{"id":16347,"date":"2015-05-31T21:07:29","date_gmt":"2015-06-01T02:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=16347"},"modified":"2015-05-31T21:18:05","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T02:18:05","slug":"great-blue-heron-babies-hatch-in-southcoast-rookery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=16347","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Heron Babies Hatch in SouthCoast Rookery"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-017-1200-good.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16357\" title=\"POST gbh baby 017 480 good\" src=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-017-480-good.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"637\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-017-480-good.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-017-480-good-226x300.jpg 226w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Female and Two Hatchlings\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A storm front charged across coastal Massachusetts this afternoon, May 31st, preceded by dark clouds and gusty winds, and dropping temperatures more than 20 degrees in five minutes. \u00c2\u00a0The Turtle Journal&#8217;s Don Lewis &amp; Sue Wieber Nourse were caught by the storm while we visited the SouthCoast great blue heron rookery to document the birth of hatchlings. \u00c2\u00a0Behavior by adult birds on both active heron nests over the past few days strongly indicated that eggs had hatched, but the babies were too deeply set within the nests to confirm their birth.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-00-1200-excellent.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16350\" title=\"POST gbh baby 00 480 excellent\" src=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-00-480-excellent.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"624\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-00-480-excellent.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-00-480-excellent-230x300.jpg 230w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Female Great Blue Heron and Two Hatchlings during Storm<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Two months ago, on March 31st, we trudged down paths still covered with eight inches of snow to document the return of great blue herons to this SouthCoast rookery. \u00c2\u00a0Harsh winter weather conditions had postponed their arrival, just as bad weather had postponed all other spring emergence. \u00c2\u00a0(See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=15662\" target=\"_blank\">Great Blue Herons Return to Rookery<\/a> for more details.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-0-1200-excellent.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16349\" title=\"POST gbh baby 0 480 excellent\" src=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-0-480-excellent.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"625\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-0-480-excellent.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-0-480-excellent-230x300.jpg 230w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>Great Blue Heron Female with Hatchling<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This nest had been completed destroyed by hurricane force blizzards in January and February. \u00c2\u00a0It and two other nests within the rookery were rebuilt, two by herons and one by a pair of ospreys. \u00c2\u00a0For the full story of the rebuilding process, see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=15815\" target=\"_blank\">Rebuilding Destroyed Nest and Loving Bonds<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-013-best-1200.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16355\" title=\"POST gbh baby 013 best 480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-013-best-480.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"671\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-013-best-480.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-gbh-baby-013-best-480-214x300.jpg 214w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Great Blue Heron Mother with Her Two Babies<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">While we had not been able to confirm births on earlier visits, we got lucky today with the storm. \u00c2\u00a0 High winds swayed the northernmost nest and riled babies and mother just enough for us to get a peek of the hatchlings with binoculars and telephoto lens. \u00c2\u00a0Two beautiful great blue heron babies popped up while momma tried to keep them secured within the swaying nest. \u00c2\u00a0The nearby second heron nest likely also contains hatchlings, but the nest is much deeper and it will take a few more days of growth before hatchling heads are visible.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-osprey-pair-1000-1200.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16362\" title=\"POST osprey pair 1000 480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-osprey-pair-1000-480.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"586\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-osprey-pair-1000-480.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/POST-osprey-pair-1000-480-245x300.jpg 245w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) Pair Arrived Late This Spring<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The osprey nest within this rookery got a later start. \u00c2\u00a0The pair began rebuilding their winter destroyed nest on April 22nd; see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=16076\" target=\"_blank\">Osprey Pair Rebuild Winter Destroyed Nest<\/a>. \u00c2\u00a0We anticipate a late arrival for this year&#8217;s osprey hatchlings. \u00c2\u00a0(For more information on this osprey pair, see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=16126\" target=\"_blank\">Osprey Love on the Fast Track<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Female and Two Hatchlings\u00c2\u00a0 A storm front charged across coastal Massachusetts this afternoon, May 31st, preceded by dark clouds and gusty winds, and dropping temperatures more than 20 degrees in five minutes. \u00c2\u00a0The Turtle Journal&#8217;s Don Lewis &amp; Sue Wieber Nourse were caught by the storm while we visited the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[654,402,826],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16347"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16347"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16369,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16347\/revisions\/16369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}