The Hidden Lives of Herons

Great Blue Herons are not particularly shy. They often hunt while simply standing quietly in full view. Even when strolling slowly through the water they generally make no pretense of hiding. However, when it comes to nesting and reproduction they manage to maintain a surprising level of secrecy.

This is especially amazing for birds with wingspans which can exceed six feet and urban nesting colonies which can include dozens, or sometimes even hundreds, of nests.

Our local Union Bay colony has only a couple dozen nests. Hopefully, when the 520 runoff is ultimately excluded from Union Bay, our local supply of fish will flourish and the Great Blue Herons will stage an epic comeback - not to mention the Osprey.

Most of the Heron's current nests are hidden away near the tops of Big Leaf Maple trees on the UW campus. In the photo above you can barely see a heron standing in her nest. She is the upper half of the small roundish dot, visible between the trees, and up to the left from the lamp.

Here is a close up of the same bird in the nest. According to what I have read the female Great Blue Herons generally, do the incubation. This assumption is my only basis for determining the gender of the bird. I am not aware of any plumage differences between males and females.

Note: I do not believe there are any twigs in the nest which are larger than the diameter of the heron's leg.

Here she is leaning out to secure another twig for the nest. The long neck is clearly useful for more than just snatching frogs and fish out of the water.

Nests are often reused from one year to the next. It appears that the males supply the bulk of the supplemental nesting materials.

The contrast between the materials used by Great Blue Herons versus... 

...Bald Eagles is dramatic. A Bald Eagle will occasionally break a cottonwood branch by striking it with their chest while flying at full speed. They will also try hanging upside down by their feet and swinging from a branch until it breaks.

Heron nesting material appears to be consistently smaller and lighter.

In addition, the native trees involved in their respective processes are different. Locally, Bald Eagles, usually nest in Black Cottonwoods while the Great Blue Herons seem to prefer Big Leaf Maples. For nesting materials, Bald Eagles prefer the upper branches from nearby Cottonwood trees.

On Tuesday, I watched numerous retrievals of twigs by Great Blue Herons. 

They would consistently land on the outer tips of an upper branch in a nearby Douglas Fir tree. Then with great care and precision, they would slowly walk down the branch.

Once the males were inside the bulk of the green foliage they would carefully extend their necks and slowly break off small dry twigs from inside the central, highly-shaded portion of the tree. I never saw a Great Blue Heron use its feet to remove or carry even the smallest twig.

Another surprise was watching a heron slowly and delicately extend his neck down from an overhead branch towards his mate. She stood and extended her neck up and out of the nest in order to meet the male halfway. At which point they carefully made the 'handoff' of the dry little twig.

By comparison, I have watched eagles land in the nest with a large branch and smack their mate in the head with a wing while attempting to retain their balance. Often eagles will lose control of the branch and simply watch it drop to the ground. The pile of new branches below the Montlake Cut eagle's nest is large enough to make a good start a second nest. The difference, in the nesting behaviors of the respective species, is striking. 

Yesterday afternoon, during the brilliant sunshine, I returned to the heron colony hoping to secure a brighter set of photos. I watched for a couple of hours, while the clouds slowly moved north. All I could see where tops of the female's heads as they sat in their nests.

Finally, as the sunlight diminished the female in this nest sat up and stretched.

Later still, her mate returned and perched just above the nest. At the time, I thought their extended feathers might have been evidence of wind in the treetops, even though I did not notice any wind at ground level.

Soon the male left his perch and headed towards a nearby Douglas Fir tree. I thought he was going to pluck off another one of those small dry twigs. My assumption was wrong.

Maybe I should get half-credit, at least he landed in the fir tree. 

However, when he returned to the nest he was carrying a short tip of green needles in the well-known, 'bottle-brush' arrangement.

Leaning forward the male carefully added the greenery to the nest.

Immediately, the herons began mating. The flurry of grey-blue feathers made the process discreet, although the concept of modesty seems to be a wholly human invention. 

It was only later while reviewing the photos that I remembered having seen two herons with all their plumes extended on their backs and chests. This photo, from 2016, shows a pair doing their mating dance on Union Bay. I suspect that instead of the wind-blowing what I saw yesterday was the herons raising their plumes and signaling their readiness to mate.

