BirdWalk Newsletter Walk Conducted by Perry Nugent Jayne J. Matney

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1 BirdWalk Newsletter Walk Conducted by Perry Nugent Written by Jayne J. Matney Photo by Cary McDonald Am I Blue By Dave Ruslander There s a rookery. Great Blue Heron nest on Henricus Island. Strong nests high in Pin Oaks await mated pairs. Forty-inch wings Undulate to pull Elongated bodies, Gangly shaped birds Carry grass and twigs To decorate their haunt Flying sibilance. Arrow straight Stick legs support wonderfully large birds. Mother and Father Care for the brood. Like rush hour traffic They fly back and forth With fish for young. Deep throated voice: Horse, deep Guttural squawk. Photo by Cary McDonald

2 The Great Blue Herons fascinate all of those who get the chance to visit one in a swamp or marshland. One minute they are the perfect image of majestic, nobility and grace, then the next minute they are the most gangly, humorous and awkward Great Blue looking a bit silly! By Cary McDonald of all creatures! The Great Blues, or Ardea herodias, are the largest North American herons which can grow to be over 4 feet tall and have a glorious wing span of over 6.5 feet. No wonder they are marveled at when seen amongst the other smaller wading birds! Despite their size, they only weigh about 4 to 5 pounds. The Great Blue Heron here on our coast is one of 5 subspecies. They have long necks, long beaks, long legs, and a long strip of blackish blue feathers across the eye on the side of the head. Not just Fish! Photo by Marina Coppedge

3 When in flight, it flaps its wings slowly and deliberately, it carries its neck in an s shape due to specially shaped neck vertebrae, and holds its legs and feet straight back as stiff as can be. When this bird is at rest in the tall grasses, it stands as motionless as possible while it waits for a fish to naively swim by. Once a fish does come by, the heron ruthlessly thrusts its beak with lightning speed through the fish to spear its prey. They are pros when it comes to working the fish off of their beaks, tossing it up, and swallowing the fish head first and whole. Sometimes, when witnessing this action, you wonder how in the world that bird with this skinny neck will be able to swallow such a big fish! They can. However, according to a National Geographic article, some have been seen choking to death because of a fish too large. Fish are not their only prey. Frogs, salamanders, mice, and snakes among others are on their list. They can fish at night due to a high percentage of photoreceptors in their eyes. Bringing nesting sticks Photos by Cary McDonald

4 On occasion, the tours here at the plantation will spot a heron fly by with a snake dangling from its beak! Great Blue Heron are also very opportunistic! Speaking from experience, they will pretend to be a part of the beautiful scenery where you are fishing, and then once you start to bring your fish in, they will rob you of your catch! They have been known to rob people of their Backyard pond fish as well. A study was done involving these herons crowding around fish hatcheries and doing the same. It was realized through this study that the herons were taking the sick fish from the surface rather than the healthy ones further down in the water depths. Therefore, the herons were not such a problem after all! They spend lots of time building and rebuilding their nest. That is precisely what our resident Great Blues are doing now at Ravenswood Pond and in the Audubon Swamp. Now is the time to see the males choosing nest sights, and trying to attract the female at that chosen sight by displaying Courtship behavior 101 Photo by Cary McDonald

5 behavior such as extending the neck upward, with his beak to the sky, and extending his neck feathers out like beautiful spikes. If the female responds, she will bring a stick for nesting at that sight. Soon, the male will take over bringing the sticks with diligence and the female begins carefully constructing them into a sturdy nest. In the plantation rookeries, it is very noticeable that the Great Blues prefer the higher branches in the trees while the other herons and egrets are usually content with the lower branches of the trees. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology states that they prefer putting their nests at least 100 feet off of the ground. Photo by Cary McDonald In the spring, pale blue eggs are laid and both parents help to incubate until the young hatch out. Most of the day is spent

6 finding food for the family and bringing it back to the nest. The babies feed off of regurgitated prey. The small fuzzy, pale gray hatchlings develop more useful feathers and begin flying by two months and leave the nest within three months. This graduation marks the season with success! Great Blue Herons depend on undisturbed areas of wetlands, either salt or fresh water, where they can quietly feed and breed. The largest contributors against the conservation of these birds are the consequences from habitat loss from logging and development, and other human intrusions such as traffic, motorboat recreation, and pollutants. Fun Facts: The oldest known Great Blue Heron was at least 24 years, 6 months old! There is a group of great white heron located in lower Florida, the Yucatan Peninsula, and the Caribbean Islands which is a variation of the blues. The whites are now in decline, unlike the blues, and are now on the State of the Birds Watch List, which means they are in danger of becoming endangered if no conservation measures are taken. There is also new form of this bird showing up in the common zones of the blue and white varieties that are both blue and white. They have dark blue bodies and a white head and neck. Sources for this article: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All about Birds publication Great Blue Heron ; National Geographic Great Blue Heron ; and

