For my entire life, the Great Blue Heron has been one of my favorite birds. Growing up I would try to sneak down to our pond to see what was there. I would always try to sneak up on those hard to photograph birds and it’s a draw between the Great Blues and the wood ducks on which it’s hardest to get close to. It doesn’t matter where I’ve traveled it seems the Great Blue Heron can be found and no matter how many I’ve seen I’m still taking pictures of them.
So a few years ago I become even more fascinated by this bird. In February of that year, I was crossing a bridge looking for any wildlife as I’ve done numerous times but this time I happened to look up the stream and saw these things in the trees that looked like large nests but there were a lot of them. Strange I thought but figured it wasn’t actual bird nests because what would build nests together like that. I figured it was some weird tree or vine growth.
From the first sighting in February, my curiosity was up a little so on all my wildlife outings I would make sure to go across that bridge and check out the ‘nests’ still honestly thinking they aren’t actual nests. So imagine my shock when in mid-March I looked and each of those spots I thought might be a birds nest, now had a pair of Great Blue Herons on them. I would have NEVER thought Great Blue Herons as I have rarely seen more than two together at any point in my years of watching these feather friends.
Well, now I became obsessed! I counted 19 nests but think there might have actually been more that year but they went around a bend in the creek. Since then there obviously have been herons everywhere looking for food, carrying sticks back and just flying by.
I’ve walked back to the nests a few times over the years now but I don’t stay long at all because I don’t want to disturb them too much. They really freak out as they should so I don’t go back often but I did that first year.
It’s a joy to just know where the community is and to watch them each year. Over the past five-plus years I have watched the number of nests fluctuate, this year was especially hard as here in Kentucky we had an early spring ice storm followed instantly by a wind storm that took out an extremely large part of the community. I thought they might all be gone but did see at least three active nests this year but I believe there may be more around the bend.
I hope to continue to watch them for years to come.
Be sure to see more photos of the nests at http://flyingturkey.smugmug.com