The next activity was the male securing the fresh tip of a Douglas Fir bough, which was immediately followed by mating. Could the gift of needles be part of the process? Would a dry twig have worked as well? I do not know.

Afterward, the male made four more round trips to the Douglas Fir tree. He secured another mouthful of green needles each time. The female apparently decided that once a day was plenty. She sat calmly in the middle of the nest, with her plumes laying low and did not provide him with any further opportunities.

In these photos, you can see that the catkins on the Big Leaf Maples are already out and the leaves are beginning to sprout and extend. In the near future, the reproductive lives of herons will once again be hidden from view. At which point, additional observations will have to wait until next year.

Have a great day on Union Bay...where nature lives in the city!

Larry

Going Native:

Without a well-funded Environmental Protection Agency, it falls to each of us to be ever more vigilant in protecting our local environments. Native plants and trees encourage the largest diversity of lifeforms because of their long intertwined history with our local environment and native creatures. I have been told that even the microbes in the soil are native to each local landscape. My hope is that we can inspire ourselves, our neighbors and local businesses to respect native flora and to support native wildlife at every opportunity. I have learned that our most logical approach to native trees and plants (in order of priority) should be to:

1) Learn and leave established native flora undisturbed.
2) Remove invasive species and then wait to see if native plants begin to grow without assistance. (If natives plants start on their own, then these plants or trees are likely the most appropriate flora for the habitat.)
3) Scatter seeds from nearby native plants in a similar habitat.
4) If you feel you must add a new plant then select a native plant while considering how the plant fits with the specific habitat and understanding the plant's logical place in the normal succession of native plants.

My intention in my weekly post is to include at least one photo each week and visually challenge us to know the difference between native and non-native lifeforms.

This wonderful native plant with leaves only a half an inch long and tiny white 'urn-like' flowers is currently blooming. What is it called? 

Note: In case it helps, this photo was taken just west of the UW Great Blue Heron colony.

Scroll down for the answer.

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Kinnikinnik: 

For an additional definition of the word, Click Here. 

By the way, I ran into a student, Nicholas I believe, who told me that an environmentally-oriented group at UW intends to remove the ivy below the heron's nests. After the nesting is finished, of course. Their intention is to enable the native seeds, still in the ground, to return to productivity. They believe this small patch of earth may be the only undisturbed topsoil on the campus. Hopefully, it will function as a seed bank replenishing the assorted diversity of flora that originally existed at this location. What a thoughtful and delightful idea!

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The Email Challenge:

Over the years I have had many readers tell me that Google is no longer sending them email announcements regarding my posts. Even more frustrating when they go to 're-sign-up', hoping that will enable them to once again start receiving the announcements, they get a message which says 'Sorry, you are already signed up.' Google has not responded to my requests for help with this issue. 

My functional workaround is to set up my own email list and each week I manually send out a new post announcement. If you are experiencing the issue and would like to be added to my personal email list please send me an email requesting to be added. Thank you for your patience!

My email address is LDHubbell@comcast.net

A Snow Day

This morning, I awoke to the peaceful, sound of silence. Looking out in the pre-dawn hours there was not a single track in the freshly falling snow. Somehow the snow even managed to create a soft glow out of the stark light radiating from our new, highly efficient street lamps. 

Once a semblance of daylight made its appearance, I dressed for the weather and headed out to see how the birds of Union Bay were handling the cold.

At first glance, the Canada Geese seemed impervious to the weather. After all, with a name containing the word, Canada, you would think they would be very well adapted to snow. Then again, they certainly were not exposing their long necks to any more of the cold than absolutely necessary.

The Gadwalls were conducting business as normal - paddling about and occasionally dabbling in the shallow water - near a small island on the west side of Union Bay.

On my way over Montlake Cut, I stopped by a thoughtful neighbor's bird-feeder. This Rock Pigeon proudly ran in circles on the ground below. He was clearly trying to chase the other birds away from 'his' food. It was kind of humorous to note that he was actually eating far less than everyone else. 

I am assuming he is male due to his ego-centric behavior. Honestly, I really don't have a clue how to tell the males from the females of this species. 'He' does seem rather proud of the reflective green and purple feathers surrounding his neck.

