We took a walk in the woods with friends to see this heron rookery. 4 nests in the swamp.This rookery is fairly new. 5 years ago there were no heron nests in this swamp. It's a little surprising because a subdivision was built adjacent to this swamp just before the herons arrived.
We wondered whether that white material in the nest was a heron eggshell? A stick? A piece of birch bark?An important clue that we didn't know until we returned home is that heron eggs are light blue - so it's probably not an eggshell.
Jim took these photos through a telephoto lens, so we wouldn't disturb the herons. The young spend up to 60 days in the nest between hatching and their first flight.
More information about herons
A turtle sunning on a log.....he might be happier to see the sun than we are!
It's been a rainy and cloudy few months in NH, but we're hoping today's weather means summer is getting in gear!
12 comments:
Beautiful birds!!
This sunshine is so nice - I keep looking at the blue sky and just smiling. Hopefully it'll stick around for a while now!
When we lived in CNY we had a heron rookery in the swamp across the field from our home-it sure was noisy this time of year-beautiful in flight, aren't they. Thanks for the tour1
These are amazing picures! I love the photo of the heron taking a walk on the branch. Besides, I didn't know turtles lived that far north.
Sue, I sure hope you guys get some nice weather soon too. Way overdue. Beautiful pics. We have herons here and there. My favorite is the little green heron's but I'd have to travel back to TX to see them. Nesting around right now around our property is a couple of pairs of Western Tanagers and the fawns are out. Two spied yesterday morning, maybe 2 days old, very small but sturdy and healthy, putting on a show for us.
The pictures of the heron are amazing!!!!! They must be so much fun to watch.
Well, rumors of summer weather settling here in NH were a little premature. We're back in the rain and fog again. Not like our usual summers at all! At least we got out to see the herons while the sun was out yesterday!
That's so cool that you've seen fawns Theresa! I've only seen one once up close. They're so precious!
Sue
That is amazing about the herons. We have a medium sized river that runs near work and then a pond on the campus that attracts herons from the river occasionally. They have built nests on a sand bar on one side of the pond. So that was new to see them in the tree!
Summer is officially here - 103 on Saturday!
Great shots of the heron! Very interesting.
That's interesting that some herons nest on the ground Jennifer. Ours nest on trees in swamps - safer from predation and near lots of food.
I don't envy those hot, hot, hot summer temperatures. I start melting when it hits 80!!
Sue
There's an award for you to pick up in my blog, I hope you don't mind :-)
Holey moley, Sue. Those are awesome. I made Ian come over and look. We want a telephoto lens but the one we're drooling over is a grand, and for ones who've just retired and have no clue what the retirement pay will be until the end of July, well - we just need to wait. I hate to wait!
Love the heron pics, Sue! I've had to catch a couple of them,... watch out for that beak! One even climbed a flight of stairs, outdoors, before we cornered it.
I should explain, I'm a rescue driver for the Northwoods Wildlife Center, and get calls to transport, and sometimes CATCH, injured wildlife. I love this volunteer work, but somemtimes it is heartbreaking.
A couple days ago I saw four fawns in one day, and one of the does around here has triplets! Hope to see them again before long.
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