7 Stalking along from log to log, or plunging their long legs in the oozy swamp, two large herons paid no attention to my presence, but occupied themselves with their own fishing arrangements, as if their wilderness were their own. William Cowper Prime Photo by Cary McDonald Yes, their wilderness is their own. Here at Magnolia Plantation, it did not take long for the colder temperatures to come back to haunt us! And it came back with a vengeance! This Sunday s temperatures were degrees in the morning hours between 8:30 and 12:00! You did read that correctly! Perry and Ray were both troopers out there. A great big thank you to both for keeping the walk and the weekly counts alive!

8 Once again, 7 species of ducks were spotted this week. 100 Gadwall tops the list for individuals with Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead, Wood Duck, American Wigeon, and Ring-necked Duck respectively. Perry notes that the Wood Duck males are looking very nice with colorful plumage. Above: Wood Ducks in their glory! Photo by Chuck Fuhrman Other water birds, the Canada Geese, Pied-billed Grebe, Double Crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Common Moorhen, and American Coot were counted as well. Although great to watch these ducks and other birds coming in for the season, it is also great to see the cormorants and coots coming in with numbers again. One action moment occurred as the coots Anhinga by Jo Frkovich began to emerge out of the cattails on the corner of cross dike. It was amazing to see just how many coots can fit in the grasses when they are under-cover. At least 100 of them were viewed. Then, in an instant, they scattered and steadied themselves back into the grasses as an eagle flew by. Two adult Bald

9 Eagles and two young Bald Eagles whisked about the large rice field in search of their meals. A Northern Harrier was also a culprit to the skittish behavior of the coots and moorhen. The Red-shouldered Hawks were more inclined to stay on the other side of the property nearest the exit road as usual. Ring-billed gulls were seen as flyovers everywhere on the property. The numbers were tipped in our favor due to the variety of wading birds this week. Represented were: Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, and White Ibis. (see Black-crowned Night Heron keeping watch- photo left by Jo Frkovich) Eleven Turkey Vulture and Nine Black Vulture were seen in the air. Shuffling across the barks of the trees were Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers along with Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Northern Flicker. Eastern Phoebe were seen on separate occasions, as were the Eastern Bluebirds. Five Rubycrowned Kinglet made the list-one displayed his crown. Near the observation tower, a Pine Warbler flew up, caught something, and flew back to the same branch for the birders to get a better look. Also mostly seen around the tower were the American Robin. Yellow-rumped Warblers were flocking by the dozens everywhere! Butterbutt or Yellow-rumped Warbler standing its ground! Photo by Marina Coppedge

10 Not seen in the past two weeks but seen again this week was the lone Palm Warbler which likes to reveal itself on a bush at the cross dike. Although the Chipping Sparrow and the White-throated Sparrow were seen busy at their tasks near the cabins, the Song Sparrow and the Swamp Sparrow were located near the cross dike. A Black-and-white Warbler made the cut as well as a Hermit Thrush. Rusty Blackbirds were making themselves known near the Indian mound pond. A very large flock of 60 Tree Swallow was seen over the large old rice field impoundment. Perry believes this location may be their roosting spot in the evenings. Special Highlights of the Day: 1. Even though no white-eyed Vireo were seen this time, a Blueheaded Vireo was seen wintering near the Indian mound. 2. Also by the Indian mound, but closer to the pond and marsh, were 12 American Goldfinch. They lighted on the Tallow Trees there (also known as Popcorn Trees) then began foraging along the ground. The participants were able to view them very well. 3. An Orange-crowned Warbler, not common in these parts, gave the watchers a good look! These birds seem to be wintering on the southe ast coast even though they are a west coast bird! 4. An unusual activity seen this week - a group of Great Egrets mobbed a cormorant as it came up to the surface of the water with a fish. The mob won. Our usual suspects did not fail us. They were: Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, and the Common Grackle.