George the Heron

Or stop procrastinating and just write...

It’s funny how I will avoid doing the very thing I most want to do. I’ve been thinking about writing. I have lots of ideas about expanding this newsletter. In my mind I imagine writing 2-4x/week and yet it has been six weeks since I actually published a post!

I decided this time to take some creative freedom with a fun little event that happened this week. Hope you enjoy or if not at least hope you enjoy the pictures!

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George was an introvert. Like most great blue herons, he preferred solitude and didn’t hesitate to run other birds away if they didn’t respect his rather wide boundaries. George was also just a few months old and still figuring out how things worked, so he was often the one being run out by other herons. George had found a brilliant solution to this problem - the human who frequented his shoreline in the morning. As long as the human was around, the other herons didn’t bother him and this human was quiet enough not to bother him. She was useful in her own way and he had gotten used to the strange “click click click” emanating from the black thing she carried.

One quiet, foggy morning George had been fishing for a while and as the sun was burning off the fog he decided it was time to preen away some of his baby feathers. He flew past the human, squawking “hello” as he passed. He guessed she didn’t speak heron because she never responded properly to his greetings or questions and she called him “blue” even though he had repeatedly told her his name was George.

Great Blue Heron with the fly by

As George was sitting in the tree peacefully preening himself, the feathers the top of his head stood straight up. He saw a flash of red and brown and screamed his annoyance at the INTERLOPER who was disturbing his peace. She landed entirely TOO CLOSE in the same tree, but just out of reach. Just like a hawk.

George continued to express his displeasure to the red-tailed hawk who just sat on the nearby branch staring at him. Clearly this red-tail thought she could intimidate him, being a year older and having grown into her full red tail. George grunted and fussed and stared back, contemplating what should happen next.

Just then the young hawk noticed the human. Hawks really enjoy annoying herons but they don’t much like hanging out near humans. The hawk seemed torn between her desire to taunt George and her discomfort with the nearby human. George sensed her uneasiness and waited to see what she would do. He was grateful when she reluctantly decided to fly back into the trees. The human had once again proven useful!

George went back to preening his feathers and even allowed the human a nice close up. She had earned it this time and anyway he knew she couldn’t fly or climb trees. The human left George to enjoy the sunshine but he knew she’d be back tomorrow.