Turtle Journal

 Great Blue Heron Male Bringing Material to Nest

As the weather cleared on April 7th, the Turtle Journal team observed great blue heron pairs in the SouthCoast rookery repairing and reinforcing their nests for the coming season.  These large birds sail through the air as if in slow motion as they gently alight on the tree’s highest and most fragile branches.

Male Great Blue Heron Returns to Nest

The male heron gathers twigs and small branches from surrounding trees and passes these to the female for placement in the nest.

Great Blue Herons Reinforcing Nest

In full mating plumage, these exquisite animals embody grace and beauty as they prepare the nest for eggs and chicks to come.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Pair

The great blue herons tiptoe through ritual on each return, as though reinforcing their bond as well as strengthening the nest itself.

Male Great Blue Heron Leaves for More Twigs

With the transfer complete, the male spreads his wings and seems to float from the nest as he glides to another nearby tree to gather more material to reinforce the nest for the ordeal ahead.

Courting Great Blue Heron Pair at SouthCoast Rookery

Great Blue Herons swoop through the air with blitheful grace, so unexpected for such a large and seemingly awkward creature.  Yet, if aerial ballets amaze, their Geisha-like courtship movements atop the trees precariously balanced on teetering twigs stuns the senses. 

In this early stage of seasonal courtship as pairs return to the rookery and before preparing the nest for this year’s chicks, ritual behavior ensues each time the male returns to the aerie.  Loving tenderness is expressed in elegant poses so gentle, so sweet and so dramatically effective.

(All images can be enlarged by clicking on the picture, which will open in a separate window.)

Courting Behavior as Male Great Blue Heron Returns to Nest

When the greeting ritual ends, the mating pair begins a grooming phase with the same loving tenderness as demonstrated below.

Great Blue Heron Pair Grooming

With the courting ritual temporarily behind them, they can refocus on preparing the nest for eggs, incubation and chicks.  The next two months will be a busy time for this pair.

Great Blue Heron Pair Settle Down to Nesting

Yet, even in the busy-ness of nest preparation, there’s always time for a gentle peck to reinforce the couple’s bond.

Love’s in the Air:  Great Blue Herons at SouthCoast Rookery

Pterodaytls in Flight — Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Herons in flight resemble nothing so much as the reincarnation of ancient pterodactyls.  They are magnificent creatures that cruise through the sky with lumbering grace.  Their raucous squawks and “kronks” add depth and breadth to the simulation of prehistoric mystery. 

Turtle Journal offers the following montage of Great Blue Herons in flight for your pure enjoyment.  Each image can be enlarged by clicking.

Great Blue Herons at SouthCoast  Rookery in Marion, Massachusetts

Osprey Arrives @ SouthCoast Rookery, March 23rd

The first osprey (Pandion haliaetus) arrived at the SouthCoast rookery in Marion on March 23rd.  Circling above the pond and swooping between the trees, the osprey evoked a riot of squawks from nesting pairs of great blue herons (Ardea herodias) who had glided into the rookery two days earlier on March 21st.

Osprey Promptly Evicts Blue Heron Pair from Prime Nest

The osprey immediately and unceremoniously evicted the early great blue heron pair from the prime nest in this rookery, repeating what had occurred in 2012 and 2013.  (See Aggressive Ospreys Evict Great Blue Heron Nesting Pair.)  Perhaps fortunately this year, the eviction happened before egg laying had begun.  The 2012 eviction took place in early May!

Ospreys and Blue Herons Do NOT Make Friendly Neighbors

As each species takes flight from its respective nest and nears the other, cacophony and chaos ensue.  Turtle Journal observes, “Isn’t Nature grandly harmonious?“

Great Blue Heron Returns to SouthCoast Rookery (March 21)

Blue skies, a stiff breeze and chilly temperatures greeted the first Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) who returned to the SouthCoast rookery this morning, March 21st.  Soon followed by its mate, the pair naturally took residence in the best nest within the rookery.

SouthCoast Great Blue Heron Rookery

The Turtle Journal team has been following this major Great Blue Heron rookery on the SouthCoast since Spring 2012.  Many pairs of Great Blue Herons compete in sometimes open battle with several pairs of Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) to raise their young in this perfect, well protected nursery habitat.  (See Great Blue Heron Rookery on Massachusetts SouthCoast.)

Great Blue Heron Occupies Disputed Nest

The Great Blue Heron pair this morning assumed occupancy of the best and most disputed nest within the rookery.  For the past two seasons, ospreys have evicted Great Blue Heron pairs from this nest.  (See Aggressive Ospreys Evict Great Blue Heron Nesting Pair.)  It will be interesting to observe whether the battle continues this year.  For the nonce, though, with no ospreys in sight, Great Blue Herons are in charge.