SLIDESHOW: Herons nesting along the James
Richmond's love birds are back.
The great blue herons that delighted onlookers last year are once again courting and building nests in the James River beside Shockoe Slip.
"It just amazes me that something like this is sitting right in the middle of urban white water," said Lori Rutledge of Henrico County, who spent part of Valentine's Day watching the birds with a friend. "It's one of our favorite places to go."
The big birds, which spend much of the year in swamps to the southeast, returned to Richmond in late January or early February.
That seems about three weeks early, said Mike Wilson, a research biologist with the College of William and Mary's Center for Conservation Biology.
Some of the birds were sitting on eggs Thursday. The previous record for the earliest incubation by herons in Virginia was Feb. 23.
"We have a new record," Wilson said. "That's what it looks like."
The heron colony, on an island, apparently was first reported in 2007, and it drew widespread attention just last year. The big colony, or rookery, is a first for the city.
Herons usually conduct their intimacies far from human eyes, but expanding heron numbers -- and a big river full of tasty fish -- have prodded these birds to take up city living.
The colony has grown from about two dozen nests two years ago to nearly 40 now. More are probably hidden deeper on the island.
A great blue heron resembles a blue vase with legs like sticks, a neck like a snake and a beak like a dagger. It can reach 4 feet tall, with a 7-foot wingspan.
Now, in breeding season, the herons flaunt showy head and chest plumes -- the kind that adorned ladies' hats a century ago.
The colony sits along Pipeline Rapids, named for a city sewer pipe, with a walkway on top, that runs along the north bank. A person on foot can easily reach the walkway from Shockoe Slip's hotels and restaurants.
The scene on Thursday was definitely wild in the city. As some herons courted, an osprey perched on a tree nearby, geese chased each other across the water and a beaver paddled by before submerging.
Ralph White, manager of the city's James River Park system, said workers will soon put up a sign by the walkway telling of the heron's habits.
Contact Rex Springston at (804) 649-6453 or rspringston@timesdispatch.com.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement