Pre-Flight Lessons

These didn't seem to me to be flying lessons so much as "These are how you use your wings" lessons. A preparation for flight, perhaps.

More of the Library Blue Herons

The birds were very quiet when I got there, not a peep out of any of them. I thought I wasn't going to get to see them at all until, just as I pulled away, one of them came out. Of course, I had to park again to take pictures.

Library Blue Heron

The library blue herons were more retiring than usual.

All but one, that is. He was ready to stand tall and tell the world what he thought.

Peekaboo

I finally caught the baby blue heron in his nest! That's him, peeking up through the leaves there.

I was hoping to record a bit of the noise they make, but people kept stopping by to ask what I was looking at, so all I got was series of jumbled recordings of grass, sky, and tag-ends of conversation.

I can't complain; as I recall, that's how I found the herons myself, the first time, by asking someone what they were looking at. 

Balboa Library: Blue Herons

They were having quite a convention the other day. There were at least five in the tree, plus babies. I still don't know how many nests are active, but it's quite a lively, chatty collection.

Dignity

A blue heron comes in for a landing behind the Balboa library.

Herons

The herons in back of the Balboa branch library are learning to fly. Soon they will be gone and about their heron business.

In the meantime, they're making short flights, wobbling a bit as they land, and thinking about it before taking off again.

Around Balboa Bay

Sometimes the pelicans that show up on the pier seem disoriented. This one was in full possession of all of its senses and begging shamelessly.

I often admire the gardens along the walkway as I visit Balboa. This one particularly caught my attention. Isn't it stunning?

The blue herons are back!I first saw them nesting outside the Balboa branch library last year and wondered how I'd never seen them before. There are, I think, three active nests there. No hatchlings yet, as far as I can tell, but if you look carefully, you can see a bird sitting up on the nest.

More Herons

Still the ones behind the library.

I really do not know how I missed them all those years. They are not only there, they are noisy. Of course, when I went to take a video clip to demonstrate to everyone just *how* noisy, they had quieted down.

One of the pictures shows a chick (very large) being fed, but it's kind of behind branches, so I'm not sure how apparent it is.



Oh, and someone did tell me there were a couple of years when they didn't come because the trees had been pruned too much, so that's two (or so) years of non-observance I am not guilty of.

A Day with Herons in It

It's amazing how many things one does not see.

I've been going to the Balboa Branch library for years.

This is the first time I've seen the herons nesting out back.

They come every year.

And I've never seen them.

But at least I saw them yesterday.