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GBHE Watch 2006

Just getting a heads up on the colony this year....looking forward to another great season.

December 17, 2005

Kristine Long and I checked out the Vasona Rookery. We were excited to find three males and two females at Vasona. Two Great Blue males were on nest...Looked like Nest 1 and Nest 9 with another heron possible female standing above Nest 9...We both were thrilled...Look like the herons are back.

December 24, 2005

I have been stopping by the colony every other day to see how things are progressing. No herons on nests but five herons are still actively feeding on the grounds and in the water at Vasona.

JANUARY 4, 2006

I AM OPENING THE BREEDING SEASON AS OF TODAY FOR THE GREAT BLUE HERON COLONY AT VASONA 2006 SEASON

January 4, 2006

Decided to do another quick check of the Colony...have been going every other day to see how things were progressing, when today, BAM! Herons on the nests. The herons have been in the park for some time....counted 7 herons today.....

I am thrilled to report the following:

Nest 1 has a pair. The male took a twig from Nest 2 (empty) and brought it to the female who then placed it in the nest. She did a neck stretch for him and it was awesome to watch. Nest 4 was hard hit by the storm and this is usually the first nest to have chicks. A male was in the process of fixing up the nest, flying off and bringing twigs, then placing them in the nest. Nest 9 has a pair. When I first arrived a female was sitting in the nest, then flew off...then the pair arrived and was fixing up the nest. A single male sat to the left of Nest 1....just sitting there....wonder where he will wind up?

I will take a few pictures tomorrow as I didn't really expect to find the herons ON the nests today.... Great to see people stopping by to take a look through the scope. Great seeing and chatting with Stan and Mary....

January 5, 2006 62 degrees Partly Cloudy

Nest 4 Nest 9 Nest 1 Nest 2

Nest 12 Nest 10 Nest 11 Nest 7

I will add other nest numbers as they become active. Remember that the nests are numbered according to year built in colony. We are up to Nest No. 12.....read previous reads to see what nests are still useable.

Today I stopped at the colony around 10:45 AM....three nests are active with males sitting in them....Females are off feeding. Nest 1 and 9 had pairs...Nest 4 was standing on a very shabby nest....did not see a pair today on this nest.

NEST 1....

NEST 4

NEST 9....LOOK AT THE BEAUTIFUL PLUMAGE OF THIS MALE...

January 23, 2006 4PM 54 degrees

I have been stopping by the colony every other day or so ...thought I would post tonight to let you all know that things are progressing nicely. We have herons in Nest 1. 2, 4, 9, and 10. There was a huge male "HERON FIGHT" ...two males on top off the trees in colony did their crest raising and squawking...then did circle flights and each one landed in a different nest. Way cool to watch. A small female is feeding on grounds below the colony....watch for her....she has a really small bill....I was hoping she would fly up to the colony so I could see which male (or nest) she was with....It's getting exciting.

For those of you that asked which Euc Trees are coming down...they would be the ones behind the Rangers Station. I have a meeting with Don Rocha last week. The trees are in danger of falling, but due to a nesting Red-shouldered Hawk on the nest they have moved the Rangers to another site and will take the trees down in August and replace them with Oaks. Don Rocha mentioned that the trees are 330 feet from the GBHE Colony...I will be re-measuring myself to be sure.....Can't have any disturbance within 300 feet in all direction of the Colony.

January 24, 2006

Stopped in today just for a quick look and spent three hours.... Just amazing activity today. Had a male in Nest 2 with the female sitting in the tree right next to him.....he wouldn't let her into the nest....it was making me crazy....would have loved to have seen him allow her into the nest and go get a twig! The small female is still feeding in the fields....quite a small heron compared to all the large ones on the nest...this is very interesting to me....wonder if it is a sub-species...hmmmmm more studying to do.....

February 14, 2006

I had been checking the colony every two to three days and today was just amazing. There are now five active nests and watched Nest 2 refurbish the nest with the female excepting twigs from the male. He would fly off and break off a twig, drop it, break off another twig, drop that one and so on..... I was kinda worried that he shouldn't be reproducing (just joking) as he was quite clumsy at twig gathering, but she didn't mind...she waited for him. They mated twice while I was there....so Nest 2 was a true delight to watch. Under Nest 2 is Nest 7 and it had a couple in it...not really doing much.....pulling twigs out and then replacing them in the nest. Nest 4 had one heron standing and then sitting as did Nest 9.

March 6, 2006

An emergency took me to New York on Feb 15..... Can't believe another year of missing important time at the colony, but family called and I had to go. In the time I was away and returned on March 5, I had cleaned out my parents home, sold it and moved them to California....I should say I also furnished a two bedroom apt for them just minutes from me...WHEW...moving an 85 and 86 year old was not easy! But it is great to have them here.

