OK, this isn't exactly David Attenborough footage... but I'm very fond of this white heron. We bought our apartment on the edge of Ross Creek (and yes, still in the heart o' the city) in the winter of 2000. That winter and every winter since, this lone white heron has come to fish in the shallows at the half-tide.
I'm sure it's the same bird. It comes at the same time every year, always alone. I love to see him (her?), and I have no idea where he is for the rest of the year, but it's another of the wonderful cyclical mysteries of Nature, isn't it? Do you have any recurring visitors where you live?
6 comments:
Herons are so amazing. Sometimes when I'm out walking early, I startle one in the creek and it flies up out of there...not exactly in my direction, but it's pretty breathtaking to see that giant bird take off. (Remind me sometime to tell you about the canoe trip. It's a bit off the topic.)
This summer I'm up close and personal with goldfinches--seasonal visitors which I had only admired from a distance before. We moved a feeder to a spot just outside my sitting room window, where I write. It's such fun to watch so many little birds!
Just the moles in my garden! You know they spend all winter holed up, rubbing little paws together with evil cackles as they anticipate planting season. When I was a girl, we had a sandhill crane that came every year with his shrieks. We named him Bubba.
We don't have moles. I can never think of them without remembering Wind in the Willows. We have bandicoots, which come out at night and dig holes in the garden, but our seasons are so mild they don't need to hibernate.
A sandhill crane sounds romantic to me.
Magdalena, I'd love to hear about your canoe trip.
I warned you, right?
I was the pickup driver for the canoe trip. Delivered my husband and son at the put-in spot, and then waited for them at a bridge several miles away.
My son was maybe ten years old at the time, and could not get over seeing herons nesting in trees overhanging the river. He was afraid those huge birds would--you know--potty from way up there, bombing husband and son and canoe. It didn't happen, thank goodness, but still makes us all smile when we remember it. I don't think he has looked at herons the same way since.
You made me tell it. ;)
Loved the heron story, Magdalena. Poor kid. But you know it pays to look up when you're canoeing. My husband and son (about 8 at the time) had a tree branch fall into their canoe right between the two of them. It was one of those miraculous lucky escapes. If the branch had fallen a few inches either way, there could have been a serious injury.
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