My neighbor told me today that a few days ago, he'd seen the night 
herons along Elmhirst Parkway bike path. He had seen them snapping 
off twigs and starting to re-assemble their nest. I took my kids by 
this afternoon and saw that one adult was on the nest.

At the end of March, I had seen one at nearby Stoneridge school's 
stream. I checked the nest site soon after but there had been no sign 
of activity. The tree next to the nest tree had been knocked down in 
a late summer storm, and I feared the birds weren't re-nesting 
because of that. Apparently, they just start nesting a bit later. 
Pretty sure I also heard an American redstart at the site 
("Sweet-sweet-sweet" song). They were around through June last year, 
possibly nesting. One of their fine white oaks also took a tumble 
during that late summer storm.

Howard Youth

Bethesda, MD