Fun in Nature / myLot

Walnut Creek, California

September 17, 2018 11:08pm CST

My friend and I took a hike around the Lafayette CA Reservoir last week (about 4 miles) and found a place to rest and take in the beauty. For about 20 minutes, we watched this heron, walking carefully on the shore, like a stalking cat, periodically plucking tasty small fish (about 5" long) out of the shallow water. After about 20 minutes, a bunch of female turkeys emerged, making their turkey sounds and pecking at the ground, as they always do. We (quietly) discussed how long the heron would maintain its patience. Turkeys are almost as dumb as humans, and appeared clueless about the heron's diligent efforts. After about five minutes, the heron finally lost its patience and charged the turkeys, much like a goose will if you get too close to her nest. The turkeys scattered, and the heron resumed its quiet day of fishing.

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22 responses

Valerie J. Routhieaux

@just4him (317004)

• Green Bay, Wisconsin

18 Sep 18

That must have been a sight to watch unfold. Beautiful picture.

2 people like this

The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

18 Sep 18

It was fun. Even watching the heron silently "hunt," before the gobblers came, was interesting.

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Valerie J. Routhieaux

@just4him (317004)

• Green Bay, Wisconsin

19 Sep 18

@TheHorse Was your little friend content to watch the display taking place?

Shubhu

@shubhu3 (36463)

• New Delhi, India

18 Sep 18

Wow. That is interesting and would be really fun.

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The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

18 Sep 18

It was an enjoyable half an hour. We really learned a lot about a small part of nature.

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Shubhu

@shubhu3 (36463)

• New Delhi, India

18 Sep 18

@TheHorse That's seriously amazing.

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The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

18 Sep 18

@shubhu3 The heron was "cat like" in keeping quiet. We were wondering how long he'd (or she'd) tolerate those gobbling, pecking turkeys.

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Anna

@LadyDuck (470823)

• Switzerland

18 Sep 18

I fully agree that turkeys are dumb birds, almost as much as pigeons and chicken. A crow would have lost its temper in a shorter time, but they are very intelligent birds.

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Anna

@LadyDuck (470823)

• Switzerland

18 Sep 18

@TheHorse Chickens are finally less stupid that they look, but they also made me laugh.

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The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

16 Oct 18

@LadyDuck I enjoy their company.

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The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

18 Sep 18

In some odd way, turkeys and chickens remind me of humans. So self-serious, I suppose, while pecking at bugs in the ground. They make me laugh.

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Angie

@andriaperry (116936)

• Anniston, Alabama

18 Sep 18

Herons are many here and I can say I never seen any chase off other birds, or people.

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The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

18 Sep 18

Had we approached the heron, it would have flown off. But my hunch is it had dealt with gobblers before.

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Angie

@andriaperry (116936)

• Anniston, Alabama

18 Sep 18

@TheHorse Oh yeah! Here they wont fly but go further into the water.

Angie

@andriaperry (116936)

• Anniston, Alabama

18 Sep 18

@TheHorse Here are some after a flood in the area. Oh, we have white and the brown colors here.

Gogata Ionut

@Kasjnak (4489)

• Romania

18 Sep 18

Another fun and lovely day, he he. And that lake looks great, now I really want to go somewhere like that. With or without turkeys

. Maybe if I catch one... turkey!

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The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

18 Sep 18

Make extra stuffing and gravy. Wild turkeys taste a little "dry" to me.

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The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

18 Sep 18

@Kasjnak Heh heh. Bon appetit!

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Gogata Ionut

@Kasjnak (4489)

• Romania

18 Sep 18

@TheHorse they do, indeed. I don't mind that, some gravy should do the trick

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Jeffrey Jose

@december873 (63)

•

18 Sep 18

I am a nature lover too! I like the picture you have shown here. I desire also to do nature trip so I can unwind myself from the stresses of life.

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The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

18 Sep 18

We're lucky in the (huge) Bay Area to have places nearby where we can go to to relax.

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The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

18 Sep 18

@december873 Do you have some pretty places you can go to to get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life?

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Jeffrey Jose

@december873 (63)

•

18 Sep 18

@TheHorse You're so lucky indeed. I'm happy for you. I know how it feels to relax with nature. You got an awesome feeling.

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@celticeagle (166024)

• Boise, Idaho

19 Sep 18

Not many of those around here. But, when I see one it is spectacular.

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celticeagle

@celticeagle (166024)

• Boise, Idaho

20 Sep 18

@TheHorse .....They are graceful and I find them interesting to watch.

The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

19 Sep 18

Ours finally took off and flew to another spot. It was quite graceful in its flight.

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vanny

@vandana7 (100127)

• India

18 Sep 18

It sure is beautiful picture...how much food do heron's need. I would think one or two are enough...they are after all not very large creatures...humans are victims of our taste buds, cultivated artificially with recipes sugars and stuff like that. We also have refrigerators. Wouldn't it be eating too much for heron...if it ate more than two...after all where it would manage to store it in its body..LOL. My funny thought ..I always get weird thoughts.

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The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

18 Sep 18

They say that birds have really active metabolisms. Isn't that why the smarty-pants types say "eating like a bird" (implying not eating much) is a misnomer?

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Morley Hunt

@Morleyhunt (21744)

• Canada

18 Sep 18

For the past week I've watched the herons at low tide. There seem to be a large number of them. The birds I see most of the time are crows.....raucous as the caw to one another.

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The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

18 Sep 18

We've had more crows and fewer doves this Summer, for whatever reason. The beautiful hawks and (somewhat less beautiful) turkey vultures continue to do their thing.

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Judy Evans

@JudyEv (338682)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 Sep 18

Haha. Good for the heron. Vince has a great photo of a minor bird (it's called a mickey minor mostly - not 'mickey minor mostly' but mostly a 'mickey minor).

. It was attacking a much bigger butcher bird.

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The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

18 Sep 18

Did the larger bird come near its nest?

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Judy Evans

@JudyEv (338682)

• Rockingham, Australia

19 Sep 18

@TheHorse No, there are four birds (two of each) that spend a lot of time on our friend's front verandah and mostly they seem to get along quite happily.

Shiva

@Shiva49 (26644)

• Singapore

18 Sep 18

Your patience lasted more than that of the heron! It is always interesting and even relaxing to see the nature's wonders and how our fellow travelers live out their days - siva

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The Horse

@TheHorse (217941)

• Walnut Creek, California

18 Sep 18

It really is. Turkeys always make me laugh, for some reason. They were far away from us that they were no bother. But to a silent fisherman...

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