Every time the dominant pigeon turned its back someone, like this Dark-eyed Junco or another Rock Pigeon, would sneak in and abscond with another beak full of grain. 

This Red-winged Blackbird sat nearby apparently waiting for a turn at the feeder. Given that he was larger than the Juncos, Chickadees and Goldfinch I really have no clue why he was waiting. Maybe he had already had his fill. He might have simply been waiting for his food to digest so he would have room to consume some more.

Next to Montlake Cut the Ring-necked Ducks were spending the bulk of their time underwater. The snow was not impacting their behavior in the least.

This female Common Merganser was startled by the scrunching sound of my footstep in the snow. That single momentary sound appeared to be the only minor impact of the snow on her behavior. She just put her head down and went back to snorkeling, e.g. looking, for fish below the surface.

Near the Waterfront Activities Center, this Great Blue Heron was the only creature who looked out of place in the snow. The heron certainly gave the impression it was conserving every calorie possible, especially with its neck folded up tight and its head scrunched all the way down to its shoulders.

Last week, I saw what I suspect was the same heron. It was out on the nearby island, next to where the Gadwalls were feeding. Maybe I am just projecting my own feelings but I have to admit that the heron in this earlier photo seems a bit happier. Its head and neck are at least a tiny bit extended and the bird appears to be soaking up a little sunshine.

Sitting in the snow, on the rail of the dock does not seem like a productive hunting location, but on the other hand, maybe that heron fed earlier and was actually just burning calories and basking in the glow. However, I don't really think so.

Overhead Talia and Russ kept a close eye on their southern border. Their feathers looked a bit more ruffled than normal but other than that they seemed to be successfully ignoring the weather.

Their neighbor Marsha took a turn out over the Bay when she saw Monty, her mate, approaching. Then she returned and took up her usual post, just south of Russ and Talia, where she and Monty enforce the northern border of their territory.

A few moments later Monty returned to join her. Both pairs of eagles seem to be going about their normal hunting and territorial routines.

As Monty landed in the Cedar tree Marsha raised her head and welcomed him back. They both look a bit damp and a little less well-kept than normal. I suspect keeping feathers dry and properly aligned is a bit more challenging with our 32-degree snow, which is always right on the verge of melting.

Have great day on Union Bay...where nature lives in the city!

Larry

Going Native:

Without a well-funded Environmental Protection Agency, it falls to each of us to be ever more vigilant in protecting our local environments. Native plants and trees encourage the largest diversity of lifeforms because of their long intertwined history with our local environment and native creatures. I have been told that even the microbes in the soil are native to each local landscape. My hope is that we can inspire ourselves, our neighbors and local businesses to respect native flora and to support native wildlife at every opportunity. I have learned that our most logical approach to native trees and plants (in order of priority) should be to:

1) Learn and leave established native flora undisturbed.
2) Remove invasive species and then wait to see if native plants begin to grow without assistance. (If natives plants start on their own, then these plants or trees are likely the most appropriate flora for the habitat.)
3) Scatter seeds from nearby native plants in a similar habitat.
4) If you feel you must add a new plant then select a native plant while considering how the plant fits with the specific habitat and understanding the plant's logical place in the normal succession of native plants.

My intention in my weekly post is to include at least one photo each week and visually challenge us to know the difference between native and non-native lifeforms.

What species does the bird with the black head belong to? Is it native to Union Bay?

Scroll down for the answer.

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Dark-eyed Junco: Yes, even though this is the Oregon-race of the Dark-eyed Junco, it is native to Union Bay and Western Washington.

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The Email Challenge:

Over the years I have had many readers tell me that Google is no longer sending them email announcements regarding my posts. Even more frustrating when they go to 're-sign-up', hoping that will enable them to once again start receiving the announcements, they get a message which says 'Sorry, you are already signed up.' Google has not responded to my requests for help with this issue. 

My functional workaround is to set up my own email list and each week I manually send out a new post announcement. If you are experiencing the issue and would like to be added to my personal email list please send me an email requesting to be added. Thank you for your patience!