When I got home to California on Saturday night, all I could think about were the herons. I had rec'd an email about Vasona taking down the Euc trees not far from the colony. I was totally besides myself while away, first with my Dad being so ill...then with hearing that Vasona would do this at nesting time after I had a long talk with them before I left (and they agreed to put it off till after nesting time)... I had limited access to email while away so....I couldn't find out what actually was happening till I came home.....

On Sunday, I went to see the Colony.....shocked to see only 1 Heron in Nest 1 and all other nests looked wind blown and deserted...I thought my heart would just break. I stayed for about three hours and no herons made an appearance. Heartbroken I went home. Finished up my report for SFBBO and knew that I would go back the next day.

March 7, 2006

While driving to Vasona today all I could think about was what I was going to find. I was so hoping for the all the herons to be back on the nest..... I found only two herons on the nest. Nest 2 and Nest 4.....and one herons sitting in the trees.....all other nests were empty.

March 11, 2006

Today, I checked on the herons and found that Nest 2 had a sitting heron. At first I could not see it in the nest, and I was upset...Then it stood up and looked to roll it's eggs....My heart and soul rejoiced....Nest 4 had a standing heron at the nest. I did not see any other herons. I am hoping that Nest 1 and 7 have sitting herons and that they are so low in the nest I am just not seeing them. I am also hoping the rains and the cold will not take it's toll on the sitting herons. This weather is just awful for them. The eggs could fail with this cold and rain...let's all keep our fingers crossed that we will have little ones this year.

SFBBO ANNOUNCES IT'S SECOND ANNUAL

" SALUTE TO VASONA'S GREAT BLUE HERONS" ON APRIL 9, 2006 FROM 11AM TO 2PM.

COME OUT AND SEE THE HERONS THROUGH SCOPES AND LEARN HOW THE COLONY STARTED .....

LET'S ALL PRAY FOR SUNSHINE AND CHICKS (BABY HERONS!).....

RAIN DATE: SUNDAY, APRIL 23, 2006 FROM 11AM TO 2PM

EMAIL ME FOR MORE INFO.... NEED VOLUNTEERS WITH SCOPES PLEASE.... COME OUT AND ENJOY THE DAY WITH THE HERONS.... OKAPONDS@AOL.COM

March 15, 2006 Cold and overcast...storm approaching

Kristine Long and I checked out the colony....today we saw three sitting herons....Nest 2, Nest 4 and Nest 10..... Glad to know we have three active nests....

March 17, 2006 Raining..... CHICKS ARRIVE!

Hoping for the luck of the Irish today.....and got it.....Heard the chicks calling as soon as I approached the colony.....Nest 4 is again the first to have chicks.....It was so exciting and no one around to tell! I wanted to scream it from the top of my car.....BABIES, WE HAVE BABIES!

I will go back tomorrow since the sun is supposed to be out and take pictures and check the nests with my scope.

I am so thrilled that we will have chicks to show for April 9! Still need volunteers with scopes please.....

BABIES, WE HAVE BABIES!!!! OKAY CHICKS!

March 22, 2006 Raining.....

I have been to the colony everyday but not posted. I am so upset and disappointed that Nest 4 has been abandoned. I found two American Crows in the nest. I searched like a crazy person under the nests for any signs of birds (alive or not)....but found absolutely no trace of any birds. The rest of the colony is water logged with herons in Nest 2 and Nest 7...

March 25, 2006 Raining.....

No herons were seen at all today. This is of great concern to me....as Nest 2 should have chicks and not a heron in sight. Could they be so far hunkered down in the nest that I am missing them? Even with my scope.... I don't think so.....

March 30, 2006 Raining....what else is new!

I can't believe how this year's nesting has turned out. I go to the colony each day even if only to drive by and check....today I stopped by and stayed awhile.... Still heartbroken that Nest 4 is empty. Nest 10 has one chick I can see and hear...Nest 2 was empty....Nest 7 seems to be turning eggs? No other nests have herons....

March 31, 2006 Clouds with Rain expected....

Today, I spent some time at the colony. At first arrival I was so disappointed not to see any heron( s) on Nest 2....but after 30 minutes of waiting, two herons flew into Nest 2...I am thinking that the first set of eggs failed and they are going to lay another set since it is still early in the season. Nest 10 was feeding one chick....I can only see one....and you can hear it. I believe this chick to be at least two weeks old....could be others in there but just not getting a good view. Nest 10 is located behind, down and to the right of Nest 1, hard to see into. Nest 1, 4, 9 and 12 were empty. Nest 7 has an adult in the nest.

