26
Aug

Spotted a Green Heron!

The Green Heron was across the lake and in the trees on the left side of this photo.

As you know, we live in central Illinois and August is NEVER a month to sit around a fire pit in the late afternoon.  But this August has been so ‘un-normal’.  We have had low humidity, days in the high 70’s, and nights in the high 50’s.  We are beginning to wonder if we have not entered The Twilight Zone!

This photo was taken by me – who was all sprawled out in an Adirondack chair, looking over Cleon’s newly built fire.  For once the breeze was cooperating and not blowing smoke in my eyes.  I was dreamily looking across the lake when I saw a fairly large bird fly along the shore and then disappear into the trees.  I grabbed my binoculars just as it entered the tree-line along the shore and landed – before it completely disappeared.

Here is this heron all scrunched into itself. When it is sitting quietly, the neck is almost always retracted to look just like this. But when active, this bird has a rather long neck. Photo by Charles Jackson on Unsplash.

On our lake, the best choices for the bird I saw are Great Blue Heron – which is is too big.  Great Egret – more rare and the bird I saw was not white.  Belted Kingfisher – the bird I saw seemed a bit larger, was not blue, and I never saw that shaggy crest.  American Crow – the bird I saw was not black.

I did get a good enough look before it disappeared – it was a Green Heron!  And I have added it to our list of birds seen here at our house and on our lake which you can look at if you click on Articles in the Menu.

This is a good example of how hard this bird is to actually see – even though it is larger than the Belted Kingfisher. The coloring and pattern of the bird, plus its ability to be motionless for long periods of time, make this bird very difficult to find. Photo by Karl Callwood on Unsplash.

This Green Heron did exactly as all Green Herons do.  It got into the lower part of the tree – I could see some leaves moving as it found a good spot to perch –  and then it settled in.  And never moved.  Not one feather.  Cleon and I sat at the fire for about two hours and that bird never came out, never changed its perch, probably never moved a muscle.  And you can see by their coloring, when they are in a tree, in vegetation, or even on the edge of the water, they totally blend in with their surroundings.  And they can have their necks outstretched so they look quite long, or all pulled in so they look like they do not even have necks.

Here is one foraging at water’s edge – a favorite place for them. Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash.

We were thrilled!  This is a wonderful sighting for us because it is not common to see one here.  Even where they are more common, they blend in so well, and sit so still that even if they are there, you could walk right under them and never know it.