December 02, 1962 - Herons
Herons
Exclusive Sunday Review Sketch by Melita Hofman of Orient.
Focus on Nature by Paul Stoutenburgh, Cutchogue
Guest Writer: Melita Hohmann
This week we have M e l i t a
Hofmann as our guest writer.
She has proven herself more'than
qualified to write on these large
handsome herons as she did such
a superb job with them in her
book "The Book of Big Birds."
P.S.
These Sphinx -like birds which
stand motionless in s h a l l o w
water, waiting silently, solemnly,
hour after hour, have been the
subject for aesthetic, artistic dec-
oration by Chinese and Japanese
artists for hundreds of years, on
many a screen and jar, p'.acque
or fan. To our own marshes,
these large birds with their out-
stretched necks, long, dangling
legs, slender bodies, and broad
expanse of wing give a picture-
sque animation.
Patience, an easy virtue of the
tropics from whence they come,
characterizes their habits w h e n
we observe them in the North.
Of the classification c a 1 I e d
"Wading Birds," these long -
legged birds wade in s h a I I o w
water where they patiently wait
for Fish, fz+ogs, small reptiles, and
4 a r g e insects to come w. :thin
range; then, striking s u d d e my
with sharp dagger -like beak, snap
up thD victim or impale it, give
it a knock or two to kill it if
the thrust has not been sufficient,
toss it in the air if the prey is
a fish, and, in order to avoid
the scratch'ng fins, swallow it
head downward.
Hunters pretend to excuse th_sr
wanton slaughter of these state-
ly b i r d s by saying herons e a t
too many fish; but poss:bly these
were cr:uted as much for the
heron's good as for our own, and
no thanks are offe -ed for the rep -
tiles and mice they destroy.
Wild, shy, solitary, and suspici-
ous birds, it is next to impossible
to approach them, `f ven a f t e r
one has penetrated to the forbid
ding retreats where they h i d e.
Near sunset is the hour they pre-
fer to feed, and early morning.
In Florida one meets herons con-
stantly, fishing boldly on t he
beach, wad•'ng in the lagoons,
Perching on stumps, and walking
with stat:dy tread, slowly through
the sedges by the river s i d e,
t'ie'r long necks towering above
the tallest grasses. The cypress
swamps all through th,� S o u t h
contain herons of every Wnd; but
in the North the sight of the lone
fisherman is rare enough to he
memorable. He may be stand %ng
on one kg with head drawn in
to rest between his shoulders, or
he may PeseniWe a stick among
the, rushes as he waits for his
food.
At any rate his quiet plumag°
and stillness protect him, from
all but the sharpest eves. Disturb
him, and With a harsh rasping
s p r e a d s his long wings, and
slowly escapes deeper into the
marsh. At close range he looks
like a comical mass of angles;
Nit he flees away majestically,
even more impressively than the
eagle. With long rounded wings,
these bards have a p o w e r f u I
deliberate flight accomplished by
slow flapping and fettle or no
sadbng or soaring. When flying
they carry their long n e c k s
folded back and head drawn in
near the shoulders. During t?ve
breeding season both sexes have
d:stinctdve ornamental plumage
on some part of the . body. Thedr
n-cks are long. The feet are not
w +'abed, as are the water
birds', and they have four slender
toes.
Her�-ns are by no means always
hermits. They nest in groups, of-
ten several species in the same
rookery. Colonies of 10 or 15 pairs
return at the nesting season to
ancestral rookeries, each coupla
renew'ng with fresh twigs t h e
Platform of sticks in a treetop
that has serve} a previous brood
or generation as a n-tst. Both the
crudeness of the nest and the
elliptical form of the egg indicate,
among other signs, that t h e
heron its one of th7 low forms
of bird 11e, not far removed, as
scientists reckon space, from the
reputes.
Sometimes nests are f o u n d
dir+_lctly on the ground or on the
tops of rocks; but even then the
fledgelings, that s"t on t h e i r
haunches in a state of helpless-
ness, make no attempt to r u n
about for two or thre, weeks.
Though the young bards m a k e
themselves and t h e i r w a n t s
heard, herons are usually silent
birds, their only sound is t he
w'msh of their great wings.
