July 2, 2010

I was glad to see the Great Blue Heron flying around early this morning. When I parked my car, I heard and saw the Heron flying over the Aquarena Office building towards the Golf course.

As soon as I went through the boardwalk entrance, I saw a Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron on the railing. I approached it. The bird was the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron. This morning, the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron acted like he was patrolling the boardwalk, behind the Landing and the barrier area between the Landing and the corner of the diving facility.

After a short time, the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron flew to the iron railing behind the “Keep Out” wooden enclosure beside the Landing. The bird flew down and started walking carefully along the waterline showing special interest in something behind a bush, left of the kayak storage closet. The bird put its head between the grasses carefully, checked inside the bush a few times, and slowly walked further along the shore. Then, it flew to the barrier, and stayed at the corner of the diving facility where it sometimes hunts. However, the bird did not stay there long and flew toward the boardwalk where I found it perched on the rail, near the boardwalk entrance.

I was sad to see the behavior of the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron. I recalled last Tuesday when the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron and a Green Heron were hunting together at the barrier side by side. I remembered that scene. It was so cute and peaceful.

I tried to think why the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron acted this way. I understand that many birds are territorial. However, the action and behavior of the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron indicated that the bird was trying to control two hunting places for itself. The bird arrived here last Wednesday. And now, the bird is aggressively chasing away other birds from the best hunting places for the crayfish. I was hoping that the bird would change its behavior after it got accustomed to living in this peaceful environment.

The pistils on the lowest layer of the Century Plant have turned browner, curling up, and now the second layer has also started to turn brown and droop. They grew so fast, but are ending quickly as well.