Another busy week visiting all three loon families and the heron rookery. The Westons’ chicks have hatched, the Eastons are sitting on their nest, the Middletons continue to look for a new spot. And the heron chicks are getting big. Very big.
The Berkshires Art Festival is coming up in Great Barrington, MA on July 3, 4 and 5. I’ll have note cards and prints large and small for sale. I’ll be in booth 212 in the Upper Lodge. Please come by and have a look. My 2027 Wildlife Calendar went to the printer. If all goes well, I’ll have them at the show.
The Westons laid their eggs sometime during a week I couldn’t visit. I’d expected the eggs to hatch last weekend. Monday morning I headed out early and found the pond in thick fog. I paddled up the pond and back down before running into Mr. Weston on his own. Mrs. Weston was still on the nest. And squirming regularly. (Dad is banded in this pair. When I can see a leg, I can tell who is who.)
I parked the boat and waited. After a bit, Mrs. Weston stood up to see what was going on downstairs. The chick has broken the end of the egg off and his? head is exposed. Mrs. W seemed satisfied with the chick’s progress and sat back down.
Every spring, I get questions about my camera gear. I’m using a Canon EOS R5 with an 800mm f5.6 lens. 800mm lets me sit well back from the loons – and most of the images in my posts are cropped. About two and a half hours later, Mom stood up again to see what was happening. I could see the chick’s head, but he was behind the brush. Mom collected the empty eggshell and tossed it overboard. It fell just in front of the nest and she hooted at it a few times, but it refused to go away.
About four hours after the first picture, Mom took the chick into the water and found him several small meals. Mom climbed back up onto the nest and the chick followed. Mr. W was still on on the main part of the pond, enjoying his last morning of peace for the season.
Mom turned the remaining egg as the chick looked on.
Mom herded the chick back into the nest.
And went back to sitting. I hadn’t expected to be on the pond very long that morning. I left a couple hours after my butt went completely numb from the kayak seat and with a nice sunburn.
I went back Tuesday morning to see if I could meet the second chick. The fog was thicker than the day before.
It was foggy enough that I couldn’t see the chicks without getting too close. I tried to make the best of the time waiting for the fog to lift and amused my self shooting foggy morning shots.
By about 0600, the fog had lifted a bit and I went to check on the nest. Mom was sitting, Dad was feeding the chick by the nest. The little guy caught on fast. Dad found several small fish and a crayfish for the chick before returning him to the nest.
The Westons have always pretty much ignored me until about time for the chicks to hatch. Then, everyone has to go. They’ll wail at people, beavers, any large bird flying over and even lots of small birds in the brush along the pond. After tucking the chick back into the nest, Dad grabbed the eggshell Mom tossed overboard the day before and took out the trash.
After Dad fed the chick, he started back to the pond. As he passed, he stopped and displayed his wings at me. I took the hint and gave up my spot. I left the cove with the nest. Dad circled the cove a couple times wailing at the red-winged black birds, grackles and kingbirds.
As I was heading in, I passed an eastern kingbird sitting along the water. When the kingbird lowered his head, I could see the ‘crown’ – a patch of red feathers. They use the crown to attract mates and as a warning to predators. As I left the pond, I had to encourage a snapping turtle to get out of the road. Female turtles are out of their ponds looking for nesting sites.
Wednesday morning I headed to visit the Middletons. On my last visit, I discovered they’d abandoned their first nest and were looking for a site to try again.
After a bit of searching, I found the Middletons testing out a possible nesting site. Mr. M was tossing vegetation up on the bank as Mrs. M looked on.
After a bit, he gave up and went to find a snack. Mrs. M tossed some vegetation herself before deciding a snack sounded good.
After finishing the snack, the pair checked another possible site. And found Hank the great blue heron at the breakfast buffet.
That site wasn’t what they wanted. They continued looking around the cove. Mrs. M tried to promote this stump as a good place to build. Mr. M wasn’t buying it. They kept looking, I stayed with Hank.
Hank stood pondside, waiting for breakfast to appear.
Oh! What’s this? Could this be breakfast over here? Hank crept into the water and dove at something behind the weeds.
He caught a sunfish when he dove. The caught it broadside to his mouth. Herons swallow fish head first. Hank was smart enough to walk back up on the beaver lodge away from the water before flipping the fish into position.
Hank went back to find more food. He dredged up what looks like a root of some kind. He waived this around a few times before tossing it back. He broke off a smaller piece and waived that around before tossing that back. Herons don’t eat plants, I’m not sure what he was doing.
I went to check to see what the Middletons were up to.
They’d gone back to the first possible nesting site I’d found them on. This time, they were both dredging up vegetation and tossing it.
They gave up after a time and headed out into the main part of the pond. Mr. M gave a nice stretch. I went back to check on Hank.
Hank had moved down the shore to a sunny spot. His camouflage seems to work pretty well. He’s in the brush about a third of the way in from the left side of the photo.
