This evening at Shelter Cove Yacht Basin on the Northeast River, my husband
Bob and I watched a Great Blue Heron stand at the edge of the fuel dock (a
floating dock), reach down with its long neck, and come up with a fish. The
heron shook the fish and dropped it on the dock a couple of times, then it
picked up the fish, reached over the edge of the dock, and dunked the fish
in the water. It then picked its neck back up, dropped the fish on the dock,
and repeated the dunking/dropping process 5 or 6 times. Finally the fish was
clean enough (our guess, anyway) for the heron to eat it. I  have never seen
a heron wash its prey before. Is this a common behavior? Maybe it was a
raccoon in a past life?

 

I also saw a female duck that at first glance looked like a mallard, but as
it swam, it bobbed its head forward and back like a pigeon, and it also dove
completely under the water; I have never seen a mallard do either one. The
duck surfaced a few feet away and swam close to where I stood, so I got a
fairly good look in not-so-good light. It had a dark bill, and the top of
the head was darker than the face. I didn't get a good look at the speculum,
but in a brief glimpse it looked purplish, or a dark blue. I don't recall
much of an eyeline (or I didn't notice it if one was there), and it wasn't a
very big duck. Some kind of teal, maybe? Do they dive?

 

Pat Valdata

Elkton, MD