“Stalking Lunch”

Photo of the Week: April 20-26, 2015

Photograph by Jody Merritt of Beaufort.

A little blue heron stalks a fresh water pond on Harkers Island in Carteret County looking for its next meal. Jody Merritt’s photo shows off the bird’s moody blue and purple plumage and bright yellow eye. Little blue herons, like this one, can be easy to overlook at first glance. They are still hunters, watching and waiting for the next small fish or amphibian to swim by in the quiet waters.

In the U.S., their populations have been in a gradual decline since the mid-twentieth century.