Lots of activity at the heronry

The heronry at Stanley Park is a very busy place this time of year; a heronry or a heron rookery is a nesting and breeding place for herons. The heronry in Stanley Park, on the south east corner of the park (by the Fish House and tennis courts), is the breeding place for dozens of Great Blue Herons and has been for many springs.

This heron seems to be announcing just that.

 "The Stanley Park Heronry is one of the more awe inspiring sights in the Park in the Spring and Summer seasons. A cluster of around twenty trees has become the largest nesting site for Great Blue Herons in the region, a sight that draws many bird watchers, naturalists and visitors to the park to observe the dozens of pairs and their squawking young. The Herons will nest until their young are able to fly, leaving Stanley Park and returning the next year. The Heronry is a unique experience as these reclusive and elegant birds are never usually spotted in large groups."

Read more: Heronry http://www.venturevancouver.com/heronry-stanley-park-vancouver#ixzz3TvysY9iV

 

Even though it seems early to me appartently herons usually start to return to the nesting sight mid February to mid March. These pictures were taken at the end of February.

 

Herons do not mate for life, instead they pick a mate at the beginning of each breeding season. They don't always return to the same nest every year or even the same nesting sight.

 

 

In Stanley Park they nest in about 20 large trees and the nest remnants stay in the trees from year to year. The male will pick an existing nest or a new site for a nest then use the plume feathers around his neck to attract a mate.

 

The finished nests are about a metre across and about half as deep. The male gathers twigs for the nest and the female "weaves" them into a nest or adds to and repairs an existing nest.

 

The nests can be quite close together, I think this must cause occasional friction between neighbours.

 

The male below is puffing out his neck feathers to impress his mate, as I watched this was followed by clacking their becks together which is part of courtship behavior.

 

Then on to the serious business of getting the nest in order.

 

 

Fascinating to watch and because the trees are only just starting to bud, even from 40 feet below we still get a good view.

 

Magnificent in flight too.

 

 

 I have been working on two ink and watercolour sketches this week.

 

The first is a "collage" style sketch of Cathedral Place on Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver. Cathedral Place replace the old Georgia Medical Dental Building and is decorated with copies of the "nursing sisters" from that building. The original statues were badly worn and were extremely heavy(made of terra cotta); the copies modelled from one of the repaired originals are made of fiberglass. The Nursing Sisters decorate the exterior of Cathedral Place at the third floor level, much further up the building are gargoyles with waterspouts. I combine these two decorations with a sketch of the buildings exterior in "Creature Comfort" at Cathedral Place:

 

 

The second features the Arbutus Tree, a broadleaf evergreen tree that that grows along the coast of BC and on the Gulf Islands between the lower mainland and along the inner coast of Vancouver Island. They grow in dry  rocky sunny areas. The arbutus stump below shows the strawberry tan coloured  bark typical of the tree and is an example of the odd shapes that one sometimes sees along the gulf island shores. I call this painting "Arbutus Steer":  

 

Thank you for all your kind comments on my last post.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

happy Whimsy Wednesday,

 

Until next week,

 

Gillian.

  

 



Herons, herons and more herons

"The Stanley Park Heronry is one of the more awe inspiring sights in the Park in the Spring and Summer seasons. A cluster of around twenty trees has become the largest nesting site for Great Blue Herons in the region, a sight that draws many bird watchers, naturalists and visitors to the park to observe the dozens of pairs and their squawking young. The Herons will nest until their young are able to fly, leaving Stanley Park and returning the next year. The Heronry is a unique experience as these reclusive and elegant birds are never usually spotted in large groups."  Read more: Heronry http://www.venturevancouver.com/heronry-stanley-park-vancouver#ixzz1t7C4QUbg

 

The Great Blue Heron (GBH) is the largest of the North American herons.

"It has head-to-tail length of 97–137 cm (38–54 in), a wingspan of 167-201 cm (66-79 in) a height of 115–138 cm (45–54 in) and a weight of 2.1–3.3 kg (4.6–7.3 lb). Notable features include slaty flight feathers, red-brown thighs, and a paired red-brown and black stripe up the flanks; the neck is rusty-gray, with black and white streaking down the front; the head is paler, with a nearly white face, and a pair of black plumes running from just above the eye to the back of the head. The feathers on the lower neck are long and plume-like; it also has plumes on the lower back at the start of the breeding season. The bill is dull yellowish, becoming orange briefly at the start of the breeding season, and the lower legs gray, also becoming orangey at the start of the breeding season. Immature birds are duller in color, with a dull blackish-gray crown, and the flank pattern only weakly defined; they have no plumes, and the bill is dull gray-yellow." (Wikipedia)

The Pacific GBH's have been nesting on the edge of Stanley Park for several years very close to the built up part of downtown Vancouver. It is a magical sight with dozens of nests; the trees are immense deciduous trees. I will let the pictures tell their story.

The nesting site is adjacent to tennis courts, above is a view over those courts at some of the nests.

The herons are  watchful, sitting preening, mending nests and collecting sticks to repair nests.

I was very happy to have caught the above view of a young heron in a nest.

The heron nests are subject to predation by eagles and raccoons, both fond of heron eggs. The metal collars on the trees prevent or deter raccoons from climbing the nesting trees.

I have not been very successful at catching herons in flight, but here are a couple of pictures.

The Pacific GBH lives and feeds in this area year round. Apart from the mating and nesting season, they are solitary birds. Here are a selection of my heron sightings over the past year or so.

The Heron's neck and belly have beautiful feather patterns; the neck (shown in detail below) almost appeared to be braided grey, blue and burnt sienna colours.

Herons are often seen wading along shoreline of the ocean, ponds and lakes or in marshes; they stand motionless for long periods of time waiting for their prey to come in range and then strike very suddenly. They swallow their prey whole and can choke to death if the prey is too large.

I thought that they only ate fish, and that can be the primary part of their diet, but when fish are not abundant they also eat mice, frogs, lizards, snakes, flies, crabs, shrimp, crayfish and small mammals.

The blue heron has a harsh raspy croaky call, but they will shriek if they are disturbed or threatened. Follow this link for demonstration of heron calls.

I am fascinated by herons, they are magnificent birds.

This week I finished a watercolour painting of a Great Blue Heron which I named "Waiting Patiently":

The Travelling Wilburys "Handle with Care":

Thanks for stopping by, Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next week...


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