Springing Forward

There’s been so much happening in the Wild lately that it’s difficult to keep up, to stay on top of the reporting of said happenings. Here’s a quick update. If you remember, there were two successful Green Heron nests in our Wetlands last year. We’re hoping to have a repeat. Last Saturday two of the small, somewhat green herons appeared. I’ve seen one or two each day since, so maybe a redo of last year’s events is forthcoming. The firstRead more

Where’s the Herons, Cardinals, and oh yeah, the Kingfishers?

I was a little apprehensive as I made my way over to the Wetlands Overlook on Tuesday morning. I missed two days of observation due to the weekend off (Sunday & Monday). A lot can happen in the lives of nestlings in two days. A quick scan with my binoculars (bins) lessened my anxiety. The four nestlings, although they looked different (they were growing feathers through their fluffy down), were all there and looked healthy. On to the other nest,Read more

What’s All The Excitement About?

Perhaps the reality has hit the heron that it has four nestlings to feed! That’s right, four nestlings!! The bird above is just below the nest (NS2) in a willow just off the Main Wetlands Overlook. I too, was excited when it was pointed out to me this weekend that there were four nestlings in this nest. Kevin (photographer), who comes by the Museum on weekends to photograph some of our wildlife, noticed four downy heads bobbing around in the nest insteadRead more

Latchkey Herons

It’s only been a week since hatching and already the herons in NS1 are being left alone in the nest while the parents are off at work stalking fish, tadpoles, frogs, insects, and other food items to feed the little nestlings. The parents work the Wetlands and bring in food in the form of partially digested remains of whatever it is they’ve been able to catch. The food is regurgitated into the bottom of the nest and the youngsters haveRead more

Green Heron Nests Discovered in Wetlands!

Green herons are in no way rare or even uncommon in our area. Here at the Museum they arrive in our Wetlands sometime in mid April and usually depart for points south sometime around the end of September. I’ve suspected they’ve nesting here at the Museum for some time but hadn’t found a nest. They can be very secretive about their nests. But, they can also be very conspicuous in their nesting activities. Tuesday (6/25) as I was walking down theRead more