Our babies are growing up!

This afternoon I went to the heronry to check on the babies. As soon as I got out of the car I could hear that wonderful sound the babies make as they cry out for food and their "voices" all blend together. I am always surprised how far the sound carries and how unique it is. If you didn't know better, you would think you were near a pond on a summer's night, because the peculiar, low-level croaking conjures images of hundreds of baby frogs. Every now and then a large croak or bark comes from one of the parents, but mostly it's just the chicks' nonstop request for food! Today, some of the babies were big enough to sit up in the nests, so I got a really good look at them. Many already resemble their parents and even look like miniature Big Blues! While looking at them through the binocs, I noticed I could see their little necks vibrating as they cried out, waiting for mama or papa to feed them. 

See the little pouch under his bill? As each baby 

demanded dinner, the pouch would vibrate with their cries. 

It was an unusual sight, and they cried endlessly! 

Even though babies are in the nest, papas are still 

dropping off sticks for nest construction. I guess 

you can never have too many sticks in your nest!

This mama has three babies to feed, and 

these are the largest babies in all the nests.  

Since the heronry is made up of a colony of many birds, 

quite a large age discrepancy exists between the babies. 

Some couples had already formed bonds in February, 

while others, like our First Heron (from our first heron post), 

did not yet have a mate and were only starting to construct 

their nests. You can tell that the baby in this nest 

is much younger than many of the other babies.

P.S. I used Rick's older camera to take these photos because I had forgotten to charge the battery, but I think this camera might take better photos. I'll have to experiment and test out the camera (same lens).