Syracuse.com - Syracuse photographer gets neat shots of green heron on Creek Walk

[HuntingNY-News]

Green herons are one of the few species of animal known to use tools. In particular, they commonly use bread crusts, insects, or other items as bait. The bait is dropped onto the surface of a body of water in order to lure fish.

Submitted photo

Paul Pflanz, of Syracuse, recently sent in these neat photos of a green heron he spotted along the walkway along Onondaga Creek, that goes from Armory Square to the lake.

Pflanz said the pictures were taken at almost the end of the walk, just before it goes under the Conrail Bridge where the creek enters the lake. The heron was in the small sandy strip along the creek to the left of the small fence separating the walk from the creek. Some people refer to this as the inlet, he said.

He wrote:

"Today was a great day on the Creekwalk. I got shots of eagles, ospreys. cormorants and the best of all, a green heron!

"It is a shy bird, shunning other birds and not a frequent flier. It most often walks through its marshy habitats and will often freeze to avoid detection rather than take flight. This one was caught about 5pm 9/5 just before the RR bridge at the mouth of the creek and taken with a Canon sx30 with a 35x zoom lens."

"Green herons are one of the few species of animal known to use tools. In particular, they commonly use bread crusts, insects, or other items as bait. The bait is dropped onto the surface of a body of water in order to lure fish. When a fish takes the bait, the green heron will then grab and eat the fish."

Submitted photo

Submitted photo

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog