Rambling around town and the full Pre’s Trail yesterday was both fabulous and intensely irritating. Weather was typical OR March – rain, wind, sun, repeat … for part of ramble, an umbrella was necessary and camera remained in backpack.
The fabulous
Fragile tree flowers are in bloom along the Mill Race
Birds were everywhere singing and showing off their ‘spring colors’. Nobody did it better than red-wing blackbirds. When they sing to showoff the colored feathers on their wings also ‘jump’. A video should have worked, but …
Other birds were just too busy hunting, or resting after the long morning.
Nesting Herons
Along the trail, closer to the boat landing at the edge of Springfield and Eugene, there are 3-4 trees that have become a Great Blue Heron nesting site.
A pair even did a mating dance for me (better would be a video, right?) … how about a slide show?
So what was so irritating?
A parks’ maintenance crew worked to clear brush and downed tree branches not 50 yards away. They were also using a super-powered gasoline blower to clear the trail. The herons were all staring at them and visibly agitated. I walked over to the crew and explained that the herons were nesting, and none too happy. The person just shrugged their shoulders and said, “we’re almost done”. I couldn’t believe that the parks would schedule non-urgent maintenance with loud equipment underneath nesting Great Blue Herons … WTF?
How much of a buffer would you suggest to both accommodate the nesting birds as well as responding to the maintenance needs of the park and particularly the ice storm response? It’s fairly rude to call the park workers “terrible” when those are the folks taking care of the spaces you obviously enjoy. Perhaps a more measured approach is in order?
Maybe you missed my point … the work being done was not ‘urgent’ … it was out of the trail, out of the way, and not hindering any park activities. It was their reaction to the issue rather than the activity that merits ‘terrible’ imho.
Don’t the herons squabble with one another over nesting rights? We are lucky to see a pair, usually one at a time!
I’ve not seen them squabble after nest chosen. the jockey around before nesting – 2 males for example – based on my observations. They have this deep low voice squawk too. We probably have dozens of herons within this one city park on both sides of river – seldom am I there without seeing several.