Looking at Long Legs...

Downloading my latest batch of pictures today, I realized that a common thread had run through them without me realizing it - I had been looking at an awful lot of long legs lately! Nothing to do with Memorial Day Weekend I can assure you, I'm talking about herons and their kin. Looking at the pictures and thinking about the birds I had seen, I started trying to answer a few questions...

First up, this Great Blue Heron; first question - what's it doing here in Cape May County during the breeding season (they don't breed with us here)? Answer: the large amount of streaking on lower neck and breast and the washed out, pale coloration on the thighs show that this is a bird born last summer, so almost certainly won't breed this year. This bird is happy to hang out on its own and not have to share the spoils of a good hunt. Second question - why is it in a field, don't they eat fish? Yes they do eat fish, but an awful lot more besides. This bird was in damp grassland at Villas WMA and is probably hunting frogs, but they really are generalists and will eat pretty much anything they can catch. Back in the UK, I once saw a Gray Heron (similar to this guy but a fraction smaller) kill and eat a Brown Rat, whilst friends of mine have reported European Mole and even a Stoat (Long-tailed Weasel over here) as prey!! [Photo by Mike Crewe]

Our Cape May Point walk this morning turned up this seemingly well-out-of-place Green Heron, perched on the fence rail at the top of the dune crossover. Question: What is he doing there?! Next time you flush a Green Heron, watch what it does; though these birds hunt low down and often in fairly dense vegetation where they can be hard to see, very often, they will fly up once flushed and sit right on top of the nearest high object while they check what's going on. Dune crossover? A perfect vantage point for a good look round! [Photo by Karl Lukens]

Lunchtime today, I ate my sandwiches at one of my favorite wetlands (no, it's a secret place - we all have them!) and enjoyed a smart adult Little Blue Heron and six shiny Glossy Ibises. While watching the ibises (and dodging the Deer Flies!) I noticed that they frequently held their wings up in an almost angelic pose for prolonged periods - clearly not just a wing flap or about to take flight. Question: Why do they do this? Answer: I don't know yet, but I'm going to try and find out!! And that's the point of this post; when migration tails off, don't lose heart. Spend time watching the birds that are around and be sure to ask questions, lots of questions - how? what? why? where? when? which? Six questions to choose from - or use them all!! [Photo by Mike Crewe]

Bird news today was a little scant, but another frigatebird sighting came in from Kate Atkins, this time a bird seen over the Avalon causeway. Oh, and though I suggested that migration is tailing off, 10 Black-bellied Plovers flew over my house whilst I was tackling those darned Multiflora Roses this evening...