Herons
Three of the four species found in the Pacific Northwest: Great Blue, Green Heron and a Bittern. One of these images has a GBH, or Great Blue Heron' about to land at the end of a tuffock of grasses at water's edge. On the other side, a female Mallard has a nest with hatchlings about to emerge. Mister Mallard is seen yelling in Duck Language "not here, you big dummy!" In another photo, two river otters are seen scampering past a standing GBH at Deception Pass near Anacortes. Fishing behaviors are captured in some pictures and a nice view looking straight upwards through branches of an Arbutus in Stanley Park, Vancouver BC, reveals a parent feeding a chick forty feet up in a big rookery nest. (Chick? Hard to think of it as a Chick, as it will have a seven foot wingspan in weeks....) This Bittern blends so well with his cover reeds that he is hard to find. We watched him sway his neck to match movement as breezes came through. Green Heron is much smaller, and not as commonly seen as GBH. Also included in this gallery (although not related) are a few owls, hawks, shrike, Kestrel images. . In addition, a Road Runner, Sora Rail, Verdin, and Phainopepla, all from Borrego Springs and Salton Sea area appear. Phainopepla is unusual in that it feeds on a desert version of mistletoe berries, spreads the berries to other plants in order for the mistletoe to add territory. Too, the Phainopepla breeds twice per year, following food sources. A non-heron, the smallest falcon named Kestrel photo appears a couple of times here. One is sitting on a glove as it was in the Sitka AK Raptor Rescue Center with injuries that made it unsuitable to be released back into the wild.
