Heron nest.

[fishin4cars]

I've been watching this small green heron the last few weeks. I've run it off probably a half dozen times but it has become a pond resident. It's far rarer to see these around here than the great Blue Heron. It stayed away from the koi pond and usually fed during the day on the island so I just started watching it. Well three weeks ago I started noticing it kept going to one tree. This past week I noticed that it carried a crayfish in the tree and didn't eat it. I had already started suspecting that it might have a nest but hadn't found it. Well Monday i found it and today i got to finally see what i had been thinking all along. Hope you enjoy. I've lived in La for the last 20 years. I've been raised on the water since I was 5. never have I had this oppurtunity to see one of these babies before. I hope you enjoy as much as I enjoyed trying to get these shots.

 

[addy1]

Aww how neat! What a little cutie, well if not eating your fish a cutie! Our green heron has not been back.

Thanks so much for sharing!

 

[fishin4cars]

Addy, actually I have been surprised how useful the Mom is. She has been running other herons and crains off of the pond for the last few weeks. She's always on post even if she isn't by the pond. We may not see her yet let a egret or another heron show up and she is all over it until she chases it off. She's never come up near the house ponds and from what I see watching her she actually very rarely snags fish out of the big pond. She seems to prefer crayfish, snails, and very small fish. this may be due to the two babies. I'm not sure but for now she is behaving herself and rewarded me with the chance to see the babies and watch them grow so I decided to allow her to stay for a while.

 

[Mmathis]

Ahhh! Thanks for the pics! I enjoy observing nature, and birds especially.

In the spring, while getting started on the pond dig, I was frequently visited by a robin. I saved the grubs I dug up for her/him, and it wasn't long before she/he would perch on he fence, waiting. I could tell by the way the bird gathered the grubs in its mouth about what stage the hatchlings were. At first the bird just gorged & swallowed everything, but as the days wore on, it would grab a mouthful and just hold onto them before flying off. Then the robin stopped coming . No more babies to feed.

 

[j.w]

Thanks for sharing those cool pix of the mom and baby Larkin! Love seeing those kinds of close up nature things. Maybe you'll get to see it's first take off from the nest.

 

[Doug_S]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing

 

[fishin4cars]

Thanks for sharing those cool pix of the mom and baby Larkin! Love seeing those kinds of close up nature things. Maybe you'll get to see it's first take off from the nest.

That's the two babies JW, I haven't been able to get a pic of mom except for way off. I don't have a good enough zoom to bring the mom in close enough to really see her.

 

[addy1]

Attack heron! good job for it.

 

[j.w]

Oh those are both babies! Guess they are exploring leaving the nest a little bit, getting ready for their first take off. Hope they don't goof it up and land in your ponds, do a header like the big one did in addy's pond!

 

[fishin4cars]

JW, the explorer has actually ended up in the pond twice today. That's that I know of. It's been all over the tree, It makes it's way to the top and then back down to the nest. I've been trying to get a pic of Mom but no luck and I hate to keep going to near the nest to much.

 

[j.w]

So they aren't flying yet just climbing up and down the tree? You're getting a good show that not many get to see! Wonder if the parents will come back to nest again next year.

 

[fishin4cars]

The babies are just climbing. In fact the one that wonders out of the nest is climbing the other one is smaller and has yet to leave the nest at all that i know of. I think the bigger one just left the nest the fisrt time yesterday or the day before. The first day I spotted the nest I thought there was only one baby, yesterday I realized there were two.
You know the adults don't seem to really pair up. The female has stayed right near the pond for the last several weeks. If the male was here it didn't stay long. The wife and I watched another one come in several weeks ago and there was a couple of attacks/courtings. Was neat to see even though we didn't have a clue what we were actually watching at the time. Then she flat ran him off. Now she is the guardian of the pond. Once in a while a cattle egret or a snowy heron will come in but if it even goes to the side of the pond the babies are on she will get after it right away. When I go near the nest I can hear her making calls but she will only appear clear across the pond and watch me. If I head in her direction to photograph her she will fly but almost never toward the nest. She usually heads for a really high advantage point until the pond is quite then she will go find a treat and bring it to the babies. Been very interesting to watch for sure.
I just downloaded these pics that I took today and actually got the best shots of mom that I have been able to get. Had to magnify and crop to get these. Also once I viewed these and cleaned them up I'm thinking it's not a green heron but a Tri-colored or Louisiana Heron. The last pic if you look close it's in flight. She flew up in a tall pine tree and made several calls but got in a place in the tree I no longer could get a photograph of her.

 

[addy1]

That one does have different coloring than the green heron we had here. So neat to see them even though they do like our fish. The green heron, here, only walked the edge to try and snag a fish, once I made it hard to walk the edge it has not been back.

I pulled the deer fence I had over the center of the pond, the gbh had not stopped by at all, so going naked until it decides to show up. I did leave the edge protection up so It can't fish from the sides.

 

[j.w]

You got some good shots of the bird and looks like the mom is on top of a beaver pond or maybe just a pile of branches in that one photo. You getting to see the whole progress of the little family from courting to babies to leaving the nest! You sure do have a pretty setting there to look at everyday Larkin.............think I have said this before but I just can't get over what a nice place it is that you were so lucky to find!

 

[fishin4cars]

Thank you JW, It's a lot of work but everyday I walk out and look around and Thank the good Lord for blessing us with all he has, and the chance to be able to enjoy this home. It's always been a dream of mine to own a piece of property where I could enjoy nature and this place has really never let us down.
We do have a beaver dam on the property but it's down on the river. (Haven't seen a beaver yet but have seen new cuttings in the dam and tracks left along the banks of the river so I do know there is at least one in the area. We haven't found the actual lodge) That is just a brush pile that I use to draw smaller fish in. There are a total of four in the pond and that's the one mom tends to use the most.