June 16, 2010

Story - The Grey Heron Saga...

A lot of activity at the Grey Heron nest in Valentines Park today:
'
When I got to the site the parent bird was in the large Oak tree on the island, keeping an eye on the chicks I guess; one chick (I'm again assuming it was the first fledgling but of course I have no proof!) was fishing on the usual log; the remaining two were on the nest.
One of the chicks on the nest branch suddenly decided to fly off to a nearby Sycamore tree (another assumption: the one who flew down to the water yesterday?) where he wobbled about in an unstable manner for some time ... ...before flying back to his branch.


His sibling had in the meantime been skulking about on the bank, but he soon joined his brother/sister(?) and after an initial "squawk" they seemed quite companionable...


He then flew up into a nearby cypress tree, where he remained until returning to the undergrowth. The second chick eventually returned to the nest tree, but lurked in the ivy above the nest and his lazy sibling. The adult bird sat in the same spot in the oak tree all this time (approximately four hours).

(by Gillian Ware)

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