Tweets:

A cottonwood tree in Medina Park that has been home to several Great
Blue Heron nests was toppled by last night's winds and now lies in the
pond at its foot. A perennial object of attention for amateur
photographers, the local media, and school field trips, many herons
have been reared and successfully fledged from this exposed breeding
colony without showing the slightest concern for human disturbance.
The tree leaned precariously out over the pond, shallowly rooted and
already clearly dying when the herons adopted it. Nonetheless it hung
on for years, eventually holding up to five bulky stick nests. As the
colony grew, other herons built nests in nearby firs where they are
much less obvious. Typically the birds have returned in late January
to repair their nests or build new ones; courtship is in full swing
three or four weeks after that. It will be interesting to see how many
birds are able to find suitable nest sites to sustain the mini-colony
in this busy park now that their anchor tree has fallen.

Hal Opperman
Medina, Washington
hal at catharus.net