Bird Watching

Heron Bliss

Immobile and Still-
The heron stood silently --
Gracing the landscape.



Yesterday, September 23, 2006, I was in the community gym doing my rehab maintenance exercise routine. When on the treadmill, one where the windows faced outward toward the 13th green and 14th tee of the Heron Lakes Golf Course, a great blue flew from the lake and chose to land just behind the green. I looked at the timer on the treadmill, I was at the five minute mark. This magnificent specimen of this noble bird stook there silent and still until I finished my twenty minute artifical walk.
A friend arrived in the gym and I pointed to the great blue and said I had been watching it for fifteen minutes in this same spot, meanwhile one golf cart had gone by on the cart path, bird not disturbed, a bit later a walker came by appearing not to notice the heron, a helmeted bicyclist also rode by. No notice of any of the spaced traffic managed to cause the bird to take flight and this distance from the lake is the farthest I have ever seen a heron take up vigil.
More happened as my friend and I watched. There was a white heron on the edge of the lake watching for a possible catch. Here came another great blue flying in on a path just skimming three feet- if that- above the ground. The two blues enacted a display consisting of wings half spread and waving at each other but no intention it seemed of getting airborne was involved in this. They sort of hopped, arcing over a thirty foot radius or so while exhibiting a repeat of this behavior. Neither my friend no I, had seen anything similar so we felt entertained and awed.
I have been a heron watcher here in this community for almost twenty years. We have many many lakes, on the two golf courses and also scattered in the condo residential area. I had a routine during these years where I walked at sunrise and sunset just to watch them fishing for their meals. They extol inherent patience with elegance and nobility.
The heron population here fluctuates quite a lot. My thinking on it is that we get some in-migration and maybe these were two new winter visitors that had arrived early because of it turning cold up north in Canada where I understand there are large populations, especially noted are the nesting colonies in the Beacon Hill Park location, Victoria BC., in reading on the internet about this, I found that the increase in bald eagles is causing a reduction in the nesting colony there because the eagles raid the nests. Since there are no eagles in this location perhaps we will attract more herons.
Another observation is that we get a large number of temporary avian visitors whenever there is stormy weather in California -- west of us here in Arizona. A couple of years ago, there were twenty three whites on one lake and they were congregated there around sunset for about three days when I was out walking. (The lakes here are man-made and not large, in fact I have a hard time thinking of labeling them "lakes"- more aptly maybe create a new word "lapond")!
So perhaps the display was territorial, staking out which lake they are going to claim for fishing. And an interesting bit of trivia about that fishing--one source I read stated that the herons actually eat the diseased fish because those swim nearer the surface, thus it seems, a bit of natural selection process being played out and therefore, my conclusion is that the herons are beneficial predators. Can that be said of all predatory actions in the animal world? It is pointed out that even the large predatory game animals usually catch either the young or the ailing in their food search. Nature's plan has its reasons even if we are sometimes sickened to see the younger prey be the victim when it seems they have not yet had a chance to mature enough to escape the needs of the stronger predator. The matchup between the fish and the herons appears to be a more even contest. Or perhaps most tolerable because of lack of bloodshed therefore not offensive to my sensibilities.
There are charming stories in Native American lore about the birds, and the Chinese have symbolized them too, as figures of longevity and righteousness.
Heron - Lu - Heron in Chinese sounds a lot like the word for "path or way". A painting of a heron and a lotus has the meaning of "May your path be always upward". This reference explains their usage in Chinese porcelain decorations.
So the herons will continue to beckon me and I will benefit both spiritually and physically by being pulled to the lakes, going on foot whenever the temperature and my health, permits.
Maybe the winged visitors are as pleased with the change from summer to autumn as am I.