Tag: Ardea herodias

Family album.

The G.B.H. chicks at Kingfisher Pond are growing up so fast! I love their punk velociraptor haircuts and their bright bills. One of their nestmates is missing since my last visit. Predation seems unlikely. Nature may be red in tooth and claw, but I suspect in this case the parents were unable to keep up with the feeding demands of such a large brood, and one of the babies simply didn’t thrive. 

Great blue herons (Ardea herodias) at Kingfisher Pond, San Pedro House, Cochise County, Arizona.  

Great blue herons (Ardea herodias) at Kingfisher Pond, San Pedro House, Cochise County, Arizona. 

 I got my first view of the heron chicks at Kingfisher Pond yesterday. At first I could only briefly see the top of a fuzzy head popping over the rim of the nest, while one of the parents stood preening. But then the other parent arrived from feeding, gliding down the river course and landing on the nest, to great excitement all around. Before any chicks were offered food the adults performed a ritualized greeting, with clacking bills and feather displays—a truncated version of G. B. H. mating behaviors that reinforce the adults’ pair bond. It’s hard not to anthropomorphize the moment, provide dialog, something like “don’t ever leave me alone with these babies for so long ever again,” or, “did you remember to get the fresh minnows like I asked?” 

I have been very careful not to stress these birds during this breeding season by getting too close. I am lucky to have a long camera lens that makes it possible to keep my distance. The nest is at the top of a mature cottonwood tree about 60 feet high (18 m), and my closest vantage point is more than 150 feet away on the opposite bank of the San Pedro River, but even so I am sure the adult birds have been aware that I was watching. I’ve noted before that nesting birds aren’t free to leave if they are anxious about an observer who gets too near. It’s up to us to look for signs that the birds are distressed and move away. The Audubon Society publishes excellent guidance on ethical practice for

birders and photographers that you can access here.   

G. B. H. tending her nest.

This great blue heron (Ardea herodias) is nesting high in a cottonwood on the riverbank, but near Kingfisher Pond, where the hunting is probably better. This is a solitary nest. I suspect that supportive habitat is too sparse

in the desert for a large rookery.

For half an hour I waited on ma heron for a better shot, thinking that sooner or later she would have to stand and stretch, maybe grab a snack, but she stayed put. Anyone who has ever watched a heron stalking prey knows how patient and still they can be. Maybe I’ll try again when her chicks have hatched. 

G. B. H.

This great blue led me around the lake perimeter at Parker Canyon. Whenever I got within about 50 feet of him, he would take off and find a new spot further down the shore. It surprises me that they are so skittish, since no one in the history of the world has ever wanted to eat a great blue heron. Even so, people create their own kind of menace for these birds. Parker Canyon Lake is a popular fishing destination, and tackle and debris get left behind. This heron has a tangle of monofilament fishing line wrapped around one leg.