Date: 4 June 2022. Green Herons.

© janice142
 

The wild birds around Seaweed bring me great joy. I also realize that few are privileged to see Green Herons in their natural habitat. A hidden nest in the mangroves hatched the two newest resident green herons. Watching the fledglings grow is a hoot. Baby birds are not the most attractive of critters. They make me feel good about my appearance first thing in the morning.

This is a full grown Green Heron sitting on Algae with a leg tucked up under his feathers.

Green Herons all appear to have the same coloring, so I am unsure if this is a male or female.
 

From my favorite bird identification book is Birds of North America:

The Green Heron has a rust colored neck and chest along with purple wings and crest.

These are smaller fishing birds. During extremely low tides they are seen along the bank of the canal beneath the mangrove. Green herons are hunters. I have seen them catch and eat small minnows.
 

An adult green heron is hidden behind a mangrove root in this picture:

Further down in this article I'll show you exactly where to find this elusive heron.

Hint: look for the sharp beak. Double click the picture and a full-sized version of the photo will appear.
 

After the eggs hatch, a couple days later the green heron fledglings emerge from the nest. Here are a pair who I believe to be two days old.

First one bird arrived. He was a bit ungainly while landing on the railing.

 

Then he settled down and perched, though rather precariously. He wobbled quite a lot.

 

Finally the second fledgling arrived.

The feathers on their heads are rather fluffy. This will change as they age.

These pictures were taken on the green herons' initial outing after leaving the nest on Day Two:
By clicking on the photos provided, a larger picture will appear. *I code my pictures to shrink them down for the articles. For myself however, I want to see the BIG picture. Thus, I suspect you too might prefer that. Almost every picture on my website will enlarge if you click (or double click) it. Enjoy. You will have to use your Back Arrow to return to the article.

By day five, the birds are steady on their feet and seem more sure of themselves.

The new fledglings remain close to each other at this early stage of their lives. I have not seen any adult green herons watching over them. The adults tend to be elusive so I may indeed simply not see them.
 

In the meantime, an adult green heron visits Algae.

This one appears to be asleep. Both eyes are closed.

Unlike the night herons, green herons are much more standoffish. I take this trepidation at interacting with humans as a good thing.
 

On day nine, one of the baby green herons is sitting on the dock near Seaweed.

As you can see, the feathers on his head are still fluffy.
 

Adult green herons feathers are smooth.

Though wary and a bit skittish I love that the adult green heron trusts me enough to sit on Algae.
 

If I come outside however the bird will fly away. Although I sometimes wish the green herons were friendlier I do appreciate that their survival depends upon independence.
 

As promised, here is a picture with the ADULT GREEN HERON ↓ circled in red.

Disclaimer: When I added the red ring the picture quality degraded. Unfortunately I did an overwrite when uploading and cannot get the better photo back. ARGH! The beak is facing to the left near the edge of the circle (a lighter straight line of feathers is below the beak) while the eye is above and to the left.

Green herons hunt minnows, catching the fish sideways in their beak. In other words, the birds grab the minnows in the middle, with a bit of fish sticking out each side of their beak. Then they swallow the minnows.

Fishing has always been popular here in Florida.

This ↑ is from my collection of vintage postcards.

This is life on the waterfront. I continue to work on Seaweed. I have made the classic mistake of starting more than one "easy" project, none of which are complete, some are time sensitive (and incomplete!) and, well, I knew better. I'm struggling. Fortunately I have help arriving Friday morning.
 

More soon, and thank you for reading.
 

Do you have green herons near your home?
And, have you ever heard of a friendly green heron?
 

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