A Snake in the grass . .

Gallery: AvianPosted April 28, 2011296 views20 comments

A garter snake was in the grass by the side of the road until this Great Blue Heron spotted him. The heron grabbed the 4 foot snake, stepped into the road in front of me and showed me how to consume a "slider" type lunch. This is a full uncropped image, I wish I hadn't cut off the tip of the herons crest feathers.

Question - I couldn't help but take note of the intense red coloration of his upper and lower mandibles and also the blue around the eyes. While I have taken thousands of GBH shots over the years I cannot remember these colors at this intensity. I show traces in previous shots and cannot find a mention in either Sibleys or Audubon's encyclopedia. My monitor is calibrated and so I leaning toward this being a mature male, it is breeding season and the colors are simply him at his best. Does anyone have any other information to confirm or deny these two intense colors?

Larger version available, thank you for stopping!

canon 7D
canon 600mm f4.L
F/10 1/160 ISO 100
auto window beanbag rest

Comments

20 comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on April 28, 2011 at 10:43 PM

Terrific image. A great opportunity with an excellent result. Nice action; good colors; nice techs; god composition.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on April 28, 2011 at 10:57 PM

Craig - Excellent!! I think you caught him with his very best breeding plummage and colours. What a handsome fellow!
Don't worry about cutting off the tips of the breast plummage - with a catch like this, and these colours, no one is going to be looking at his breast!

I like the comp too, but I wonder what just a bit more room on the top would do..

Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Anand Narayanan on April 28, 2011 at 11:05 PM

Terrific Image

Registered on October 25, 2009, 110 Posts, 835 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on April 28, 2011 at 11:26 PM

A garter snake and breeding plumage; wonderful capture, Craig. Good techs and composition. You were right to sacrifice part of the plume to get all of the snake.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Keith A Anderson on April 29, 2011 at 8:04 AM

Great catch and behavior, Craig.

Registered on February 13, 2006, 166 Posts, 1818 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on April 29, 2011 at 9:15 AM

Nice capture for both you and the heron. I don't mind the cropped off crest when you have such nice details at the business end! Did the snake try to bite the heron? It seems he left quite a bit of the head loose to get him! Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Phil Mclean on April 29, 2011 at 3:27 PM

Right place,right time and a terrific end result.The colours and the detail are great.Cropped crest doesn't bother me Craig.

Phil.

Registered on March 16, 2010, 30 Posts, 153 Comments

Comment posted by Walt Sterneman on April 29, 2011 at 3:48 PM

You nailed this one Craig. Great shot!

Registered on March 24, 2010, 73 Posts, 1268 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Huff on April 29, 2011 at 4:06 PM

A great image Craig. It has been said, but again, you nailed this one!

Ron Huff

Registered on August 31, 2010, 69 Posts, 440 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on April 29, 2011 at 4:10 PM

Craig,
great behavioural shot. Brilliantly done.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Runco on April 29, 2011 at 4:40 PM

Excellent shot Craig, great work!

Registered on September 9, 2008, 77 Posts, 705 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on April 29, 2011 at 8:27 PM

Love the subtle color variations I see in the birds neck this close. I also note the "intense" colors of the mandible and eye patch as you say..All very nice.
Great technique to get the portrait this sharp at 1/160th with that long lens too.
Beautiful work, have a great weekend Craig

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on April 29, 2011 at 9:23 PM

This is awesome, Graig. Superb detail in the Heron and the snake. You captured the snakes head in just the right position. Spectacular image.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Nichols on April 29, 2011 at 9:41 PM

Wow, what a great capture Craig! The bird and snake couldn't be in a better position if you set this up yourself. I think the cut off crest feathers is a very minor point as most people will be focused on the snake and never notice the cut off feathers.

Registered on November 7, 2007, 161 Posts, 1420 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on April 29, 2011 at 11:34 PM

With so many images of beautiful Herons shown it makes it a real challenge to come up with one that stands out from the crowd, which makes this one of yours so wonderfully refreshing Craig :^)

For the lens you were using and you apparently being confined to your car, I can't imagine how anyone could have gotten a better shot, so big thumbs-up from me :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on April 30, 2011 at 3:53 AM

Great shot Craig - the fine detail is really evident in the larger image

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on May 1, 2011 at 9:32 AM

super shot, Craig! no worries about the cut off plumes for me, especially given that this is full frame, I think that your comp is just right. no nits from me. great action well captured.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on May 1, 2011 at 11:59 AM

Great capture- Awesome colours, detail and BG on this- My best congrats, Fabio

Registered on December 3, 2010, 90 Posts, 1614 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on May 1, 2011 at 7:34 PM

A real WOW image. Great detail. Perfectly sharp. Bird and snake have wonderful colors and stand out from the background. Everything about this is great.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on May 2, 2011 at 10:08 PM

Great catch with a good angle for the snake. The colors must be from the breeding plumage and it is that time. The breeding colors do get pretty amazing.

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments