The Statuesque Great Blue Heron

The shoreline view from my new residence in Fairhaven on the west side of Sconticut Neck looking across to Mattapoisett Neck encompasses a 180-degree panorama for bird watching, including waterfowl such as swans, egrets, and especially the eye-catching sentinel of a great blue heron stealthily wading in shallow water. Its 3-feet long torso of long leg and neck compressed into an S-shaped coil spring are ready to unleash the sudden dagger of a bill to spear an underwater quarry.

A member of the wading family, the great blue heron is classified in the heron family Ardeidae along with local bitterns and egrets.

At the turn of the century, their numbers decreased from use of pesticides, industrial chemicals in the food chain, wetland draining, nesting tree cutting, and housing developments.

Today, they have rebounded to be abundant here year round and across New England in fresh water ponds, lakes, and streams.

Their stealthy predation acumen includes taking frogs, snakes, salamanders, turtles, and small birds, all fed to their young by regurgitation.

They usually nest in trees with large platforms of sticks used several years in a row. They breed in colonies with ceremonial mating displays by ruffling feathers and stretching necks upward with beak pointing to the sky after flying in circles around each other while snapping their bills to get attention.

Feeding a family is a two-partner effort, and at the Berkshire Hatchery where I volunteered before moving to Buzzards Bay, great blue herons were frequent daily visitors to find a hand out of fresh trout, a vital tasty source of iron and protein for growing offspring.

One morning, our manager was feeding our avian friends when members of the Micmac Indian tribe appeared. When they saw the herons they felt rewarded, as herons were sacred symbols of most inland tribes known together as Algonquin native culture. The great blue heron earned the title of ‘spirit of the waters.’

Looking out at dawn from the picture window of my new living room, the sight of this familiar, stately and statuesque figurine brings back memories and inspires me to share the creative inspiration with you in the first light of day at my new location.

By George B. Emmons

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