Yes, Bill, I have twice seen floating Great Blue Herons - but neither
heron did so on purpose. I lead kayak tours along Steamboat Slough of
the Columbia River, where both Great Blue Herons and Osprey nest. The
juvenile herons, when they fledge, don't know enough to stay away
from the active Osprey nests. On two separate occasions (in different
years) I saw an Osprey repeatedly dive-bomb an offending heron,
finally clubbing it right out of the air into Steamboat Slough. The
heron squawked loudly through the whole ordeal. There was no placid
floating, waiting for the current to take it to shore - that would
have been a very long wait. The heron had its wings out and used them
to awkwardly help pull itself forward. I couldn't tell what its legs
were doing. At any rate, the "swimming" got it to shore, still
squawking. I hope it learned something.
Andrew Emlen
Skamokawa, WA