Richmond's gawky, squawky herons have returned to tell us that spring is finally on the way.
The great blue herons -- 4 feet tall, with 6-foot wingspans -- fly in from the swamps of southeastern Virginia to court and mate on an island in the James River just south of Shockoe Slip.
"It's definitely an early sign of spring," research biologist Mike Wilson said. "These birds aren't going to breed unless they feel like they can pull it off."
The big colony, or rookery, is a first for the city. At the Pipeline Rapids area, you can see about 40 big nests of sticks, and many more are hidden behind trees.
Herons have long legs, long necks and long, daggerlike beaks. All of that is attached to a body that looks like a blue-gray vase.
The birds preen, stretch and flaunt their showy breeding plumes -- long feathers that adorned ladies' hats a century ago.
From time to time, a male will fly off, looking like a pterodactyl, and return with a stick, which he passes to the female like a suitor presenting a box of chocolates. The female takes the stick and works it into the nest.
Some birds showed up in late January, but the hot-and-heavy courtship seemed to get going right around Valentine's Day.
"Isn't that a nice symbol?" asked Ralph White, manager of Richmond's James River Park.
The colony apparently was first reported in 2007, but it first drew widespread attention in 2008.
Heron numbers are on the rise. The herons here are courting about three weeks earlier than most others in Virginia, said Wilson, who is with the Center for Conservation Biology, part of Virginia Commonwealth University and the College of William and Mary.
It could be that the warmth of the city, with lots of heat-absorbing concrete, is providing "an extra cue" that gets the herons started early, Wilson said.
The herons will be laying eggs soon. It will take nearly a month for the eggs to hatch and then about two months for the young to leave the nest.
Hilde and Larry Martin of Catonsville, Md., were enjoying Richmond's Canal Walk with another couple on Valentine's Day last Sunday when they noticed the herons and spent a couple of hours watching them.
"The highlight of the day," Hilde Martin said, "was something that was not in the guidebooks."
Contact Rex Springston at (804) 649-6453 or rspringston@timesdispatch.com.
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