A crane and a mouse in my backyard
 

I think this is a crane. I spotted it in my backyard this afternoon and ran upstairs to grab my camera. I had about 5 seconds to take three pictures before it flew off and this is the best one. I'm no Clark for sure! And why is the grass so long in my backyard? The mower that goes under my tractor is broken and it's taking weeks to get the part to fix it. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/tongue.gif

http://i923.photobucket.com/albums/a...mTime/Bird.jpg

picture won't open for me
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yes!
neato!

Blue Heron.
Might of seen images of them eating muskrats and/or rabbits.
These birds are very skittish by me.

My Toro starts on the first pull.http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/poke.gif

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I didn't know they were so predatory! I'll be more careful around them from now on! http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/tongue.gif

I love these guys - look very prehistoric when they fly. Where's the mouse though?

At the end of its beak.

Poor mouse... http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...milies/sob.gif

but I still love the heron or crane or whatever it is http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/tongue.gif

I rescued a common snapping turtle hatchling from the middle of the freeway the other day...I set it free in the marshes on the edge of the nearby lake toward which it was headed. It may well have become a snack for the local herons by now. Then again, it may live for the next 50 years. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif

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The last Blue Heron I watched was last Saturday evening.
We were on Cemetery Rd., off Rt. 201(Moose Alley). About 2 miles from Canada border.
No moose. Frogs everywhere.
Weird. The temps were 18F. above norm.

Definitely a great blue heron. Strictly fish feeders...well, frogs also when they are in freshwater.

They feed on mice and voles a lot in the fall in the Rockies. We filmed one in a meadow in Yellowstone years ago that caught and ate 20 voles one morning. He repeated the process in the same place for a week and then flew away never to return that season but was back in the same place the next year. We named him Killer.

I think the mouse looks more like a turtle, and more in keeping with what they eat. We have them here (Great Blue Herons), since we have a pond and a small river in back of our property. But even though they are majestic birds, they have devistated our frog population and killed at least one koi, and so have made themselves unwelcome here.

I don't have any digital photos of the heron eating voles (film back then). But check out this link........
http://racphoto.com/Birds/Waders/GreatBlueHeron2.html

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I've heard of plenty reports of herons preying on small mamals as well.

I have a nature preserve near my house and always see the Herons there. Sometimes we will see an ocassional White Crane there too..

Neat!