Sep 25, 2016

One-legged blue heron fishes Rock River


Living on the Rock River in Janesville, WI,  I've had fun making Great Blue heron videos--except when these birds are maimed and tortured when becoming entangled in abandoned fishing lines and hooks. Filming a Great Blue this past week from a great distance, I didnt notice anything unusual at first. The heron flew up the river and landed on a shore log near Bellrichard bridge which connects Crosby and Willard Streets  The wind blew hard and the heron flapped wings for balance.
But back in my studio looking carefully at the video I was shocked to see the heron had lost most of one leg. The article accompanying my video says some birds "adapt amazingly well to being one-legged. Birds do not suffer the psychological trauma of a lost limb as humans would, but instead adapt their behavior to compensate for the missing leg."
http://birding.about.com/od/birdbehavior/fl/One-Legged-Birds.htm

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