May 12, 2019 - Great Blue Heron Nest

In mid-February, when we were still in Florida, I found this Great Blue Heron sitting in a tree on St. George Island. Most of the time this bird would be found on the ground, hunting near the water. But it’s not unusual to see one sitting in a tree. The bird was nicely framed by the tree branches, there was a pretty blue sky behind it, so I snapped this photo.

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Then I realized it was building a nest in this tree. A Great Blue Heron is a big bird, so it builds a huge nest using large sticks.

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It was windy that day, so the heron’s breeding plumes were being blown around.

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When it yawned, I got a chance to see its tongue sticking out.

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The bird in the previous photos is in the lower right of this photo. When I took a broader view of this tall tree, I realized there was another nest near the top of it.

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Sure enough, another pair of Great Blue Herons were constructing an almost hidden nest higher in the same tree. These birds have no problem with other herons nesting nearby. I only saw two nests here, but heron colonies often have 100 or more nests in the same area.

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