Weekend Birding: Great Blue Heron Nest
Great Blue Herons usually nest in colonies with multiple nests per tree. A colony can have only a few or hundreds of nests. There are two rookeries in my area and I stopped by each of them to see what the birds were up to.
Nests are constructed of sticks which are collected by the male and woven together by the female. She then lines the nest cup with with pine needles, moss, reeds, dry grass, leaves, or small twigs.
It can take up to two weeks to build the nest. When complete they are about 2 feet across and can be as large as 4 feet across and 3 feet deep. The female will lay from 2 to 6 eggs which will hatch in about 4 weeks. Nestlings will remain in the nest for about 2 months.
This is the perfect time to observe the nests. Once the leaves are on the trees it becomes difficult to see them.
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Under My Apple Tree 
I love that picture of the bird flying to its nest. Have just acquired a new camera, and am hoping that once I have worked out how to use it properly I can get some better photos of the many water birds in our area, My Snapshot is at http://goo.gl/AnAv3
LikeLike
Wonderful pics, Leslie! The last one looks like an Audubon print.
LikeLike
What a wonderful sight that must be! Three lovely pictures- I especially like that last one- magnificent birds in breeding plumage.
LikeLike
WOWOWOWOWOW how fantastic! I’d love to see them.
LikeLike
It’s kind of funny to see such big majestic birds in trees. Your photos are fabulous!!
LikeLike
They are very graceful but look almost prehistoric when they are flying.
LikeLike
They sound prehistoric too!
LikeLike
That second shot, with the bird in stark outline against the sky, is gorgeous! I can see it in a frame.
Thanks for sharing…and here’ sMY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST
LikeLike
Thanks. I would have preferred a blue sky but nature wouldn’t cooperate.
LikeLike
These are amazing photos. From where I live, here in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, you can see why these are rare sights for me. I’ll need to go out to the west coast, Vancouver, to see a GBH. Thanks for sharing these wonderful pictures.
LikeLike
If you get the opportunity to visit a rookery it’s worth the trip. We watched them gathering sticks and bringing them to the nest for an hour… fascinating.
LikeLike
I woudl love to see this – the nest sounds huge and the babies stay for 2 months??? WOW!
LikeLike
The parents bring them fish. And those babies get big, almost the size of the adults before they leave the nest and learn to find their own food.
LikeLike
Oh my! These take my breath away! Beautiful.
Here’s my Saturday Snapshot.
LikeLike
Wonderful photos!
LikeLike
Again, I learn so much about birds from you. Rookeries–like that word. 🙂
LikeLike
Oh my word, those are gorgeous images!!
LikeLike
Leslie, where is this local place??
LikeLike
Love the shot of the heron landing.
LikeLike
Wow, how amazing to see the Heron up close, beautiful photos!
LikeLike
Amazing! Thanks for sharing!
LikeLike
Great Photos, what a wonderful site.
LikeLike
Unbelievably beautiful shots:)
LikeLike
These pictures are so beautiful! Have a lovely Easter.
LikeLike
ah I think I found it: Almond Marsh near Grayslake?
LikeLike
No, more local than that. These herons are at Danada in Wheaton.
LikeLike
Such beautiful shots.
I’m not just making this up on the spot, but the blue heron is my favorite bird. I also like toucans.
The former because they are so stately and elegant. The latter because they are so wonderfully ridiculous looking.
LikeLike
I like the Toucans too. One of these days I hope to see one in person.
LikeLike
I’ve never seen so many herons together! We have them (although I’m not sure exactly which kind, they look similar) but I never knew they’d nest in colonies! Very nice pictures.
LikeLike
Europe has the Grey Heron, which is closely related to our Great Blue and looks similar. They also breed in colonies near water.
LikeLike
As you might know, we have lots of water, so I guess they find spots as far away from civilization as possible (although in the Netherlands that is never far). At least, I’ve never seen more than 2 or 3 herons within the same area. And no nests, either.
LikeLike
I just found out about this large one a few weeks ago and I’ve lived in this area for years. It’s in the middle of a forest preserve and can’t be seen from the road. It’s also in a swampy area surrounded by lots of trees. In the next few months it won’t be visible even to those who know where it is. Clever birds!
LikeLike
Wow! What great photos. Thanks for sharing these.
LikeLike
Great rookery pix. Be nice if they said what state or region…I have lived near rookeries on both western Washington and Oregon. Noisy and very cool!
Thanks!
LikeLike
This one is in Wheaton, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago.
LikeLike