My email address is LDHubbell@comcast.net

The Eagles Return

Monty and Marsha are back! Our local Bald eagles, who we watched build, populate and then lose their nest, have returned to Montlake. Once the nest was out of the tree and their young were out of the nest the adults apparently felt free to leave. I suspect they went searching for an alternative, end-of-summer food source. Hopefully, they located a crystal clear stream teeming with salmon. In any case, they look healthy and ready to embark on a whole new annual cycle of reproduction.

In previous posts, you may have read about their nest being built, the nest falling and finally about our attempts to return the healthier of the two young eagles to the nest site. If not you can read the stories by clicking on these links.

• New Neighbors
• Eaglet Troubles
• Lucy Leaves Home

After the nest fell and the eagles disappeared, questions flooded my mind. Will we ever see their young again? Will the adults Monty and Marsha return to their newly established territory? If so, will they rebuild their nest? If they rebuild, will they build at the same site or choose an alternative?

As of this week, at least we know they have resumed occupation and control of their territory. Specifically, I watched them and the Talaris pair go airborne and defend their common border. It was like watching a flashback to the last winter and spring. 

I am often asked how I identify individual eagles. I must admit it is virtually impossible to be one hundred percent positive about any particular bird, without an identification band. However, there are hints and clues which help. For example, the three pairs of breeding eagles on Union Bay have specific territories which they defend. Primarily, the establishment and maintenance of their territories appear to be done by occupying favorite roosting spots, especially when a competing pair of eagles is nearby.

The photo above, from earlier this week, shows Monty and Marsha at their favorite perch on top of the Deodar Cedars immediately north of the University of Washington (UW) Waterfront Activities Center (WAC). 

Normally, when Monty and Marsha are in the cedars their northern neighbors come south and occupy the first Cottonwood tree immediately north of the cedars. This older pair of eagles, nest in a cottonwood tree on the old Talaris property just to the northeast of the Center For Urban Horticulture. I identify this pair by watching them travel back and forth between their nest site and this popular location where they defend their southern border.

In a related example, last January I watched them venture down to the shore, just north of the cottonwood, and pull up grass which they carried back to their nest site. 

Individually, within each pair of Bald Eagles, the males are generally the smaller bird. Looking at this photo and back at the photo of the Talaris pair in the cottonwood tree it is obvious that the smaller male is on the left in each photo.

In this photo of Monty and Marsha, it is less obvious which is the larger bird. However, there is another useful clue. The area around their eyes is slightly different. Let's take a closer look.

The bird on the left has a noticeably heavier 'eyebrow', which casts a sizable shadow.

The eagle on the right has almost no eyebrow and by comparison far fewer shadows around the eye. From experience, I know that Monty has fewer shadows and that Marsha has the more intimidating look. On a cautionary note, the angle of the bird's head relative to both the sun and the observer can change the perception of shadows. The nice thing about this particular photo is that both birds were looking in almost precisely the same direction at the same time.

Similarly, if we look back at this photo from December, early in their nest building process, their eyeshadows and size are still obvious and consistent. Once again Monty is on the left.

In this December photo, from a couple of days earlier, the minimal eyebrow seems obvious but distant. At this time another critical identifier for Monty was the feather gap in his right wing. He was in the process of regrowing one of his secondary flight feathers. This week one of the first things I attempted to do was to check whether the same secondary feather was still partially missing.

In this photo from Wednesday, we can see that one of his secondary feathers is not quite grown in. However, I believe it is the first secondary instead of the third. Apparently, the feather which was missing in December has been fully replaced and another one is getting close to full length. 

If I understand the numbering of eagle flight feathers the primaries are counted by starting with the most forward feather - what would be equivalent to our pointing finger. This is the first primary. The count then proceeds in increments of one as we circle around the end of the wing and back towards the body. The tenth feather is the final primary for Bald Eagles. After this point, the next eight feathers are the secondary flight feathers. 

Here is another shot of Monty coming in to land in the cedars next to Marsha on Thursday. Even though a branch obscures a portion of his wing it is possible to count around and determine that it is his first secondary feather which is not as long as the others.

About ten minutes earlier this extremely bold Great Blue Heron made my mouth drop with amazement. It landed on Monty and Marsha's favorite perch.

Moments before Monty had been on the same branch. I had to wonder was the Great Blue Heron unaware that eagles eat herons?

In late July an eagle-eyed neighbor spotted the carcass of a Great Blue Heron nestling hanging below Monty and Marsha's nest.

