Hello my friends,
It’s officially Autumn. The rains have come. It is so good to smell fresh, clean air again, after all the smoke. I may have only learned the name for one more toy, but being out in the woods looking for the perfect stick sure beats increasing my vocabulary any day.
I bet you’re wondering what that bird up there has to do with stick hunting. Well, that is a young Great Blue Heron who lives on San Juan Island, and his or her name is “Stretch”. My new friend Michelline, who sent us those fabulous photographs of the Southern Resident Killer Whales a couple of weeks ago, also likes to photograph birds. She offered to send us some photos of herons so we could introduce them to you. So the theme for this week is nature….the change of season, rain, the woods, sticks, herons….get it?
Before we talk herons, I’ve got more breaking news!! Another new baby orca, a member of the endangered J pod, was spotted off the coast of Victoria, B.C. That’s spectacular – two babies in three weeks . The mama is J41, also known as Eclipse. The people on a whale watch boat saw the little one take its first breath of air, when Eclipse lifted her baby out of the water on her rostrum♥ . Click here if you want to read a little more about this from the CBC.
Now back to herons, who are very special too. Why would someone name a heron Stretch? Well, look at this neck (and those wings!)
Herons can stretch their necks way out, soo long, when they fly, or when they want to get something that’s a far reach.
They can also make their necks go all wiggledy-piggledy and curvy-turvy, to reach all the hard-to-get-to places when they preen themselves. Birds preen themselves to keep their feathers healthy and water resistant.
I think a neck like that would be very useful. Can you imagine Caryn throwing me a ball and my neck doing that so that I could catch it?!
So Stretch seems quite a suitable name. Just like I’m named Tashi, which means “hello!” in Tibetan. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to say hello.
Herons like to catch things too, but not balls. They like to catch fish. They also eat crabs, frogs, aquatic insects and mice and – oh my – baby ducklings. Here’s Stretch fishing on a favorite log:
Stretch has claimed this edge of the sea as her fishing spot. She defends this spot against all birds who fly or land too close. Michelline said Stretch will even squawk at her if she gets too close. Have you ever heard a Great Blue Heron talk? I think they sound like dinosaurs. Here’s a link if you want to hear their loud squawk, along with other sounds they make.
Herons have amazing patience and focus when they hunt for food. They wait, very still, for a long time, while watching for a fish to come along. Then they strike at the perfect moment
This time Stretch was lucky. She caught a hag fish for lunch! But it must be a little difficult to balance on a log and get that squirmy thing down her throat, so she takes her fish to the rocks to gulp it down. Then she flies back to her special log to hunt for more.
Some other cool things about Great Blues:
They are big – they can be 3 feet tall, and their wings can be 6 feet wide. But they don’t weigh much – about 5 pounds, because their bones are hollow (like all birds). And they build nests in groups (called heronries) high up in trees. If you want to know more about these cool birds, or want to find out more about birds you see in your yard, the Cornell Lab all about Birds website has lots of fun information and beautiful photos. My friend Pipit likes this website
while Dahlia prefers to watch in real time
That’s all for this week. Enjoy the change of season and nature, it has so much to offer. And let me know if you see any cool birds!
xox, Tashi