Pond Life, Part 3 - Wading Birds

Pond Life, Part 3 - Wading Birds

Long-legged, long-necked waders stand at the top of the bird world's adaptation to pond life. At Halibut Point they are represented mostly by herons, which typically hunt for aquatic prey by waiting motionless in shallow water for unsuspecting fish, amphibians or insects to happen by, then snapping out of a serpentine posture. Herons may also stalk their prey with slow, deliberate concentration.

Great Blue Heron in flight

Great wings make up part of the heron's massive impression, enabling it to lift its bulk gracefully into the air.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Less commonly seen in local wetlands is the Black-crowned Night Heron, partly because of its inclination for twilight and after-dark activity.

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron

This spring a juvenile of the species and its parents landed speculatively in trees alongside the main Halibut Point quarry. Hearing of its appearance, ardent birder Caroline Haines recalled an encounter she'd had walking around Niles Pond on Eastern Point. "I have a picture of a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron. I skulked around quietly to approach it. It was probably six feet from me, on the ground, in a spot where it was well camouflaged. I stood there and looked at it, and he looked at me. I'm sure he didn't think I could see him. I was alone and quiet, and he didn't flush. The last time I saw it was March or April." Could it be the same bird?

Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron

A couple of years ago I was delighted to see a young Yellow-crowned Night Heron visit the quarry briefly, distinguished by a thicker dark bill and more prominent streaking on its chest than the Black-crowned youngster.

Greater Yellowlegs

In precisely the same spot in the quarry a typically salt water Greater Yellowlegs kept company for a little while with the resident Mallard Ducks.

Spotted Sandpiper

Once in a while Spotted Sandpipers come up from the ocean shoreline to forage for edibles in muddy spots along the quarry's edge.

Solitary Sandpiper

More surreptitiously a Solitary Sandpiper may find its way to quiet tangles around freshwater ponds.

Juvenile Green Heron

Caroline sometimes joins Brookline Bird Club walks at Halibut Point. "I was with the birding group one morning at the Quarry when we found a Green Heron nest. I went back during the week, and there were actually two nests with young. They were really hard to pick out, but if you had a scope and you stood in the right spot you could see the tops of the heads of the young ones. The tipoff was seeing the adults fly to the tree, and skulk in behind the foliage."

Caroline Haines pointing to the trees

where Green Herons nested this spring

Adult Green Herons had been catching minnows all spring from fishing stations around the rim of the quarry. I was looking forward to being entertained as they taught their offspring the tricks of the trade. But as soon as those fledglings could fly all the Green Herons disappeared from the quarry and we were deprived of the spectacle. Perhaps during the nesting period as the number of summer human visitors to the State Park increased, the herons decided to seek a less public refuge.

Caroline offered a consolation story. "I did see a young one experimenting with catching and eating things. It was not a Green Heron but a Little Blue Heron at a pond over on Bray Street. He caught a dragonfly. He swallowed it, and coughed it back up. Then he decided to try again. He grabbed it - by then it was pretty well dead - he picked it up again, put it in his mouth, and tried to swallow it again, with no luck. Then he tried it with a gulp of water. He took a big scoop of water into his bill, but he ended up spitting it out, and learning that was not something good to eat. Then I saw him catch a frog. That was pretty cool."

Green Heron with captured dragonfly

Our local mature Green Herons have eclectic tastes and abilities. The one pictured above climbed stealthily through pond-side shrubbery to pluck this dragonfly from its resting spot. The dragonfly's wings are just discernible above the heron's bill in this photograph.

This Green Heron dove from a rocky promontory into a pond to spear a tadpole.

This one brought a frog up into a tree to swallow it whole, head first.

This Green Heron deftly captured minnows one at a time and without swallowing them, evidently to bring back to its mate or nestlings.

Caroline variously enjoys solitude in nature and the social experience of birding in groups, where there are many eyes for spotting and the probability of someone else's expertise. Occasionally she leads the monthly Sunday morning Brookline Bird Club tour of Halibut Point if regular leader Peter Van Demark is out of town. "I actually do love having new people, especially when they get excited. When we found that nest with the Green Heron young in it, there was a fairly new person in the group. We had a scope and she got a good look, and she was really, really excited. It's rewarding to show someone something they've never seen before."