A few days later I noticed the leg of an adult-sized Great Blue Heron laying below the nest site. Clearly, Monty and Marsha will eat a lot more than fish. I have seen full-sized Mallard wings below the nest and I watched one of the adults bring a rat to feed their young.

As I watched the heron, I felt the shadow of an eagle pass over my head. The large predatory bird made a beeline for the cedars.

Luckily, the heron was paying attention and immediately abandoned its position.

When the eagle turned I was able to catch a quick photo. The dark tips of the tail feathers provided another surprise. This bird was not Monty or Marsha or any one of the other four resident Bald Eagles on Union Bay. The tail feathers on all the local resident eagles are completely white. I also noticed that this eagle's fifth primary on each wing was only halfway grown in. This bird is nearly mature and probably in its four or fifth year. 

The two references to 'the fifth' made me think of Beethoven's Fifth symphony - bop, bop, bop, boom. Which inspired the idea of calling this eagle, Beethoven. I doubt the established eagles will allow Beethoven to hang around long, but you might want to keep I eye out for the unique tail feathers and the partial grown missing primaries. This is a perfect example of how we can attempt to repeatedly identify a specific bird.

Clearly, my methods of identifying individual birds are not perfect. But the close observation of unique features while also paying attention to their habitual behaviors certainly increases our odds. My acronym for the process is UFAB. UFAB stands for Unique Features And Behaviors. 

On Thursday, as I watched, Monty and Marsha flew across the southwest portion of Union Bay and landed in one of their secondary perches - the tallest tree on Marsh Island. The distance and the angle of the light made my photograph useless, but this behavior was one I had seen many times before and it helped reinforce my belief that Monty and Marsha have returned to Union Bay.

By the way, Portage Bay is also inside Monty and Marsha's domain. I have watched them come and go between their nest site and Portage Bay multiple times.

I wonder, How soon will they begin building a new nest? Will they use the same tree they used last year? Will we see Beethoven again? The mysteries of eagles never end.

Can you guess which of one the four resident Bald Eagles, discussed in this post, is in this photo? The answer will be in the Going Native section below.

Have a great day on Union Bay...where nature lives in the city!

Larry

Going Native:

Without a well-funded Environmental Protection Agency, it falls to each of us to be ever more vigilant in protecting our local environments. Native plants and trees encourage the largest diversity of lifeforms because of their long intertwined history with our local environment and native creatures. I have been told that even the microbes in the soil are native to each local landscape. My hope is that we can inspire ourselves, our neighbors and local businesses to respect native flora and to support native wildlife at every opportunity. I have learned that our most logical approach to native trees and plants (in order of priority) should be to:

1) Learn and leave established native flora undisturbed.
2) Remove invasive species and then wait to see if native plants begin to grow without assistance. (If natives plants start on their own, then these plants or trees are likely the most appropriate flora for the habitat.)
3) Scatter seeds from nearby native plants in a similar habitat.
4) If you feel you must add a new plant then select a native plant while considering how the plant fits with the specific habitat and understanding the plant's logical place in the normal succession of native plants.

My intention in my weekly post is to include at least one photo each week and visually challenge us to know the difference between native and non-native lifeforms.

From what type of trees did these leaves fall? Are they native to Union Bay?

Scroll down for the answer.

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i believe the three types of trees and leaves, from top to bottom, are a leaf from an oak tree which originated in the eastern part of North American, possibly the Northern Red Oak, a leaf from a Black Cottonwood and a leaf from a Bigleaf Maple. The last two are native to Union Bay.

The last eagle photo shows Monty. The critical determining factors are his lack of eye shadows and he is sitting on the Deodar Cedar branches which are one of his favorite perches.

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The Email Challenge:

Over the years I have had many readers tell me that Google is no longer sending them email announcements regarding my posts. Even more frustrating when they go to 're-sign-up', hoping that will enable them to once again start receiving the announcements, they get a message which says 'Sorry, you are already signed up.' Google has not responded to my requests for help with this issue. 

My functional work around is to setup my own email list and each week I manually send out a new post announcement. If you are experiencing the issue and would like to be added to my personal email list please send me an email requesting to be added. Thank you for your patience!

My email address is LDHubbell@comcast.net

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