After lots of studying and checking around with other nest watchers, I have found that the rain has taken it's toll on the timing of this year's nesting birds. When the herons lay their eggs, the rain and cold can kill off the eggs even with the adults incubating. Any time spent off the eggs during this cold and rain would be deadly for the eggs. I believe this happened in Nest 2. Nest 4 will be marked this year as a nest failure since it had chicks in it. I do believe it is still early in the season for the herons to lay eggs....we could have herons start nesting as late as May ...that would be great.

Ah, before I forget....there was a Golden Eagle eating a bird in the park about two-three weeks ago....(when Nest 4 had chicks)...This is a deadly predator of the GBHE.....This could be another reason for nest failure... If anyone sees a Golden Eagle in the park please email me at okaponds@aol.com. Thanks

Another note of difference this year...no new nests

Let's all pray for sunshine, the herons could use a break (not to mention all of us).

April 3, 2006 RAINING. ..... LOTS OF DARN RAIN.......

PLEASE NOTE: I WAS AT THE COLONY TODAY....FOUR HERONS ON NESTS PRESENT. HEARD THE CHICKS BUT COULD NOT SEE (OR FIND THEM)...WE HAVE MOVED THE SALUTE TO GREAT BLUE HERON DAY TO SUNDAY, APRIL 23 FROM 11-2.

DUE TO THE RAIN, THE CREEK BEING SO HIGH AND NOT SEEING OR FINDING CHICKS APRIL 23 SHOULD PROVE TO BE MUCH BETTER...PLEASE LET'S ALL PRAY FOR SUNSHINE...

April 7, 2006 Sunshine...Yes the SUN is out, but not long it poured

It's Friday the 7th of April and time for my four hour study of the herons. The sun was shinning when I arrived and started to rain as I left. I was thrilled to see herons in every nest and to find chicks in Nest 2 and Nest 10.

Nest 2 has two chicks that I counted possible that there are three....and Nest 10 I counted 2 chicks....could be one more.... The light and the herons were not cooperative.

I must say that finding herons in all the nests was just amazing and gave me hope for a great nesting season in spite of the rain. There is a new pair on Nest 12....I watched as the male brought the female twigs...mating occurred on the nest....

April 9, 2006 Overcast and rain predicted....

Stopped by just for a quick look today, was sorry that the GBHE Day was cancelled but it was for the best.....the creek is still to high and the herons need a tad more time for everyone to get to see the chicks. I did manage two great display pictures today...I will print them out and show them April 23.... So if you want to see them come on by.

Nest 1 - 1 Heron Sitting (then standing) Nest 2 1 Adult could hear the chicks

Nest 4 - 1 Heron Standing Nest 7 - 1 Adult standing

Nest 9 - 1 Heron sitting Nest 10 - 1 Adult could hear the chicks

Nest 11 - 1 Heron sitting Nest 12 - Couple fixing up nest..

Nest 12....Male on Left .....Female on Right....Note the size difference

This is Nest 2....Notice the face of the heron...has a light rust color by its eye and check...that makes this heron distinctive from the others. Also notice the little white blob on the bottom right...that's the chick...still white downy feathers...which makes it about one week old.

April 18, 2006 Sunny 70 degrees....Yes...SUNNY!

It seems like forever since I posted about the herons. I have been visiting every other day. I have to truly say that this has been the toughest year to monitor the colony. With all the rain I can't tell if were on the nest hunkered down...at some point they left the nest and I thought they we abandoned ....but as you will read ....nesting has turned out in six nests this year. Chick numbers are down and here's what I saw today.

Nest 1...Two Adults...One feeding a single chick around 2 weeks old.

Nest 2....Has three large chicks. This nest has to have a chick that is at least 4 weeks old as there was no adult present.

Remember ..... an adult will be present with the chicks till they are about 4 weeks old ....

Nest 4.. empty this year

Nest 7 ...has three chicks ....no adult present

Nest 9... has two chicks with an adult present

Nest 10....I know they have chicks but can not see them...they should be about 3 weeks old, there is an adult present

Nest 11 - empty

Nest 12 ... has an adult present and I have counted one chick....

Count somewhere between 10 and 11 chicks...Last year we had 25 chicks and 8 nest.

April 23, 2006 DARN COLD....58 Degrees, windy and no sun

Vasona's Salute to Great Blue Heron Day...

We had a wonderful turn out for the Salute to the Great Blue Heron Day at Vasona. The volunteers we simply great! My thanks to all of the volunteers for their time and scopes... Gail Brownell, Liz Brownell, Lisa Weber, Spike Marlow, Jeff Chase, Richard Casserley, Laurie Graham, Jeff Fairclough, and Suzanne Van Stee....Also, my sincere thanks to Juliana Chow, Outreach Specialist at SFBBO. She was of great help and a sweetheart to work with.

