Green Heron Live

Today was another great autumn day. Sunny and 70 – the perfect temperature for my personal comfort!

I changed my walking routine from early morning to afternoon since the first of this month.  So far, I am satisfied.  My dogs are a bit confused and are still waiting at the back door early for my appearance from inside the house. They wait patiently for hours.

The days are now less humid and cooler, so the afternoon works well. The best part is that my feet no longer get wet from the always present early morning dew. The overall bird activity is decreased, but I think that is due more to season than to time of day.

I encountered three green herons down at the pond this afternoon.  One flew from the cattails into the nearest walnut tree.  I was able to inch closer and closer until I was just about directly under the tree.  In fact, I was so close that it was difficult to get that perfect photo that I have been pursuing.

While taking pictures, and the attached movie, of the heron in the tree, I could hear the chirp of a heron hiding in the large clump of cattails directly behind and only feet away from me.  I caught a glimpse of this heron minutes before when the dogs scared it up from the tall grass as I was feeding the fish from the deck of the pond house. The small heron quickly flew to the safety of the much thicker cattails.  As this heron sounded, a like response came from a much smaller clump of cattails at the dam edge of the pond. Ahhh…a third heron.  I had passed by this exact spot only moments earlier as I crept from the pond house to get to the walnut tree. I had no indication that there was another heron hiding just inches from me at that time.  Kudos to the heron for keeping its location secret.

When watching the movie, listening to the background closely (try to ignore the loud crickets) and you will hear the two hiding herons speaking to each other.

Enjoy!