11 May 2018

One viewpoint, four nests, three species!

I went for a hike with a friend at Mass Audubon's Rocky Hill sanctuary in Groton, MA, where I hadn't been for a while. Probably its major draw is the Heronry trail, which loops past an overlook on a pond with tree trunks that have established popularity for, as one might expect, their Great Blue Heron nests. When we looked out, we saw four nests. And, indeed, two proved to be occupied by GBHs, like so:

The residents of the third nest were, er, rather different...

Young Great Horned Owl with parent, looking rather sleepy in the late afternoon. That was an unexpected treat, but they are noted for their practice of "adopting" existing nests. Time to check out the fourth nest, somewhat further away:


And, it's an Osprey, perfectly situated to survey fish-hunting habitat. Four similar-looking nests, three species, viewed from the same spot at the same time! That's convenient birding! It may be time to rename the trail, though...