[obol] continuing Little Blue Heron at Ship Ashore CA

[Douglas Kirkpatrick]

Hi, Obolonians,
 
The adult Little Blue Heron was still at the inlet next to ShipAshore
restaurant/RV park at Smith River, just south of the Oregon border, when I
visited Saturday morning. Alan Barron from Crescent City gave me some email
tips on locating it and a few minutes after I spotted it Saturday, he
arrived with two other birders.
 
Two thoughts: it's small, very dark colored (adult) and blends in very well
with the adjacent wet rocks. There may be more of these than we realize
along the Oregon coast in the late summer. The adult doesn't stand out like
the egrets and GBH's we're accustomed to seeing in that context. Secondly,
it did a neat side-to-side bobbing of its head as it hunted; I presume to
improve its binocular vision as it looked for prey. I've seen some vague
head-bobbing in egrets/herons before but never so flagrant. 
 
Doug Kirkpatrick
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