Where Did the Herons Go?

By the pond, what whiffs, what sniffs?
The residue of stag and duck,
Heron and otter, murky frog....

~Alan W. Powers

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Yesterday was a four heron day. Really. It was.

Three walkers and two dogs were up early. Zelda was excited to see her new friend (they had walked together only once before). Kason was not so excited to see her,* but he managed bravely.

With every turn in the creek/under each bridge a heron waited. While it's not unusual to observe a heron or two on a morning walk, four was out of the ordinary) - for us at least. First we saw the Yellow-crowned Night Heron with its bright feathered "fascinator."

This little squirrel was surprised to find us at the base of a tree and we were surprised as well. It ran quickly to a light pole and then played peek-a-boo for a while.

This Green Heron was feeding steadily in the shallows

A little further along we found the Great Blue Heron. I watched it stalk for two minutes, but never saw a "strike."

I do love these birds.

We frightened this green heron and it flew off.

But it had returned by the time we turned around to head back to the car.

Today we were not so lucky. We only saw the Yellow-crowned Night Heron and it was skittish, flying upstream quickly when we stopped nearby. Still we saw some spots where we will watch for birds in the future. And the young Red-shouldered Hawk flew by after other birds fussed at it. One of the Mallards had appeared to be nesting. We moved off the sidewalk - clearing the way for other dogs and did not realize we were so close to the duck. It moved away and disclosed the egg we thought was there.

We do love this park. Even in the summer humidity, we are good for an hour or so.

I'll try for a better photo of this tree full of homes for wildlife. There are more cavities than the two noted here.

This park has been developed for water activities. I understand nearby landowners warning off the public.

We watched the hawk take shelter here. It's hard to see in the morning light. You can just see the light colored front mid-frame.

Stump-borer Beetle...now food for the ants.

It doesn't look too comfortable.

But it's just the right size for the Mallard to use for nesting.

Seven o'clock is almost too late to avoid the heat...and crowds (runners, solo walkers, and dog walkers). Still it's good to know that the parks are well-utilized even if we must step off the sidewalk or use a different path every now and then.


NOTES:

*Kason is older and calm while Zelda is an exuberant "teenager." Perhaps Zelda's owners need to work on her behavior.

** We saw the fellow who walks 4+ dogs at the northernmost end of the park, but we haven't seen the cat lady in a while. She generally feeds the birds early in the morning (and we've noticed the cats following her too). Perhaps we are too late to see her now that daylight is earlier and the day heats up fast. I'll check again.