There was some melting today as it made it to 44 degrees this afternoon so it would have been a great day to enjoy the outdoors except the wind made it feel like barely freezing. But out of the wind, maybe a little sunbathing could happen like this Great Blue Heron positioning its wings to catch the sun rays. And while the technique may help to warm the bird, the sunbathing is also used to get rid of parasites living on their skin and feathers since just ten minutes in the sun rays can heat the wings to 140 to 160 degrees which is hot enough to kill lice.
A year ago this week, there were little baby great blue herons at several different ages, but this year with the very late spring, the parents were still sitting on the eggs. They would stand up and stretch before doing a little grooming, before settling back on the eggs. They hunkered down in the large nest high up in the trees so you almost didn’t see them in the nest.
The return of beavers have added more wetland habitat for Great Blue Herons. The herons often build their stick nest high in trees. The young are fed by both parents by regurgitation. Young fledglings are capable of flight around 60 days and usually depart nest between 65 and 90 days.
When seeing this Great Blue Heron from a distance, I thought it was stuck in a piece of driftwood until I realized it was his wings I was seeing. I had never spotting a heron sunning his wings before so it was an interesting pose to capture.
Birds assume one of several wing postures to sun – such as spread wing, droop wing and delta wing. I believe this pose is referred to as the delta wing sunning pose. Besides sunning, the wings may be held out to dry it feathers, lose heat, show off to rivals or to shades its eggs or babies.
The Great Backyard Bird Count started Friday and ends today and they give you tips on how to count the birds you see but with the hundred or so finches, that is rather tough especially since about the time a majority of the birds land at the feeders, my cats on the porch jump up and scatter the flock and then you have to start the count all over again. It is easier when you see just one bird like this heron, who seems to be ignoring the rushing river in the background.
This juvenile Great Blue Heron doesn’t seem to notice the rushing water of the Amnicon River behind him but instead he seems to be scanning the pool of water for lunch.
My pond some times has a Green Heron as a frequent visitor and on occasion, the larger Great Blue Heron visits and leaves foot prints on the pond floor several feet away from the shore. Great blue herons are waders and expert fishers. Herons snare their aquatic prey by walking slowly, or standing still for long periods of time and waiting for fish to come within range of their long necks and blade-like bills. The deathblow is delivered with a quick thrust of the sharp bill, and the prey is swallowed whole. Though they are best known as fishers, mice constitute a large part of their diet, and they also eat insects and other small creatures.
Great Blue Herons’ size (3.2 to 4.5 feet) and wide wingspan (5.5 to 6.6 feet) make them a joy to see in flight. They can cruise at some 20 to 30 miles an hour as they curl their neck into an S shape for a more aerodynamic flight profile. Despite their impressive size, Great Blue Herons weigh only 5 to 6 pounds thanks in part to their hollow bones—a feature all birds share.
Great Blue Herons have specialized feathers on their chest that continually grow and fray. The herons comb this “powder down” with a fringed claw on their middle toes, using the down like a washcloth to remove fish slime and other oils from their feathers as they preen. Applying the powder to their underparts protects their feathers against the slime and oils of swamps.
