The great blue herons near Shockoe Slip have shifted from being lovers to laborers.
In February, the statuesque birds were touching their daggerlike bills in sensual courtship rituals on a James River island.
Now, right in front of human admirers, dozens of herons are spearing fish to feed their hungry youngsters.
Richmond janitor Russell Gibson was relaxing by the river Thursday afternoon when one of the giant birds — 4 feet tall, 6-foot wingspan — landed a few feet away and flexed its wings.
"They used to be shy," Gibson said. "Now, with all the tourists coming, they look like they're being bold and showing off."
The herons occupy a breeding colony, or rookery, of more than 40 nests along Pipeline Rapids near South 12th Street. The colony was a first for the city when bird watchers came across it in 2007.
The chicks hatched around April 1 and should be taking their first flights this month, said Mike Wilson, a biologist with the Center for Conservation Biology, part of Virginia Commonwealth University and the College of William and Mary.
As they went down a metal walkway by the river Thursday, VCU students Patrick Cowart and Tricia Kupec discovered a river full of herons. At one spot alone, you could see 16 prowling for fish, taking wing or standing stone-still in the James.
"The way they stand is very confident, like they know what they're doing," Kupec said.
"It's always funny when you're used to seeing pictures of things, and then you see it up close," Cowart said. "It's a different quality like, whoa, this thing is alive and right in front of me. You get kind of a sense of awe."
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How to see the herons
•Park in or near a small lot just southeast of South 12th and East Byrd streets.
•Walk downriver to a gate on the right.
•Go through the gate, down a short ladder, then upriver on a metal walkway. The herons are on your left.
Birds on the Web
•For the latest on the herons:
varookery.audubon.org
•A pair of rare peregrine falcons in downtown Richmond is tending chicks:
falconcam.tumblr.com
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