This past month I had the amazing and rare gift of seeing a Blue Heron, a Marsh Hawk and a Snowy Owl all in one day. It was a sequence of fortuitous events.
During my search for the snowy owl I drove by marshy lands and kept my camera ready.
I was delighted to get this picture of a lovely Blue Heron perched on an Osprey nest. It seems that the Osprey had already headed South for the Winter and this Heron took advantage of the vacancy for a better view of the landscape in Napeague.
Blue Herons are the largest of the North American Herons and can be found along marshes, slow rivers, streams, fields, swamps and the ocean. They are most active at dawn and dusk and their breeding season is between mid-April and late June.
They may feed at night or during the day due to their exceptional eyesight.
The oldest recorded Heron was 24 years old.
As an animal totem, this beauty represents determination, exploration, transformation and balance.
I have a blue heron as a neighbor in the adjacent harbor nature preserve and it often sits on my dock.It is a large majestic bird and it has a loud squawk as it flys away. My dog is not fond of this screeching fellow and I often think that the bird is conscious of the dog and sits there to tease my pup.
ReplyDelete