Grab Bag Friday: The Herons Have Hatched!

Okay, I admit I've been glued to Cornell's Great Blue Heron Webcam for a full month. Has it been worth it? Absolutely. Five nestlings hatched last week, and the folks at Cornell say the tiny chicks will grow to be four feet tall within the next six weeks!

Ridiculously, after all the hours I spent watching Mom and Dad sit on the nest, I missed every single hatching (though I did get to watch Mom lay an egg, which was crazy). Chick #3 hatched when I stepped away for 30 minutes to go to the grocery store. I came home to a voicemail from my sister saying, "It's hatching! It's hatching! Where are you?"

Video: Great Blue Heron Egg #3 Hatch

Thankfully, the moment was captured on video (a sweet and hilarious video at that). I know we're not supposed to anthropomorphize, but their bedhead reminds me of the New Wave/Punk rockers in the early 80s.

Live feed: Cornell Lab Of Ornithology

Photo Screen Shot by phlegmmy

Grab Bag Friday: Great Blue Heron Webcam

Great Blue Heron Webcam

The novel I'm writing has a blue heron in it, so I couldn't believe my luck when the Cornell Lab of Ornithology announced (yes, I get their email newsletter because I am a total nerd) that their new webcam  focuses on the nest of a Great Blue Heron!

It is amazing to see the nest up close, and two camera angles allow you to focus both on the bird and the tiny blue egg that was laid on Wednesday. At least one more egg will likely be laid in the next day or so, and then in 25-30 days, they'll start to hatch. I predict that my productivity level is going to take a serious dive toward the end of April. I can only imagine I'll be glued to the screen 7-8 weeks later as the young ones learn how to fly.

One amazing thing that you can't really get a sense of from the webcam is the size of the nest. According to the website:

"In 2009, the herons brought in the first few twigs that would become the first known Great Blue Heron nest in the history of Sapsucker Woods. Early in the spring of 2012 we installed two cameras to bring the hidden world of their nesting habits into full view. The nest itself is nearly four feet across and a foot deep, and wraps almost entirely around the trunk of the tree. The birds have slowly built up the nest over the last three years."

 Happy bird watching!