Comments on: Daily Observations http://www.sitkanature.org/wordpress/2006/12/03/daily-observations-136/ An Aspiring Naturalist Learns His Place Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:31:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: SitkaNature » Great Blue Heron http://www.sitkanature.org/wordpress/2006/12/03/daily-observations-136/#comment-4240 SitkaNature » Great Blue Heron Wed, 06 Dec 2006 07:13:24 +0000 http://www.sitkanature.org/wordpress/2006/12/03/daily-observations-136/#comment-4240 [...] This year there has been a heron back at the flume. I do not know for sure whether it is the same bird, but people on campus who were here last year and remember that bird have taken to calling this one Ardy as well. I had heard about it for at least a couple of weeks befor I saw it for the first time yesterday. This year’s heron does not have the white crown characteristic of an adult, so it is still a young bird. What photos I got of last years bird look pretty similar, so if it is the same bird, it still has not attained its adult plumage. The Birds of North America entry on Great Blue Herons indicates that the birds take almost two years to attain their adult plumage, so it seems possible that this bird is the same one as last year. However, that would imply last year’s bird was just hatched that summer. [...] [...] This year there has been a heron back at the flume. I do not know for sure whether it is the same bird, but people on campus who were here last year and remember that bird have taken to calling this one Ardy as well. I had heard about it for at least a couple of weeks befor I saw it for the first time yesterday. This year’s heron does not have the white crown characteristic of an adult, so it is still a young bird. What photos I got of last years bird look pretty similar, so if it is the same bird, it still has not attained its adult plumage. The Birds of North America entry on Great Blue Herons indicates that the birds take almost two years to attain their adult plumage, so it seems possible that this bird is the same one as last year. However, that would imply last year’s bird was just hatched that summer. [...]

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