video/o36_S6uNzFc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=1IoG8ju4FFcmfOc0. That link shows one that is a really good stalker of fish
No music, no talking, good camerawork…perfect nature documenting. Thank you.
@@__seeker__ thanks. It was very easy to edit and stitch together.
Epic week of captures for you too!
Thanks
Its beak is a perfect instrument of murder. The last gopher is so thick that he has to moisten it before swallowing.
Lmaoooo
No matter how good the first two taste, you can always make room for another gopher.
Yep. It’s an all you can eat gopher buffet.
On gang
The quality of this footage is incredible... Amazing how they use their razor sharp beak like a spear and impale their victim... Truly remarkable and clearly a very very long evolution to get to such perfection.
Thanks. This heron was a very good subject.
living, breathing quetzalcoatlus. so intelligent and beautiful. your footage is crystal-clear.
Thanks.
Your videos are so beautifully steady n sharp… appreciate your hours of love & patience in the windy field to bring us these wildlife encounters, without which I’d never get up, get dressed, get going and get to see ❤
Thank you very much!, I’m very happy you enjoyed the video.
Love these birds of the dinosaur age, & living in the UK I now know what a Gopher is. Thanks for a great film.
Waiter: How do you like our gopher?
Heron: Drowned.
Tall people are nicknamed Herons - at 180cm - no wonder I love these birds.
I have a chair that I sometimes use to video. Yesterday I had a heron walk up to me and it sure felt like I was looking up at it and maybe I was. It was a very large heron.
Imagine being under ground, thinking no one can see or hear you and then you just get stabbed and eating alive..lol
If you ignore the bird body. It is a snake with a beak. 😂
One can easily imagine the same behavior in dinosaurs.
Sometimes you're rushing to catch a flight. Sometimes the flight catches you instead.
I'm glad to see that gophers are good for something beside tearing up yards. 😂
Spectacular bird and beautiful footage you’ve captured. Sharp, crisp and steady. I really enjoyed it and subbing to see more!
Thanks a lot!
The way they adjust their beak to get to the neck and kill the prey is amazing, very smart birds
Yeah they have surprised me with their smarts many times.
You are amazingly patient and dedicated to your photography! Well framed, focused, and exposed! Thank you for this incredible view of the Great Blue!
Thanks. I have a lot of practice. You just never know what is going to happen. Luckily they usually reward me with something dramatic if I wait for a while.
They really are dinosaurs!
Ive watched them eat all manner of pond fish/frog/mouse/rat but it always amazes me how they nearly always hit the head on gophers, moles, and voles that are still burrowed. Beautiful camera work!
Thanks. Yeah I’ve seen gophers pulling plants down and herons seemingly blindly striking down and usually hitting the gopher in the head or neck. I thought about how hard that would be with a bow and arrow. It seems they choose their aim with good knowledge and consideration about what the gophers are doing underground. They are amazing
crazy how accurate they are with those beaks. Thank god they're not ten feet tall.
Yeah I’ve seen them catch tiny little fish with their bills like tweezers. They can flick them up in the air and swallow them.
Thanks for the great videos as always!
You are very welcome. It was a labor of love. I love watching these herons especially when they are successful.
Blue Herons are metal asf. One of the coolest birds to watch its behavior.
Outstanding camera work, well done.
Thank you so much 😀
Very nice video. Great shot from this beautiful Great blue heron. Greetings, Jane
Thanks Jane. Yeah this heron was very beautiful. I remember feeling that feeling in my chest thinking “wow” when I saw this bird.
There's a GBH that routinely stalks the seawall in our backyard on the Choctawatchee Bay in NW Florida. One afternoon he captured a small mammal, probably a gopher, that was in in the rear of the backyard. Over the next 5 minutes, I witnessed the most violent display of pure savagery as the GBH repeatedly stabbed the scrambling gopher with his beak. The gopher would break loose and the GBH would stab it, toss it up in the air and then either catch it and shake it, or the gopher would hit the ground running and get a quick beak in the back. It was a horrifying death for the gopher to say the least - death by scores of puncture wounds. Once the gopher was dead, the GHB picked it up and flew to the end of the dock where he dipped his meal in the bay before swallowing it one gulp.
