FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Great Blue Heron courting behavior, Theodore Roosevelt Island (Arlington) 05 Nov

[Steve Johnson <stevejohnson2@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Great Blue Herons are not exactly a rarity around here.  But yesterday I 
saw some fantastic behavior, which I am guessing was related to 
courtship.  Here's what I saw.
Theodore Roosevelt Island is a 1/2-mile long island in the Potomac 
between Arlington and D.C.  It has a 1- to 2-mile walking path all 
around.  The best birding I found was on a boardwalk on the east side of 
the island, viewing an "inland" pond from the east side with the morning 
sun behind me.
At the near edge of the pond was a Great Egret and a GBH, standing 
still, separated by about 15 feet.  Between them was an odd-looking 
stick pointing straight up out of the water with some wide branches at 
its sides.  I watched the GE catch, then hold, then swallow a fish.
I checked out the odd-looking stick in the binos.  It was a 2nd GBH, 
with its neck and head and bill perfectly vertical, aimed straight up, 
completely motionless.  The branches at its sides were its wings, 
slightly opened with the tips brushing the water, also motionless.  I 
could see its thighs and elbows, bare skin, normally not visible.
Over a period of several minutes, the #1 GBH also raised its head and 
neck somewhat, and stepped slowly around the motionless GBH #2, from a 
face-to-face position, to the side of #2.  The vertical GBH #2 opened 
its wings further, almost like an Anhinga.  Then they both slowly tilted 
their outstretched necks toward each other, and then finally, they 
started moving a bit faster.  The necks swung down to almost face each 
other, then in perfect sync, the 2 birds immediately took off and flew 
side-by-side down the length of the pond, out of sight.
It was a stunningly intense, coordinated act.  The acceleration at the 
end, culminating in a matched takeoff and flight, was breathtaking.
After they were out of sight, I realized the GE was gone, too.  No idea 
what happened to it, so mesmerized was I by the GBH behavior.
The punch line for observing at TR Island is that it is directly under 
the landing flight path for National Airport, and after the pair of GBHs 
disappeared, a commercial jet roared over the scene.   It's encouraging 
that these birds are able to continue their natural behavior (I think) 
in such an environment.
- Steve Johnson
stevejohnson2 (at) verizon.net
Fairfax, VA