If you happen to be walking down the boardwalk into the Wetlands and see a large gray bird sitting on what looks like a nest…

look closely at the bird. The bird is a Great Blue Heron, and it’s resting, not nesting.

The resident heron sometimes retires to the island to rest during the day. It does most of its hunting for fish, tadpoles, frogs, and crayfish within the cover of the willows on the north side of the Wetlands, or after-hours (when the Museum’s guests and staff have not yet arrived or have departed for the day) and often rests or preens during the middle of the day.

If you want to see a video of what a heron’s nest looks like, click here. About a quarter of the way through the video you’ll get a very close look a nesting Great Blue Heron.

Enjoy!