Great Blue Heron hunting gophers encounters hawk and bigger heron

I had a pretty good day today. It seemed to me that everything came together, the weather, the birds, luck, etc. I was happy with the result and I hope others agree.

[@uncertainzee]

Excellent storytelling Jim. You focus our attention and provide drama. Capturing all the extras-the worm, the Great egret (and eyes!), and the hawks meal. Well done! Nice seeing you in the park too!

[@jimzenor9148]

Hi Rod, It was nice seeing you too. I appreciate that you noticed I did try extra hard with this video to make it interesting and present some of the situations I saw in an understandable way.

[@dannyarroway4187]

Brilliant photography! Bravo!

[@jimzenor9148]

Thanks

[@p47koji]

Another superlative video, sir. And yes, excellent light. Congrats!

[@jimzenor9148]

Thanks yeah I felt lucky just seeing it all and I managed to capture some of it

[@WaynesAdventure]

Awesome, I love that Red Tailed Hawk

[@jimzenor9148]

That hawk was pretty shy but I was able to video it by lowering my passenger window. Luckily it was just the right distance and the sun was behind me. He dragged the squirrel behind a tree so I let him eat in peace.

[@mrknotthall]

That gopher had his chance to run when the heron dropped him on the ground.

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah he had a short window there. I thought the hawk would get him but I think the hawk got scared off by too many people

[@pacificrules]

Is this filmed in Florida?

[@jimzenor9148]

No I should have included it. It is my local park here in Long Beach, CA

[@avonavians2860]

Yeah, multiple KZbin videos I've seen suggest that red-tailed hawks shadowing great blue herons while they hunt for gophers is a common behavior, especially in CA. I'm surprised it hasn't yet been documented by official ornithologists. Herons are more efficient and precise at extracting gophers from their burrows than hawks, so they take advantage of the predatory but apparently cowardly birds by swooping down on them and getting them to drop their prey.

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah I agree 100%. I guess herons are so good at catching gophers that it makes sense they wouldn’t would not want to risk much for one.

[@avonavians2860]

Yeah, it's just not on their agenda to fight with hawks. I say "cowardly" because herons are not exactly easy prey. If I were a hawk, I would not mess with a heron's daggerlike bill. But that's just an anthropomorphism. Animals don't survive in nature by getting into fights like drunkards in bars. What surprises me is that the hawks only seem to steal from herons when they hunt prey on land. They don't seem to bother fishing herons, even though it would be a very convenient way to fish. The unusual sight of a heron hunting on land attracts the attention of much more specialized land predators, which can easily "pick on" the heron since it is more of a water-dwelling specialist.

[@remyogun8270]

@@avonavians2860 Goshawks , Horned Owls, Cooper's hawks and Peregrines can and have all dispatched even Great Blue Herons; which can outweigh some of those mentioned species by at least 3x. If the red tailed hawk was more aggressive in it's predatory behavior, it might also consider dispatching this heron, b/c it certainly has the power and the tools to also take one.

[@axlsane427]

Some are fakes

[@jimzenor9148]

There are zero fakes. I have videoed herons eating dead gophers but they found them not me. These birds are good at finding prey. I have no incentive to supply prey. They show me where it is. They see and hear way better than we do.