Herons and Egrets
We’re fortunate to live in an area that has marshes, and the water has drawn a number of birds that you usually see along the Gulf Coast. We’ve been watching from our car windows as we drive by, wondering what kind of birds we were seeing.
One of my favorites is the one Elegante Mother has named the “Gray Ghost.” You have to know where to look to see him. He's a wader, a tall bird for this area. It’s likely that this bird is a Great Blue Heron. When it stands facing you, you might miss it. In profile, you’ll only get a quick glimpse. He frequently stands near dead branches in the water, so as to trick the fish into thinking it’s safe to come near.
I was driving out of our area at 6:00 in the morning for two months, and discovered that one of the big herons had a favorite spot that he had claimed as his turf. He was in the same spot each morning, standing still as a statue. The other day I caught him with his neck folded down, snoozing. This morning I was late, and he had gone. The sun was up too far, and gave him away to those he stalked.
The first of the birds to come to this area were probably Snowy Egrets. There is an area where the drainage changed, and a pond formed around the base of a small group of trees. The trees died, leaving bare branches sticking up out of the water. It made the perfect nesting area for the egrets, and we’d watch for them in the evening.
Then we saw gray birds similar in size to the egrets, and we think they may be mature Little Blue Herons.
This year, for the first time, we noticed a number of birds that had blotches of blue on the white, and I wondered if there were other types of birds making the area their summer home. Roger Tory Peterson, in “A Field Guide To the Birds East of the Rockies” explained that the Little Blue Herons are white when immature, and are pied with darker blotches as they mature.
I worry for my travelers. I know they will be returning to a habitat that has been contaminated, that will take years to return to a healthy environment. I hope we see them in the future.