Bird Series
In January 2011, I was invited to join a new team competing in the Carden Challenge where teams compete to identify the greatest number of bird species in a 24 hour period. My song ID skills at the time were not great so I spent the next three months studying and listening and practicing. At the time, I thought I was doing it just for the Challenge. Now I realize that those months spent learning have led to some pretty fantastic work opportunities.
I was interested in birds long before I had any clue that geocaching existed. So when it came time to place some caches, what better way to combine the two interests. How many of these birds can you identify?
Great Blue Heron
The local great blue heron heronry used to be located on Shrike Rd but after a Great Horned Owl took up residence in one of the nests there a few years ago, and picked off a few of the heron nestlings to feed her own young, the herons abandoned that stand of trees. A new heronry appears to be developing in this wetland. In the summer of 2015, there were two active nests here with three nestlings in one and a pair of nestlings in the other.
Great blue herons are only partial migrants and can be found year round just across the other side of Lake Ontario. I have seen herons in this area well into December.
They have specially shaped neck vertebrae which allows them to curl their neck into an S shape for aerodynamic flight and for quick striking at prey. Despite a wing span of up to 200 cm (over 6 feet), this bird weighs just over 2 kg (5 lb).
