Hi, Tweets

Below is a paragraph from a message from a South African bird list that I
am on. I censused heron rookeries in New Hampshire for nearly nine years
and have watched our great blue herons, as you all have, for ages. Has
anyone ever seen "our" herons bathing like this??

<I was privileged to see a Grey Heron have a bath this morning! I've never
thought of such large birds bathing, but it was very very hot, the Heron had
been standing still in the sun for ages, so perhaps it was a swim! The bird
had been standing on the bank, next thing, it just stepped down in the deep
water. It submerged until the water was almost over the top of the body, so
that not much more than just the neck and head stuck up. Then it extended
the long long neck, put the head under water and proceeded to splash water
across its back with its wings. A few seconds pause, then a repeat and this
happened about 5 times. What was interesting to note was the neck was first
stretched out before ducking under the water, which almost made the entire
Heron disappear before bobbing back up. It then happily climbed out, stood
on the bank, soaking wet and preened. Amazing how one always sees something
new even when looking at common birds!>

Cheers, Diann

_____________________
Diann MacRae
Olympic Vulture Study
22622 - 53rd Avenue S.E.
Bothell, WA 98021
tvulture at vei.net
http://users.vei.net/tvulture/
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