Fall Colony Visit

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="390"] Photo by Doug Albert.[/caption] The great blue heron nesting season went by as quick as a flash this year.  Fall is when I collect all the HERON volunteers’ data and enter it into the database to get an idea of how the season went for herons (which I will blog about at a later date).  It is also a great

Painting a Picture from the 2012 Results

[caption id="attachment_1010" align="alignleft" width="240"] Adult great blue heron in flight over a nest with five young.

Forestry and Herons Can and Do Mix

The following article was originally written for the October 2012 issue of "SWOAM News", the newsletter of the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine:  [caption id="attachment_978" align="alignleft" width="300"]

How Herons Handle the Heat

We’ve had some hot sultry days this summer, and if you were smart you retreated to a shady spot or went for a swim at a nearby pond.  But what about all those great blue heron nestlings that were sitting in their nests 20-100 feet up in a  tree, often in full sun?  Sure, their nest tree may be surrounded by water if it is a snag in a beaver flowage, but that water is completely inaccessible to a nestling who takes around 80 days to learn how to fly.  How do they keep cool on those 90+ degree days?  Like humans, birds rely on evaporative cooling to release heat; however, birds do not have swea

Herons Return to Colony Despite Nesting Owls

Last Wednesday I took to the field to check out a great blue heron colony that I have only seen once during an aerial survey in 2009.  Since then, a volunteer has been monitoring the colony on the ground.  I finally made personal contact with the landowners this

HERON Volunteers Can Help With Research on Great Blue Heron Productivity

[caption id="attachment_832" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Molly Meserve is a graduate student at the University of New England."][/caption] Hello, my name is Molly Meserve and I am a graduate student at the University of Ne

Rescue, Rehab and Release of a Great Blue Heron

The following was written and shared by Diane Winn of Avian Haven, one of the largest bird rehabilitation practices in New England.  Located in Freedom, Maine, they have treated over 12,000 birds comprising over 100 species. [caption id="attachment_783" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Great Blue Heron found injured at Cobbosseecontee Lake.

Monitoring Maine's Great Blue Herons - Three Years and Counting...

Photo by Ron LoganView a slide

HERON Volunteer View: Great Blue Herons Caught on Video

Photo by Deb DuttonJune is when nestlings appear in most great blue heron colonies in Maine.  In Maine,

HERON Volunteer View: FOOD FIGHT

[caption id="attachment_662" align="alignleft" width="239" caption="An adult great blue heron arrives ready to feed its nestlings.