Wednesday, June 3, 2009

And then there was One...




The herons are near full-size and surely will all be fledging over the next couple of weeks. The oldest family home now has only one youngster in the nest. I suppose he is trying to get his nerve up to follow his brothers/sisters. He/she spends most of his time looking over the edge of the nest. I suppose this is the way he summons up the nerve to try a flight. I was up early this morning looking for a sunrise and saw 2 youngsters that spent all of their time together...following each other pretty closely. I bet they are the 2 siblings that left this one alone and afraid to follow. I am sure he will fledge in the next day or so and then this nest, which happens to be the highest nest in the rookery, will be empty of chicks.
The next highest nest still is occupied by these 3 chicks and they too seem to be anxious to fledge. Boy, wouldn't I be lucky to actually see one of them take their maiden flight!!!