The strike was a success! I worry about this heron because he’s the only one on this “lake” and seems out of place, there isn’t much to eat since there aren’t any sizeable fish and it’s gotten bitterly cold in DC. I suspect he won’t be there the next time we visit the Mall, but I hope he is since he’s not afraid of me (see previous pictures) and provides the opportunity to observe close up how they hunt.

Best to view in "Original" because other versions resized by Pbase are decidedly unsharp.

*****

After Tim spotted a great blue heron in an artificial lake on the National Mall the other day, we went down there on Wednesday armed with cameras to try to find him again. Not only did we find the heron, but also several cormorants and countless geese and ducks. It was pretty amazing to see the heron and cormorants on the mall as there aren’t any large fish in the water, but they seemed to make do with hunting tiny prey.

The strike, posted earlier: