Finger Lakes - Great Blue Heron

There are several Great Blue Heron living near Wine Country Cabins. They make daily flights over the lake in front of our property (almost like clockwork) in the early morning and the evening. Occasionally if all is quiet, they will perch atop our boat lift or stand silent to fish near the shore. A kayak to the uninhabited land to our south will almost always stir one off the beach or from a treetop nest. They are beautiful in flight. Their "gwwrawk" of a call is less than beautiful and even borders on sounding prehistoric.

Identification Tips:

Length: 38 inches Wingspan: 70 inches
Sexes similar
Huge long-legged long-necked wader
Usually holds neck in an "S" curve at rest and in flight
Long, thick, yellow bill
 

Adult:

White crown and face
Black plume extending from above and behind eye to beyond back of head
Brownish-buff neck with black-bordered white stripe down center of foreneck
Blue-gray back, wings and belly
Black shoulder
Shaggy neck and back plumes in alternate plumage
 

Immature:

Black cap
Brownish-gray back and upperwings
Lacks shaggy neck and back plumes
Lacks black plume extending from behind eye

Wine Country Cabins Bed & Breakfast • 8744 Lower Lake Spur • Lodi, NY 14860-9654 • 607-582-7025 •

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