I had assumed that my posting about the ogopogo would be the last one for March, but I had counted on neither a train wreck nor many agitated herons. Ah well, life doesn’t follow my agenda.
Yesterday morning I received a message from Nicole Tremblay: over a dozen herons in Balfour are being harassed by an eagle.
When I arrived, there were perhaps a half-dozen herons in the air and more in the trees. They came and went with urgency. The sub-adult eagle causing the ruckus was probably the same one earlier spotted harassing an otter and hunting farther down the Lake. Although the eagle chased, I saw no evidence that it was successful in downing a heron. Finally, it seems to have left.
I had never seen so many herons together. The five pictures, below, show herons in the trees, herons in the air, but they start with the sub-adult eagle that caused the ruckus.
Alistair, great documentation. There’s a heron rookery not too far from where we live. Two days ago when I was there, an adult Bald Eagle was circling, and one adult heron in the air appeared to be directing the eagle elsewhere. I obviously worry about the herons on their nests, understanding the tenuous relationship here. The good thing about this particular location is that a huge group of crows also roosts there. And, as you know, they are the best early-warning system and eagle deterrent I’ve seen.