Green Herons building nest again at Upper Lobe

In Red-tails in Love I wrote about a Green Heron nest that brought solace to the heartbroken hawkwatchers when the hawk nest failed for the second year in a row. That was in 1994. We watched that nest obsessively, perhaps with particular fervor because of our disappointment at the hawk nest.

The herons had five chicks that year, and have continued to nest successfully in the same place almost every year thereafter. They nest in a place birdwatchers call the Upper Lobe. It is the northernmost part of the Lake [usually called the Rowboat Lake, though Vaux and Olmsted went for simplicity in nomenclature and simply called it The Lake]. If you stand on the little bridge called Bank Rock Bridge, just east the West Drive at around 79th Street, and if you face east, the Upper Lobe is at your left. Just beyond it is Shakespeare Garden and then the Great Lawn.

Well, it's eleven years later, and a pair of Green Herons are building their nest at the Upper Lobe again. They arrived last week from their southern wintering grounds, and began nestbuilding almost immediately. The process is fascinating to watch, and in the course of watching home construction you'll probably see an eerie courtship ritual followed by a graceful consummation. Since the mood is sad at the Hawk Bench these days, I recommend a stop at the Upper Lobe each day for an instant lift of the spirits.

Just below are some photos of the birds getting to know each other and building their nest. They were taken yesterday [4/29] by a website reader named Nabil whose earlier photos of a hermit thrush and a ruby-crowned kinglet you may have seen on this site a few weeks ago.