Precarious
EXPLORE May 28, 2011
This week, two yellow-crowned night heron fledglings tumbled from their nests in the pine tree and landed on my neighbor's roof. Somewhere in the tree above them were their parents, plus an entire colony of nesting herons with other youngsters. No concern or attention was shown to the fallen by their parents or others.
One fledgling took shelter from the sun under a gable eave. The other fledgling was more exposed and seemed traumatized. Sadly, he fell off the roof Thursday night and was buried Friday morning. The survivor above, who had been under the gable eave all day, eventually worked his way to the roof edge late Friday afternoon. Just after sunset, he landed head-up in a huge azalea bush. Not a happy camper, but sheltered.
Apparently, it was just too soon for these two to be out of their nests. None of the other fledglings in the colony have tried to fly yet, although all are occasionally standing in the nests, stretching, and fussing with any sibling sharing their space.
When we spoke to our local Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary last year regarding a fledgling in a similar situation that we thought needed to be resucued, we were told, "They learn to fly from the ground up...leave them....their parents will take care of them...." Sadly, that's not the way it has been working out. We will wait and see how he behaves Saturday morning before we decide if we should intervene and transport him to the Sanctuary.
Hope he makes it. Hard not to laugh at these funny, gangly creatures and enjoy watching them grow. =))
More heron fun here: www.flickr.com/photos/25709079@N03/7011604343/in/set-7215...
Precarious
EXPLORE May 28, 2011
This week, two yellow-crowned night heron fledglings tumbled from their nests in the pine tree and landed on my neighbor's roof. Somewhere in the tree above them were their parents, plus an entire colony of nesting herons with other youngsters. No concern or attention was shown to the fallen by their parents or others.
One fledgling took shelter from the sun under a gable eave. The other fledgling was more exposed and seemed traumatized. Sadly, he fell off the roof Thursday night and was buried Friday morning. The survivor above, who had been under the gable eave all day, eventually worked his way to the roof edge late Friday afternoon. Just after sunset, he landed head-up in a huge azalea bush. Not a happy camper, but sheltered.
Apparently, it was just too soon for these two to be out of their nests. None of the other fledglings in the colony have tried to fly yet, although all are occasionally standing in the nests, stretching, and fussing with any sibling sharing their space.
When we spoke to our local Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary last year regarding a fledgling in a similar situation that we thought needed to be resucued, we were told, "They learn to fly from the ground up...leave them....their parents will take care of them...." Sadly, that's not the way it has been working out. We will wait and see how he behaves Saturday morning before we decide if we should intervene and transport him to the Sanctuary.
Hope he makes it. Hard not to laugh at these funny, gangly creatures and enjoy watching them grow. =))
More heron fun here: www.flickr.com/photos/25709079@N03/7011604343/in/set-7215...