This past winter I was talking to some photographers who mentioned a Great Blue Heron rookery (nesting site) relatively close to me and that no matter what the weather, herons begin to return in March. One nice early spring day, the first day of spring in fact, I took some time to stop by and see where this place was and if the herons were indeed returning yet. To my surprise there were many birds already there squabbling over which nest they wanted. There were several nests still unoccupied so I expect there will be more birds migrating to the area as spring progresses.

While watching several pairs of Great Blue Herons it was interesting to observe how they interacted with each other and with other herons in the area. Each checking different nests trying to pick just the right one to raise new little herons and defending that nest from others. I focused on one pair for awhile, watching and photographing some of their behaviors, as I continued to learn more about these larger birds. After checking a few nests thoroughly, they seemed to settle on one. However, that one nest still required some work before it would be suitable to lay eggs into.

At one point there seemed to be a discussion and disagreement over an aspect of this nest which you can see from the photo above. I couldn’t tell what the issue was but the result was one of the herons flying away from the nest to find solitude in the river banks below. The picture below shows the Great Blue Heron taking off from the nest while the other one continues to inspect parts of the potential nest. While away, the remaining bird made some adjustments to the sticks improving this chosen nesting site.

Five minutes later this heron returned to the nest and the pair seemed to make up and act as though they missed one another. For a couple of minutes they spent time kind of cuddling with one another before returning to the task of re-enforcing their nest. In the picture below you can see them with their heads crossed almost as if they were hugging. Maybe this is just some sort of method of checking out if they had been near another bird or reconnecting their bond. Whatever it was it was interesting to witness.

Part of reconstructing their nest involved flying to another vacant nest, and stealing branches that could be used on their own nest showing why getting to the rookery earlier in the year was beneficial and worth risking exposure to bad weather which could include snow. And lots of it!

It’s interesting to watch as they would check several branches for just to right one for their own nest. Once the branch was chosen they would, not so carefully remove it from the nest and fly back with it in mouth.

After several sticks added and repairs were made, the nest was deemed suitable allowing for some rest before the real work of raising young arrived.