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Re: Green Herons at Brookside Nature Center Pond

From:

Gail Mackiernan

Reply-To:

Gail Mackiernan

Date:

Tue, 8 Jun 2010 07:56:08 -0400

Hi Claire,

We ran into the male Green Heron several times in recent excursions to
Wheaton Park and Brookside Gardens. He would be sitting in the top of a tree
and calling (a rather low booming yelp) and after a while, would fly off to
another spot. We ran into him at the Nature Ctr., Pine Lake and also, the
large pond at Brookside near the tea house. We assumed he was "trolling" for
a mate and it appears he was successful! Though probably the tree selected
for the nest is one of the most disturbed. You may want to think about
blocking access to that part of the boardwalk until the birds get used to
visitors.

We covered part of this area (and adjacent blocks) for the recent Breeding
Bird Atlas and the only Green Herons confirmed were at the farm pond at
Layhill Park, now gone (alas!) under the relentless march of the ICC (as is
the farm...)

Gail Mackiernan
Colesville, MD

on 06/08/2010 12:04 AM, Claire Nemes at  wrote:

> Hi there,
> 
> This is a little late but late last week I noticed that a pair of Green Herons
> had recently arrived at Brookside Nature Center's pond (in Wheaton Regional
> Park).  This weekend I watched both individuals snapping small twigs off the
> trees and adding them to a nest they've apparently been working on for a
> while, in the crown of a small, low tree overhanging the pond. One of them
> seemed a little clumsy--he (or perhaps she) would snip off a branch in his
> beak and stalk around with it for a while, but on several occasions the poor
> fellow accidentally dropped the twig into the water and would stare sadly
> after it as if pondering whether to dive in to retrieve it.  (They're rather
> skittish; I watched them for an hour when alone and they seemed to take little
> notice, but on Sunday, when I was leading a group of Pre-K kids on a hike
> around the pond, they took off in annoyance--as any self-respecting bird
> would!) 
><snip>