Business as usual at the heronry...and our Chipping Sparrows are back!!

Just about all the couples at the Great Blue Heron rookery are sitting on nests, and the activity seems to be increasing during the day. Some of the nests have been occupied for almost a month. The first day I saw any of the couples sitting on a nest was March 6, and it takes about a month for the eggs to hatch, so any day now…

Three of the six sycamore trees that support the colony 

of herons nesting in the rookery. The heronry looks 

almost empty here, but it's completely full. Little 

heads can be seen just above the rim of the nests.

Last week on the 26th they were sitting on nests…

Today on the 31st, again they are sitting on nests... But today there was a whole lotta shakin’ going on! The mama or the papa would get up, move around a little, play with the nest a little, or turn the eggs a little…then settle back in, which was neat to watch…sort of like “whack a mole” at the amusement park only    i  n     s  l  o  w     m  o  t  i  o  n     !

She or he's up, adjusting the nest or rotating the eggs...

...and down, keeping the eggs warm.

...and his or her neighbor is up, adjusting the nest or rotating the eggs...

...and down, keeping the eggs warm.

Beak Bit
Male and female herons take turns sitting on the eggs, but the Birds of North America Online site indicates that the males sit on the nests for about 10.4 hours each day and females only 3.5 hour each day. The female does most of the incubating at night. Adults usually spend about 54 minutes of each hour sitting on eggs, and they rotate the eggs about once every 2 hours. The females do most of the nest constructing, but the males bring in sticks for the nests.

Even though most of the birds have been sitting on eggs, males still continue to bring in sticks for the nests. It's almost a continuous stream of herons flying in with sticks.

Papa bringing another stick in for the nest...

While I was watching all the popping up and down of the herons, I suddenly heard the familiar buzzy trill of a small flock of Chipping Sparrows! Yeah! They are back. I watched and listened to them trill down the tree line. There were five of them, and they were, needless to say, exceptionally cute. I spent too much time watching them and not enough time trying to photograph them, but I did catch a Song Sparrow that was about 20 feet away.

...the Song Sparrow looking slightly ruffled...

No bluebird sightings today, however...

Note   If you're just tuning in to this blog, you might want to go to the first entry in this series to find out more about these herons.