There he is. Watching herons fish can often be very boring. This was one of those mornings. I didn’t see Hank catch anything else before I had to go.
Yesterday morning I called on the Eastons. On my last visit there appeared to be a pair of loons defending a nesting spot with a banded loon challenging one of them for the territory. The Mr. Easton we’ve been following since 2019 wasn’t to be found. Mrs. Easton isn’t banded, she may be back.
Saturday morning found a pair of loons with a nest. The banded loon I’d seen the last time has taken over the territory. There was at least one challenger on the pond. After a brief skirmish, the challenger departed.
Hank, or his cousin, was looking over the pond.
I followed the banded loon for a time, trying to get a good look at both his legs. He was happy to wave his left leg. I only needed to see it once to see the tags. He must have waved the left leg 10 times before breaking down and showing me the bands on his right leg. I reported the band info, we may get to learn about the bird’s history.
There was a good breeze and the water was fairly choppy. The banded bird stretched while I was waiting to see the right leg.
The intruder returned and drew both of the home team to the far end of the pond. I snuck a look at the nest with my binoculars and they’ve got two eggs.
The intruder promptly left the pond.
One of the home team returned to sit on the nest. I headed home.
I expect to dodge wildlife on the road in the early hours. This past week, I’ve seen bears, foxes, a racoon and an opossum along with deer, more deer and even more deer. To change things up this morning, I met a horse trotting west as I was going east.
The chicks have grown remarkably since my last visit. These three chicks seem to be the biggest – and probably oldest – in the rookery. They live in what I’ve taken to calling Nest One. It is the furthest on the left and I need some way to keep them straight. They were up and acting up most of the morning. They’re very vocal and called most of the morning.
Nest One is getting small for them. Getting photos where we can see all three faces was a challenge all morning. Most of the time there’s usually at least one butt pointed in my direction.
Personal space is not really a thing in a heron nest.
The chicks in Nest Two – the second from the left – were tucked in for a nap. In Nest Three – stay with me here, the third from the left – found these two were sitting up waiting for breakfast. There’s a third with his? head just barely visible.
Nest Four found two chicks preening and one doing whatever it is the guy on the right is doing.
One of the parents returns to Nest Two with breakfast. Both heron parents tend the chicks and we can’t tell them apart by looking.
When the chicks are young, the parents feed them by regurgitating food into their mouths. As the chicks get bigger, the parents bring food back and regurgitate it into the nest and let the chicks grab it. Looks like this chick isn’t ready to give up being fed.
And neither are the siblings. They’re all grabbing the parents bill. It looks like this is counter productive. The parent can’t bend over to regurgitate the food while the chicks are holding his bill.
After several false starts, the parent was able to bend over and is regurgitating what looks to be a perch into the nest. That’s a crazy crop, I was probably 130 feet from the nest.
The chick in the middle was able to grab the fish.
And the chick that nabbed the fish sure seemed to do an in-your-face-dance for the siblings.
A parent arrived back in Nest One. The chicks here also tried to grab the parent’s bill. This shot looks like the parent is putting food directly into the chick’s mouth. The parent had food for all three chicks. After dropping the rest of the food, the parent hopped to a branch about 10 feet from the nest.
The chicks started throwing a tantrum, trying to convince the parent they were starving. The parent ignored them. The chicks acted up for several minutes.
The other parent has arrived back at Nest Two. Only to have the chicks all go for his bill.
The parent drops what looks like another perch into the nest where a chick immediately grabs it and swallows it.
After the parent left Nest Two, the chicks posed nicely. The chicks in Nest One were still putting on a show….
Last week, it looked like a wren had taken over the bluebird box where they raised a family earlier this year. In the last couple days, the bluebirds have reappeared. Ownership of the box appears undecided. I’m kinda rooting for the bluebirds. The wren’s song was cute the first couple days, but she over does it.
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I totally agree about the house wrens. We have a pair who took over a box that had chickadees earlier. It’s outside our bedroom and they “wren” from daybreak until dark. We’re over it too! I love the loon and heron adventures!
Ha! They’re cute little birds, but they sure are loud! Good news today, the bluebirds have an egg in the box. The four chicks from the first brood seem to be helping defend the box, we’ve got six bluebirds out in front of the house.
Thank you!
I just love the heron chicks “hairdo”. Just like teenagers!
Fabulous footage and commentary about the hatching loon chick and the parent participation… esp ‘taking out the trash’. Thanks, as always, Ian.
Thanks!
Following the young’s ‘food is life’ struggles sort of breathtaking. Great storylines, thank you!
I totally agree about the house wrens. We have a pair who took over a box that had chickadees earlier. It’s outside our bedroom and they “wren” from daybreak until dark. We’re over it too! I love the loon and heron adventures!
Ha! They’re cute little birds, but they sure are loud! Good news today, the bluebirds have an egg in the box. The four chicks from the first brood seem to be helping defend the box, we’ve got six bluebirds out in front of the house.
A wonderful update. Thank you.