After quietly enjoying a hundred or so Great Blue herons building their nests and performing their mating dances we found our way to a magical place called Indigo Lake for a hike. Those of you who know us well will know why just the name Indigo warms our hearts. She was black lab #2 and a special creature. Who knew the herons nested here in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park? What a splendid scene! The pictures aren’t so good but the real thing rocked! And it’s called a heronry! So much for me thinking it was a rookery! Although they look so large and have a 7 foot wing span they only weigh 4-7 pounds! They lay 5-7 eggs (they are about the size of a chicken’s egg and are the beautiful blue of a robin’s egg) with usually only 1 or 2 hatching. The ranger told us she has seen one nest with 3 babies!! We hope to go back often and follow the process.
The pictures of Indigo Lake speak for themselves. And the company was superb!
When we got home I found our birdhouses (it is Spring after all and the birds need to make a nest!) and casually placed them on the deck railing to await fishing line and the guy that hangs the bird houses when 2 chicakdees moved in within ten minutes of the houses being placed there!! AND – began to make nesting material of my basket!!
Coming soon, pictures of Spring, glorious Spring!! And maybe pictures of baby chickadees????
