Walker Nature Center
A LOOK INSIDE • Wildlife Counts 3 • Calendar of Events 4 • Kids’ Corner 6 • Film Fest 7
BRANCHING OUT
Nature Notes Great Blues JUNE By Sharon Gurtz
• • • •
Northern Red-backed Salamanders lay eggs. American Toads are adults and leave the water. Butterfly Weed, Bee Balm and Common Milkweed bloom. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Viceroy and Wood Nymph butterflies are seen.
JULY • • • •
Black Rat Snakes lay eggs. Cardinal Flower and Jewelweed bloom. Fireflies and bats are active in the night sky. Monarch and Red Admiral butterflies arrive.
AUGUST • • • •
Annual Cicadas can be heard. Eastern Box Turtle young hatch. Last of the summer bird broods fledge. Blue Lobelia, asters and goldenrod bloom.
By Ken Rosenthal
Despite their somewhat secretive nature, Great Blue Herons are hard to miss. They stand more than four feet tall with a long, gray neck ending in a white head with black plumes. Back and wing feathers are a grayish-blue, lending to their name. In flight their 6-foot wingspan and S-shaped neck make them easy to identify. Yet many people are shocked that they are found in Reston especially in the numbers we have. Beauty aside, the Great Blue Heron uses fascinating adaptations to capture and eat its prey. Typically found in lakes, ponds, wetlands and other aquatic habitats, they feed on the animals one would expect: fish, amphibians, reptiles, crayfish and other aquatic creatures. Like most herons, Great Blues are generalists and will eat other species if the opportunity arises. They have been recorded preying on Black Rails (a small wading bird) and are well-documented as predators of voles and other small rodents. A simple Google search will produce video of a Great Blue Heron stalking through a backyard before plunging its beak into the soil to capture a pocket gopher, which it promptly consumes. Slow and Steady Different herons have different methods for foraging. Some actively pursue fish through shallow water. Others try to flush their prey into view with foot movements. Great Blues use their long legs to stalk prey in shallow water, or among emergent vegetation along shores and in wetlands. Continued on page 2
Summer 15 Volume Seventeen