I don't know if you recognized the nest in yesterday's post, but if you go back to our first rookery entry on February 8, you will see that the nest belongs to First Heron who put up a fight to keep his perch. Every time I returned to the heronry, First Heron would be alone, waiting for a mate. Well, it looks like he finally found his sweetheart. I wondered why he would defend such a scrawny nest the first time I saw him. It wasn't even a nest, just a pile of sticks, but he had a vision and stuck to it. Now he and Mrs. First have nearly doubled its size, and it's in a prime location.
First Heron on Feb 8 after defending his territory.
First Heron yesterday bringing his
mate a stick for the growing nest.
It will be fun to watch this nest grow. I hope all goes well for them and they have a successful brood. If he does really well, who knows, maybe Husband of the Year!
It's a wonder that the nests stay together. Keep us posted.
ReplyDeleteKelly, how do you tell the males from the females? I'm guessing their coloring, but I'm not sure what to look for in the photos.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm with Steve, I've been wondering how those nests stay together! I realize birds are great engineers, but that looks like it could come tumbling down at any time!
Laure...They look the same, but from my reading, the male is the one that usually goes out and returns with a stick. The female has to accept it. Usually she will place it in the nest, but our male did this time. The female does most of the nest construction. They both will sit on the eggs, taking turns. I'm learning so much!
ReplyDeleteSteve and Laure......those nests look so fragile, but we had hurricane-force winds rip through our area this fall and most of the nests stayed. If you look at pics from year to year, you can see they grow, but stay in place. They are in 5 huge Sycamore trees and the branches are very strong, but to me, they look like a disaster in the making!!
ReplyDeleteI cant' believe how high up it is. If is going to be fun to watch through your eyes as the season progresses.
ReplyDelete