Great Blue Heron

Austere and dignified, Great Blue Herons are a common year-round resident of Vancouver. They are wetland and shoreline hunters that will eat whatever they can grab: fish, tadpoles, frogs, mice, baby alligators... Their long necks have specialized vertebrae that allow for lightning-fast strikes, and they have long legs with wide feet to wade into the water. Their long neck feathers keep growing, flaking into powder at the ends that helps clean their plumage of fishy slime and swampy scum.

This heron I saw at Jericho Park on November 21. “Laura, why do you always photograph birds at Jericho Park?” you ask. Jericho is a great place to look for birds because of its variety of habitat. There’s ocean, shoreline, pond, marsh, forest, and grassy fields, so it can support a variety of species. Herons, for instance, prefer to roost and nest in tall trees, but need shallow water to hunt. Birds are drawn to fresh water like hipsters to green-washed companies, so having one of the few ponds in Vancouver makes Jericho a great attraction for birds. (It's also great because happens to be on the way to work, easily accessible by bike, and right next to sailing practice. I promise next week I’ll try to branch out to somewhere new!)

In the spring, Great Blue Herons amass in colonies of dozens to hundreds, called heronries, to nest and raise their young together. Check out Stanley Park or Tsawassen near the ferry terminal in April to see our local heronries and the adorable heron babies! Just watch out for the “presents” that fall from the herons’ nests above.