Urban Wildlife and the Immature Green Heron

Immature Green Heron

It is simply amazing where wildlife can thrive even as humans take their natural territory.  In the past year I've spent a lot of time at National Wildlife Refuges and National Parks.  I have developed an affinity for the Green Heron.  It is a wading bird that will stand still on a reed or edge of a marsh for hours.  We are talking perfectly still, no movement for hours.  Then suddenly when it sees a fish swim by just a bit too close it strikes out like lightning and grabs a meal.

At Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge I have even abandoned my car and gone slopping into the muddy marshes in search of this bird.  In fact, I've lost more than one pair of shoes and socks to the mud of Bombay Hook.  It is always a nervous moment when you sink above your knees while carrying an expensive camera and lens.  First you think about the camera gear, then you realize you might have even bigger problems!

I think in 34 trips to Bombay Hook and a trip to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge I have had  total of four Green Heron sitings.  So what is the closest I have ever gotten to one?

I had gone to Brookside Gardens in Silver Spring, Maryland to shoot the butterfly conservatory (if you have never been there and enjoy butterflies you simply must go!).  While leaving the garden I walked by a drainage pond and stopped to photograph some moss on a rotting stump.  I was alerted to the sound of wings and spun around.  What did I see in this drainage ditch in the suburbs of Washington DC?  Nothing other than an Immature Green Heron!  

Immature Green Heron in a drainage pond

This bird has probably never known any life besides an urban one.  It has learned to hide in drains and fish from man-made ponds (hide your koi...).  This was a fat, well fed bird so it was obviously thriving, not just surviving.  And the fact it was a juvenile leads me to believe there is a breeding population in the DC suburbs.  

White tail deer, raccoons, and red foxes are other success stories of adaptation.  They are annoyances to us humans as the deer run in front of our cars and the raccoons topple our trash cans.  Truth is we invaded their space and they adapted to survive.  It simply amazes me sometimes.  So next time you are walking by a pond or drainage ditch keep an eye open and you might just see an unusual bird making a living.