I don't know what happened here tonight, but when I came back to look at comments, all of my text was gone!!
Hmmpf...here goes again.
Sunday afternoon Art and I set out to find the heron rookery at Mississippi River Regional Park in Minneapolis. It was cloudy and cool but a good day to get out and walk. There in the middle of the river was the rookery. From a distance we could see the nests in the tree-tops.
With a closer look we saw that in most of the nests stood a Great Blue Heron. All of the herons were facing the same direction, into the wind.
The long feathers of their breeding plumage were swirling in the breeze.
Only one nest held two birds. One of the naturalists explained that the herons had only arrived a few days ago and that the males arrive first and stake out a nest with its surrounding territory. I plan to visit this park regularly and hope to be able to watch the progress of these families.
14 comments:
-I enjoy seeing the young herons once they hatch.-They have haircuts that remind me of Mr. T
HA! I like Larry's comment.
Hey, Lynne! Where did you find these???? You know I love the stinkers but I've never seen their nest. These photos are unbelievably great. I WANT DETAILS.
Neato - hope it's close to home so you can watch often!
There's a rookery like that in north jersey but the birds are very far away - would love to be able to see them so close.
Will have to just enjoy your future (I hope) pics instead.
In that last picture, are they DOING THE NASTY?
Or is it just looking that way?
I love herons. I hope I get to see some nests this year.
Larry- LOL! I hope I get to see little Mr.T's!!
Mary- Mt text all disappeared?!?!
I rewrote it, such as it is.
LauraH- It is only about 10 miles away- I'll be going back.
Susan- I took several shots of the pair. If it wasn't THE NASTY it was close! He was preening her back feathers and handing her sticks.
When I was little my grandparents lived on a lake, right across from an island that still has a heron rookery. That probably did a lot to spark my interest in birds. I'm glad you have the opportunity to see this one so close to home!
I've always wanted to see a heron rookery. Great pictures! How nice to live in an area where you have access to such wonderment.
Oh I loved these photos! There used to be a heron rookery near here years ago..now it's a development called Heron's Nest or something like that. You've reminded me to check and see if there are any survivors.
Deb- have you seen the rookery on the Snake River right off 35?
Cathy- it is neat that the rookery is in a very urban part if Minneapolis.
LauraO- I hope you find them!
I don't normally find the nesting herons until we have leaves on the trees so it is hard to see them! Great post and glad you got such wonderful photos!
Lynne- Yes, many times! in the 90's I lived in a subdivision near Stacy and I commuted to Hinckley every day. They had just started nesting there at the time and each year there would be more and more nests. Last Sunday I saw an eagle sitting in one of the trees there.
Wonderful photos Lynne! I've never seen Blue Heron nests that I know of. Now I'll look for them!!
I am just catching up on some blog reading and am glad I didn't miss this post. I had no idea that herons were anywhere but in the river.
Ruth
Hmmm! Over here herons have cleared my wildlife pond of life so I'm not too happy with them. But great pics anyway :-)
Post a Comment