Bird in Hand: The Great Blue Heron

I love birding and I love fishing. I can’t say that I prefer the one over the other, as they’re both wonderful excuses to be in the great outdoors. And what is most profitable is to combine the two activities in a single outing. It’s called ‘kayaking’ – when I take out my kayak to go fishing, I can also be birding, and vice versa. It’s a win/win. Fin and feather, as they say among the sporting types.

And that brings me to this month’s Bird in Hand, the Great Blue Heron. A stealthy kayak is a great way to quietly and unobtrusively observe these elegant birds in their preferred habitat, that confluence of water and shoreline that is otherwise inaccessible for the earth-bound birder.

These are big birds. They stand about four feet tall and weigh a hefty four to five pounds. Now, that might not sound particularly big, but for a bird it is. What it lacks in weight, it makes up in height – being taller than other bird in our neighborhoods. It’s probably the tallest year-round resident in our county but nowhere near the heaviest – easily outdistanced by Canada geese, Wild turkeys, and the Bald eagle, and other fatties.

These are stately birds. To my eyes, individual herons are distinctly patterned, although they all follow the same theme of a patchwork of blues, whites, and grays; often with a smattering of black and light rusty reds. When in flight, the black or dark blue primaries become evident – but note that they’re only dark on top, being light blue or gray on the undersides.

And their flight configuration is diagnostic, as they say in the birding biz. That is, no other bird in our area flies like a Great Blue – the long neck retracted back with the head ‘resting’ on its shoulders and its long legs trailing along. To my eyes, they look like a pterodactyl!

And, of course, the long beak, the long legs, the black ‘quill pen’ plumes that trail off of the black stripes on the top of the head, and the shaggy ‘ruff’ on the breast. There, a flurry of field marks.

As I noted above, the Great Blue heron loves to wade in the shallows of local lakes, ponds, and river sides to hunt fish, which they spear with their long beaks. Serious business. And with a flick, they toss their victim in the air and swallow it. But like a lot of predatory species, these herons are also opportunists and will prey on turtles, snakes, hatchling water birds, and amphibians. Hey, it’s all good!

I’ve also seen the birds hunting rodents in fields. They’re just trying to get a balanced diet, I suppose.

They do nest in our area. I’ve seen clutches of nests in cottonwood trees along the Pend Oreille River. They normally nest communally. And talk about ugly babies! Both parents share in the work of feeding the brood, by regurgitation. (You’ll never know how hard it was to write that last sentence…ugh).

I try not to approach their nesting trees while occupied. Let’s not harass the herons!

For all their elegance as a bird, their voice just doesn’t seem to match. It’s just a coarse ‘croak.’ Croak…croak, almost always given as an alarm call. But sometimes this call helps you to find the otherwise hidden bird. They are stealthy, especially when they’re in ‘statue mode’ and stand unflinching like a stone. Watching…always watching. Very bittern-like.

The species is considered a year-round resident, but individual birds might locally migrate during the winter. I often attract herons when ice fishing. Individual birds know what ice fishermen are doing and have learned that, if they’re patient, someone might toss them a perch or other small fish. And I do. It’s fun to watch them half-fly half-skate after the proffered fish skittering across the ice, especially when there’s more than one bird competing for the same handout. I always try to make sure that the slowpoke –the other bird – gets a meal too.

Expand your birding horizons and get a kayak or canoe or other small watercraft. Not only will you expand your life list, but you’ll really get to see a great many water bird species up close and personal. It’s a crazy fun way to birdwatch and…fish on! Happy birding…and fishing!