Feb. 23, 2020 - Great Blue Heron Nests

Last year I posted some photos of two Great Blue Heron nests on St. George Island. Here’s a link to those photos. https://www.earlorfphotos.com/Pictures-of-the-Week/2019-Pictures-of-the-Week/May-12-2019-Great-Blue-Heron-Nest/

This year there are four nests, perhaps the beginning of a nesting colony. I couldn’t get all the nests in one photo but here are three of them. The tall tree on the right has one nest near the top and one nest about halfway down. Another nest is at the top of the dead tree on the left (two birds are in the nest). The fourth nest is further to the right, out of the picture.

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Here’s a close up of the nest in the dead tree.

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This is the fourth nest. The color of this photo is very different from the color in the previous photos because it was taken on a different day when it was very cloudy. Notice the long breeding plumes on the throat and chest of this bird.

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I moved to a different position so I could get the bird with a clean background.

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A new stick is about to be added to the nest. Currently, the birds are still building the nests. It doesn’t look like eggs have been laid yet.

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I got this series of photos showing one of the herons doing a breeding display. This move is described as follows in Birds of North America. “The Stretch display is when an unpaired male extends his neck, raises his bill toward the vertical, and erects his neck plumes while exhibiting his bright soft parts. His neck is then retracted, accompanied by a moaning Gooo call.”

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