Green herons are quite secretive and therefore eschew all forms of digital surveillance. Most often, if you even find one at all it is difficult to get close to it. A long lens certainly facilitates success. As I recall, photographing a Green was either a matter of being on location BEFORE the heron arrived on the scene, or required my engaging in a very long performance, which thankfully avoided reviews, that favourably narrowed the separation. Whenever I capture the site first I settle-in to make myself as comfortable as the circumstances allow. If I were actively moving about then an approaching heron would simply pass over and choose to forage / fish elsewhere. A standing human figure is like a semaphore for danger. A seated, or supine person is a much diminished stressor. Using a camo cover is really a cloak of invisibility and is as close to stress-free as it gets. It might even find your camo shenanigans to be a source of curiosity and approach quite close in order to investigate the apparent anomaly. This technique can be quite thrilling if you don’t mind being considered an anomaly. I relish in the appellation because I have been called far worse.
While I was photographing a monarch caterpillar eating its way to destiny a Green heron appeared and landed only a few meters from my position. I was crouched and “small” so the heron did not interpret me as a threat. The problem with training my lens on the new visitor was dense reed cover. I asked the caterpillar if we could take a break from this session and it did not offer any objection, which was fortunate because I was not in the mood for an argument. A compact stand of reeds separated me from the heron. If I stood up it would surely spook. Even if it didn’t leave, the outcome would offer a very poor photo composition. If I retreated and attempted to relocate to a better viewing perspective then my movement would surely make noise.
I first attempted to hover forward through the reeds, playing suspenseful music in my head, and slowly raise my camera during the advance. I did not feel confident but my options were equally terrible. I also tried to keep my camera in front of my face so that my eyes were not visible. I managed to get a shot but the reeds were obstructive and the angle was awkward but the heron did not react. Do I keep advancing? Surely not. I retreated because that is what cowards do. I moved out of the reeds and finally reached dry land. At this location the heron was not visible and therefore neither was I.
While I surveyed the area for a better vantage point I heard the heron squawk and figured, OK, that’s the end of that bit of folly. Moving more comfortably now I walked into the open and immediately spotted the heron on a log facing away from me. I couldn’t just keep walking. Instead, I retreated and made a large sweeping semicircle coming back to heron territory from the other side of the clearing. It was also then that I realized another photographer was positioned between adjacent clumps of reeds with his tripod on the sand/gravel and a monster lens aimed at the heron on the log. Wow, talk about proximity. He’s got a subject and proximity. What he needs now is composition and that desirable, I felt, was better served by getting down to earth. Surely, that fast lens and its G2 image stabilization didn’t demand a tripod. Getting his camera and lens on the gravel would be way cool. I could not approach without ruining his opportunity so I settled for the next best thing and that was hitting the turf where I was, too far away, but a clear unobstructed view to be had. If that other photographer was not where he was who knows what might have been.
Approaching a heron already established at a particular location and not spooking it, which would interfere with its agenda is another matter entirely. Unlike our often misguided motivations a heron has no time for trivial pursuit. It’s a matter of survival. On those few occasions when I felt I just needed to meet a heron I would approach in a crouched stance and pretend to forage. I never look directly at the heron but monitor its location with my peripheral vision. Gradually advancing toward the heron I pretend to forage from the ground or bushes. At Highland Creek I used the steep vertical wall of an adjacent embankment as a forage site and repeatedly reached for some imaginary morsels, displaying a mock feeding motion that a heron is less likely to object to and therefore might stick around until photo range has been gained. Even then, I would raise my camera to my face and look down or elsewhere and then slowly pan toward the (hopefully) unsuspecting heron. This approach has worked several time and I have only tried it a few times. I’m no actor. I also tried it at Sam Smith where I discovered a GBH in the tall grass. I anticipate that it will work more often with juvenile herons because they are more naïve.
Green herons may visit very small ponds, although not as small as what might satisfy a Least heron. They also prefer dense reeds and vegetation. Most of the time I see a Green sitting on a stump, or log in shallow water even though a Green can swim quite well and can dive when the need arises. A Green heron generally fishes from these platforms searching for passing fish and hovering its bill just above the surface of the pond ready to strike. A strike may submerge the heron’s head entirely. A strike also fully demonstrates the length of a Green heron’s neck, much longer than one might expect from observing its stance in repose. A shot that I took at Amos swamp/pond shows this neck extension well because the dead wood around its perch made striking access a stretch. When a Green is threatened by a rival it will raise its feathers producing a coronal crest and will stiffen its tail feathers, just because it can. Likely an attempt to make it seem bigger. Green herons are monogamous, so like Puffins they have a strong relationship with their mates. Green herons have also been seen to throw lures into the water so that small fish might be attracted to the splash. This is called angling and these birds have managed to cover all the angles.
