HERONS ON THE NEST—
The above nesting pair of Great Blue Herons has begun its spring duties in a stately Sycamore tree—clearly visible from the kitchen window of Bob Squires’ and Renee’s place high above the Clear Fork Branch of the Mohican River near Bellville.
According to Wikipedia these delightfully gangly birds will lay two—sometimes as many as 6—eggs in their carefully constructed nest of tree branches, not unlike those of the area Eagles. Incubation takes 28 days and both parents will feed the young a regurgitated version of their primarily fish diet.
Although the common name is Rookery for a group of heron nests the formal name is Herony. Bob says this site had nearly two dozen nests before neighbors logged the area.
The birds can stand more than 4 feet tall with a wing span nearing 6 feet and range from North to South America including the West Indies and Galapagos Islands of Darwin fame.
The above nesting pair of Great Blue Herons has begun its spring duties in a stately Sycamore tree—clearly visible from the kitchen window of Bob Squires’ and Renee’s place high above the Clear Fork Branch of the Mohican River near Bellville.
According to Wikipedia these delightfully gangly birds will lay two—sometimes as many as 6—eggs in their carefully constructed nest of tree branches, not unlike those of the area Eagles. Incubation takes 28 days and both parents will feed the young a regurgitated version of their primarily fish diet.
Although the common name is Rookery for a group of heron nests the formal name is Herony. Bob says this site had nearly two dozen nests before neighbors logged the area.
The birds can stand more than 4 feet tall with a wing span nearing 6 feet and range from North to South America including the West Indies and Galapagos Islands of Darwin fame.
While fish are the primary diet, the birds enjoy a widely varying source of foods including rodents like Chipmunks—the consumption of which I personally observed with astonishment one day along the shore of my pond.
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Note: the small ball shaped objects visible in both pictures are last year's seed pods of the Sycamore tree.
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