We had ten scopes and oodles of people stop by. It was great meeting with everyone and showing them the chicks. I had picture boards, information and SFBBO had beautiful displays to show the great work they do. I must say although we froze out little fannies off... It was really worth it. The volunteers were simply wonderful for standing out there so long in the cold and sharing their love of birds...Thanks to all of you .....

May 1, 2006 75 degrees Sunny Warm and Wonderful

I know its been ages since I posted...sorry... I am just so unbelievably busy these days with my parents coming to live here in California....my breast cancer surgery was successful...lump gone and cancer free....YIPPEE....so sorry for the long interval between posts...

I have been doing quick stops to check on the little guys and today was absolutely wonderful. Here's my findings.

Nest 1 has an only child...one chick by itself .....usually we have 4-5 chicks in this nest...Hopefully next year we won't have the rain we did this year.

May 1st - Nest 1

Nest 2 has 3 chicks

Nest 9 - 2 chicks

Nest 12 Another only child...1 Chick

So here's the scoop:

Nest 1: 1 Chick Nest 2: 3 Chicks Nest 4: Empty (have had herons on this nest, could still be successful this year there is plenty of time) Nest7: 3 Chicks Nest 9: 2 Chicks Nest: 10 3 Chicks Nest 11: Had a sitting heron...couldn't see anything today...but should have chicks..

Total Chicks so far 12.....still have to count nest 11....

Let's see, today I watched a....Mallard with 11 chicks (just to cute for words), two Canada Geese families, one with 7 and the other with 4....talk about to cute... Lots of Cliff Swallows gathering mud for their nests, great to see them back this year and nesting under the main bridge.

May 24, 2006 Sunny 70 degrees good wind blowing....

Just a quick note here to let you know how the colony is doing. Went by on Wednesday, May 24 ...here are my notes...I will enter my notes from previous monitoring days when I can.....no that I have help two days a week for my parents I should be able to get to the colony more often.

Nest 1 no chick, Nest 2 had 2 chicks, one has left the nest .... Nest 4 is empty, new attempt to nest has failed, .....Nest 7 has two chicks, one has left the nest........Nest 9 has one chick....Nest 10 had three chicks...will have to recheck my notes on this nest....Nest 11 is either incubating or brooding will check again in a couple of days....Nest 12 still has only one chick....

Notes on Nest 11.....Adult sitting in nest with back away from Nest 10 where three chicks are standing right next to nest 11....adult appeared to be a male, large bright breeding yellow/orange bill with bright blue lores....nice breeding plumage. Will check in a couple of days to see if chicks are there yet. Should have had chicks by now.....

No other disturbances noted: except that the garbage cans are still under nest site....Vasona just doesn't seem to get it....I will email them again .....

Have a great holiday weekend.....

June 3, 2006 Sunny light winds....going to be a great day

Checked on the colony today. Here's the short of it:

Nest 1- Empty ..... Nest 2 still has two chicks, they are branch walking and not feedings for the three hours I was there....Nest 7- Empty .....Nest 9 has one chicks branch walking and flying to the ground and back to the nest....Nest 10- has two chicks branch walking all over the colony....Nest 11 was empty...will check in the next couple of days to see if it is a nest failure this year....Nest 12-Empty

All and all, we have had half the amount of chicks this year (weather has had to play a large factor in this) and still have five chicks left at the colony that should be leaving any day....today lots of crows in and around the colony. Lots of Orioles singing, and it was great seeing the Canada Geese with new goslings...now if only people wouldn't feel it necessary to approach the chicks!

Special Note: Today I helped Ranger Linda (not me) put up a temporary fence for the killdeer that has laid one egg. I was monitoring the colony when I heard the killdeer screaming for what must have been a good hour. When I went to check there was a lady holding the killdeer's egg in her hand...so I called the rangers and asked for a fence to be placed around the nest site...they will replace it with the chicken wire fence hopefully this week.

June 17, 2006 88 degrees hot, sunny and dry.....

Today I did my study for SFBBO and I will report that all nests were empty. I was a bit dismayed at the renting of bicycles and scooters with a very large truck parked at Colony. I would be terribly afraid that the hot tailpipe from the exhaust of the truck would cause a fire on the dry grass.....Is is just me?

Special Note: The Killdeer is still on the nest......

Okay colony is closed for this breeding season......let's hope that next season we're back up to 25 chicks and very little rain.....

Wishing you all a good summer.....and my best regards.....Linda

JULY 22, 2006 PLEASE READ IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM VASONA

ON AUGUST 30, 6:30 PM THERE WILL BE A MEETING ABOUT THE EUC AND OTHER TREES BEING REMOVED FROM VASONA...IT IS IMPORTANT THAT ALL ATTEND THIS MEETING. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE EMAIL ME .... OKAPONDS@AOL.COM

Looking forward to another great season.....