Joan, no dumb questions in your post. And thanks for telling us what you
saw. The herons of March Point are impressive. I find their productivity
remarkable in spite of being near a great concentration of nesting bald
eagles. I wonder if anyone is monitoring the heronry and has any data on
reproductive success there. Anne Eissinger? WDFW? ???

I don't know about herons attacking eagles. Sounds like a losing
proposition to me but parents will sometimes take self-defeating actions
in defense of their offspring. I suspect the adult eagle you saw wedged
in the tree could have lost a scuffle with nest-defending eagles. There
is an eagle nest near there or at least there used to be.

Paul

Paul Moorehead
Guemes, WA