Yeah I’ve seen similar ones too. Sometimes it is cringe worthy.
Thats gopher city i see
Yeah that place was crawling with gophers.
It always amazes me how big prey they can swallow. These gophers are fairly big, but yep, I know they can swallow much bigger fish. It surely helps if the prey is wet or slimey. Smart birds. Very well photographed, thank you!
I can't imagine the digestive system this bird must have to eat all those animals, also is absolutely brutal with their beak.
It’s visual, auditory, musculature, and respiratory etc are far superior to mine so I guess its digestive system might as well be too.
I don't need an exterminator ... I need to rent a Blue heron.
I live in Montana, next to Yellowstone.
The gophers here are huge compared to the ones in this video. In this video they almost seem like field mice.
the Heron usually hunts for fish in shallow streams or ponds it will wait as long as it wants wading in using their sensitive legs and sharp eyes it will stand very still until it feels something brush against its legs and strike I was told they can feel gophers beneath them because their feet are so sensitive
Interesting. I’ve wondered about that too. I have heard that deer are very sensitive to vibrations in the ground.
Great job, perfect video, thanks a lot😊
Glad you liked it!
That last gopher really was a big one. Wonderful captures again, sir. My buddy who lives on Ring St. said it rained for a couple of days there. I sure miss Two Toes.
Thank you. Two toes was a very special bird. He struck harder than any heron I ever saw. It would be nice to see “him” again.
Love the Spice finch ( Nutmeg Manakin ) in the opening shots.❤
Excellent nature camerawork.
Thanks 4 no cheesy soundtrack; just nature’s symphony in the background.
Where’s this location?
Gopher’ville is having many vacancies.
Thanks
It is in El Dorado Park in Long Beach, California.
great vid. i used to live next to a park with birds like this. it used to keep me and my canon camera so active. i miss it
This guy just ate the whole family
Gophers....you can't eat just one!
Swallowed alive. Nature is a brutal as it is beautiful
Have a thousand of these around sewers in NYC, especially around any trash that is left out, and in alleys too.
That’s interesting. I bet they wouldn’t mind eating a rat or two.
Very interesting technique of peristalsis. Thank you for sharing.
Excellent captured
He literally impaled it. You can see two globs of blood falling down at 1:13
Perfect nature ❤
Did anyone notice that the first poor bastard got speared through the mouth?
That was interesting and adventurous 😊
Wow, Natur pur. So liebe ich das. Mehr ist nicht nötig, das Video spricht für sich. Thx.
Wenn ich könnte, würde ich mir den Vogel mal ausborgen um die Wühlviecher bei mir zu dezimieren 😉
Vielen Dank.
It's strange that some gophers are swallowed quickly, even when they're moving, while others are battered and soaked even when they have been lifeless for some time. I have heard of herons taking aquatic creatures out of their element; killing them on dry land, while the opposite happens with land dwelling animals that are dunked in water, but in the vid. It seems gratuitous. Maybe they're easier to swallow, if they're big, with the water
Yeah, that’s been my main take. If the gopher is big, they are likely to fly it to water. They sometimes will decide to swallow it without water but that tends to be a long process. I’ve seen them take over a half hour to get a large gopher swallowed.
Belles captures ! Merci
Nature's perfect killer! Silent,quick and deadly!
Looked like it ate the second one before it was dead!
Wonderful. Stunning video friend. Perfect job.
Thanks. I appreciate that. I’m not sure where the great blue herons are lately but I’m sure I’ll see them again soon.
So unlike owls, herons don't cough up pellets full of gopher bones, so everything is digested I guess? I've seen GBHEs catch and eat sparrows but I like this better. I need this guy (?) in my yard which is being dug up by the critters.
I’ve seen these guys cough up crawdad shells. Really those were impressive. It was like a ball larger than a golf ball with mostly cleaned out shells but crushed real tight. I have also seen them cough up a goopy slimy mess which seemed to be the remnants of a gopher but I couldn’t tell. I’m not sure what that was but yeah I think they mostly just digest it all.
