Several years ago, my birding buddies and I (the Willettes) were in Stanley
Park, Vancouver, BC, and saw a person there hand-feeding the Great Blue
Herons with a pan of smelt. These herons were very tame and were expecting
him. They would take the smelt right out of his hand. It was quite eerie.

Diane Yorgason-Quinn
Gig Harbor, WA
Avosetta at hotmail.com


----- Original Message -----


>A few folks are hand feeding the Red Wing Blackbirds along the Aurora
> side of Green Lake almost every day. Some days; both hands. Some days;
> only one hand. And some days even a bold female. One or two weekenders
> throw out handfulls of birdseed, plenty for all (too much?). This can
> bring out more than a dozen blackbirds, lots of sparrows, but it also
> attracts the occasional small rat.
>
> A Great Blue Heron is also a frequent visitor to the area, usually
> observing from the water side of the cattails or from the lower limbs of
> the large evergreen tree. The past week the GBH has become bolder,
> standing on the grass less than eight feet from the paved path, and
> ignoring most pedestrians. Although there has been talk, no one has yet
> been seen trying to hand feed him!
>
> So the hungry GBH decided to take matters into his own bill, so to speak.
> After remaining motionless for several minutes, he made a lightning fast
> thrust into the blackberry vines and extracted a small rat. He took the
> rat up onto the paved path and held it firmly while the rat struggled for
> his life. After perhaps a minute the grip apparently lessened just enough
> for the rat to escape and dive back into the brush.
>
> The hand feedeers are no longer even talking about trying to feed the
> GBH!
>
> John Pollock
> Seattle