Greets Tweets --
Guess where I went today? (see subject.) And I have a couple
questions about what I saw. Can anyone give me an idea of how many active
Great Blue Heron nests (and residents) there are in the Marche Point herony?
Question number 2 (and some of you will probably find this a stupid
question): do great blue herons attack bald eagles in defense of their
community?
My reasons for asking are that I drove around Marche Point today and
stopped near the herony because I saw a huge number of great blue herons on
the shore along the island in the Swinomish Channel. By a huge number I mean
that I counted 198 great blue herons just on the west side of the island
alone. This number does not include the GBHs that were in the air or in the
herony.
The eagle question stems from the fact that when I had my scope
trained on a Great Blue Heron in the top of a tree at the herony my son
noticed a dead mature bald eagle laying (lying? how about wedged?) in the
crotch of the tree. Is this something that should not surprise me? I know
that GBHs are huge birds but because of their long neck and long legs they
seem fragile to me. They do not seem as agile as gulls and crows, which I
often see mobbing bald eagles. (If anyone wants that dead bald eagle, they
are going to have a helluva climb to fetch it down!)
To head off queries about where Marche Point Road is: From I5, take
US20 West. Just after the bridge spanning the Swinomish Channel (on Fidalgo
Island) take the first right turn. Shortly after passing the Swinomish
Trading Post you will come to some tall trees on the left side of the road.
You will see great blue herons coming and going. Sorry, that is the best I
can do for the location of the heronry.
Jo Waldron
Everett, WA
joaw9 at aol.com
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