Heron Siblings

I am still amazed that these Great Blue Herons come back every Spring to raise their families within a stone's throw of homes in the White Oak neighborhood off of the 4 Mile Creek Greenway. Even though some trees were lost due to storms this year, they built nests in new trees and so, again this year, there are 18 nesting pairs of herons in this rookery. In the midst of them this year and in a dead rottened out tree lives a raccoon who can be seen sleeping most of the day. I suppose he is ever on the lookout for the time one of the nests is unguarded and he can scurry up and have a gourmet lunch.
Almost al of the nests now have little ones and they grow fast. This is a shot of a nest that has 4 little ones that are about 3 weeks old. It will take them another 5 weeks or so to fledge so you can imagine how crowded that nest will be soon. They are very interesting to observe now as they learn about their surroundings and explore their little world.
The White Oak neighborhood have built a platform on the edge of the wetlands and it is very nice to be able to sit and enjoy the sites. If you sit quiet enough, you will see the Herons, an occasional Green Heron, Canadian Geese, a pair of Wood Ducks, lots of Red headed Woodpeckers, Blue Birds and other songbirds too numerous for me to list.