T'v , Great Whyte Heron a n d
the Great Blue Heron are t he
largest of the heron family in
our country. The L ,.ttle B l u e
Heron is less than ha'f the siac!
of its great cousin. It casually
wanders northward a n d beyon
the Canal a:n border when i t s
nesting dutirs are over in t h e
southern rookeries.
The Uttle Green Heron is the
smallest and most abundant. It
is also the most northern heron,
coming up from the S o u t h in
lusiro.?s gr ,en plumage t'.rat grad -
ually lases i ?s iridescence. Deeper
and deeper into the swamp it
goes, k e e p i n g well cone-aled
among the rushes by day, com-
ing out to the shores of wooded
streams or sedgy ponds towards
dusk. It is a summer resident
from April to Octo'xar as is th,�
Black- crowned Night Heron. On
arrival from the South they at
once repa?r rickety platforms of
sticks used a previous season, or
build new ones, usually in the tops
of tall tress.
Twilight is their 'favorit -e time
to hang among- the d'.t-ches, shores
of ponds or streams, the bags
and marshy meadows, for their
food of fish or other anima'. life
they might find them. Standing
motionless, with head drawn in
between its shoulders, as it waits
at the margin of a pond at eve -
ning for the food to come wdthin
striving range, the ii-iron c a n
scarcely be distinguished Prom a•
crooked stick. Though its s i g h t
may be deficient, especially by
day, an extraordinary keenness of
ear detects the first creak of an
intruder's foot, and w i t h a
"quawk, quawk," the bird rises
and is off.
The Great Blue Heron, which
stands four feet high, is fre-
quently called a Blue Crane.
However their flight distinguisheE
them. A true crane flies wv
its neck outstretched like a goose
In flight, a h-iron folds its ned
and rests its head on its should
ers. In habitat, the Great Blue
Heron is a versatile bird, as it
is at home on small streams, o
the shores of upland ponds an
lakes, marshes, salt and fr:
coastal mud flats, sand bars an
shallow bays.
It is an alert far - sighted bi
and will stalk slowly t h r o u g
shallow water, I'ifting each f o o
carefully so as not to cause
ripple, until it sights a firog
fish. It eats many kinds o` sm
life and fish, but takes ,very fe
adult game or food fish. It h
a wing spread up to 75 inches
Occaslonallly, a heron will drop
with outstretched wings onto
surface of deeper water and feed
as it floats. These great majestic
birds frequent out localities on
Long Island.
This past summer, also many
American Egrets were seen in
this area. It is a beautiful all
white and except for its black
legs and feet and yellow beak.
It is similar in appearance to
the Great White Heron, which is
larger with a wingspread of
inches. The Egret's w:Pggpread
r_!aches 55 inches. Dw, ng mating
season both have a magnificent
train of long white n u p t i a l
plumes on the back extending a
foot or so beyond the tail, so
captivating that the government
was forced to protect th-,se birds
from plume- hunters. In fact all
the herons which have beaut'"
long plumage at mah:ng t i
suffered death until governm.
prot-{ctdon saved them. for, w
it was forbidden to shoot tl
for the'•r plumaga, the hun
simnly removed the plumes al
with a section of t> a b i r
flesh leaving it to die in agc
Th-: Snowy Heron. or S n o
Egret, a smaller heron w i
"gold-an s". i.ppers" was once
abundant that the south e
marshes fairly - glistened v
flocks of them as if piled v
snow. Like Common Egre`s .
Littl-a Blue Herons, indivk
Snowy Egrets m o v e north
late summer after the bre-,
season, returning south later
the autumn.
FIELD OBSERVATIONS
Lawrence Ernest reports:
Shinneeock = Nov 17 -22 _
Common Tern
Mecox — 'Nov 17 -22
Snow Buntings (small flock)
East Hampton — Nov 17 -22
Male Wood Duck (2)
Wilson's Snipe (4)
Coots (large flock)
Gilbert Raynor reports:
Montauk — Nov 10
Bluebird (4)
Pipit (2)
Gannet (20)
Palm Warbler (2)
Ipswich Sparrow
Purple Sandpiper (16)
Rough - legged Hawk
Bonaparte's Gull
Common Tern (4)
Upton — Nov 12
V: sper Sparrow
Judd Bennett reports:
East Marion — Nov 25
Dickci ssel