Brilliant filming.. Grateful if you can kindly share some info on your equipment
I usually use my Canon R6 with a 400 mm EF F4 DO lens. It is definitely my best lens and it just makes everything look better IMO. In the right light it can take very nice pictures.
Excellent video!
Thank you very much!
Never underestimate the Great Blue Heron
I had fish in my pond a heron landed 4 feet from my 8 year old niece speared a fish wonderful
I have 4 koi and I’m often worried some heron will fly over but so far they have been lucky.
@@jimzenor9148 I would give up my fish to see that wonderful heron
the heron and the piliated wood pecked were wonderful
GREAT VIDEO!
Thanks!
beautiful animal, alhamdulillah. great quality video
Thanks. This is a particularly beautiful heron.
I wonder if the heron's shaking the prey would break the neck or spine of the prey and immobilize them.
That certainly could be. I guess I see it as a way to rough up the prey and keep them from biting. I’ve noticed that if the gopher starts reaching to bite, the heron will shake it. Also if it is crushing or squeezing lungs or blood flow, shaking would tend to add more force. It seems to be quite an effective way to still a gopher.
It definitely is, dogs do the same thing to get small animals to stop squirming
Menu at the Heron House. Monday: Gopher. Tuesday: Gopher. Wednesday: Gopher. Thursday: Gopher. Friday: Gopher. Saturday: Gopher. Sunday: Gopher. Guess what next Monday is?
Earthworm
Yeah he does have a worm or cricket or maybe even a crawdad as an appetizer but gophers are his favorite.
Fugg it: If I ever need to create my own sigil I'm using a Great Blue Heron.
This thing is RUTHLESS.
Great footage, what kind of camera and lens are you using?
Thanks. I have my trusty Canon R6 and a fixed EF 400 mm DO lens.
@@jimzenor9148 thank you! I'm still using the venerable 7d mark 1 lol
That's going to be one hell of a gastric pellet.
It's good to cast a pellet and not be constipated.
Savage!!
Heron I have to wash my pray before eating
Traveling the USA I've seen great blue herons eating *everything* in 31 states.
I think Hawaii might be the only state where they don’t live.
I didn't know they lived further north.
@@pauljordan4452they do make it up into Alaska but mostly along the warmer coast.
Saw a big coyote get one of these once. It had to drag it away.
The blue heron is a serial killer
I like to watch
Great. I’m glad you liked it.
They so deftly turn the prey around so the narrowest part is swallowed first.
@@Europa1749 yeah they are almost magical with their beak. I’ve seen them grab little minnows with the tips of their bill and toss them in the air and swallow them.
I know it’s basically population control but damn it must suck to be a gopher there 😭
Yeah everything is feasting on them. Even the domesticated dogs catch them all the time. I know a guy that walks his yellow terrier and that dog is amazing at catching gophers. It likes to chase herons too.
This heron earnt it.
I have seen several here in Indiana, I once saw a pair standing on a small lakes spillway, and thought they ate fish.
Yeah they are really good at catching fish too.
@@jimzenor9148 They are good hunters of multiple prey then. Thanks.
@@AdamosDadyeah they really are. th-cam.com/video/o36_S6uNzFc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=1IoG8ju4FFcmfOc0.
That link shows one that is a really good stalker of fish
@@jimzenor9148 Thanks Jim, it will be my next video to watch.
It (the goafer) pooped twice...😂😂😂
Thật nhiên thật là chu phu ve đẹp tuyệt vời đv
Great video
Thanks!
Nice camera shorts
depredador....fascinante
Wow the last one was fat and juicy very tasty.
Amazing..
ボクサーのリーチが重要な理由が分かりました。これは勝負になりません。
So they kill it by strangulation?
ENOUGH.........
Wow these gophers suck at life
Yeah they sure have short lives. Everything eats them it seems. These herons are really good at it.
Dude, chew your food!
Birds have no teeth you realise?
Smart… it drowns the gophers?
Nah, he was adding flavor.
No, it wets them to make them easier to swallow. Same reason for the little sip of water afterwards.
Blood 🩸💀💀💀
hongry bird
Wtf
🥣 soup 😂