Katie's Sightings

Gray Lodge Wildlife Refuge!

Green Heron (adult) — Butorides virescens

Last Friday, my husband and I made our annual drive down to the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area in California’s Central Valley, near Gridley. To my DELIGHT we saw two different, adult Green Herons in our first five minutes! WOW! Apparently these Herons live here year round, and are commonly seen. My bird book states that they are un-common, but the Cornell Lab of Ornithology says that they are common in wetland thickets across North America. I was just thrilled to see them, uncommon or not!

Green Heron (adult) — Butorides virescens

I think that they are absolutely stunning in their rust and navy blue colors! Their name apparently comes from the green color of the feathers on the tops of their heads and backs, but I have yet to see these feathers look green. It must happen only at a particular angle of the light.

The following information about Green Herons is from their website https://birdsoftheworld.org:

“Green Herons feed day or night, standing patiently in shallow water waiting for fish, slowly stalking them through the shallows or diving on them from above. They are among the few tool-using birds, fabricating various baits that entice fish to where they can grab them. Overall diet includes invertebrates such as leeches; earthworms; aquatic and terrestrial insects such as adult and larval dragonflies, damselflies, waterbugs, diving beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, katydids; spiders; crayfish, crabs, prawns; snails; fresh and saltwater fish; frogs, toads, tadpoles, and newts; snakes and lizards; and rodents. Fish constitute their primary food.”

Great Blue Heron — Great Egret
Ardea herodias — Ardea alba

Just a little further along the paved trail we came across a Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret. Both of these bird species mainly eat fish, but will also consume small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, crayfish, and aquatic insects. They hunt in belly-deep or shallower water in marine, brackish, and freshwater wetlands, alone or in groups. They may wade while searching for prey, or just stand still to wait for prey to approach.

The Great Egret is the symbol of the Audubon Society, which was founded to stop the killing of birds for their feathers. Wikipedia states:

“In 1895, the first Audubon Society was created. Cousins and Boston socialites Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall, disturbed by the destruction left by plume hunters, organized a series of afternoon teas with other wealthy local women, encouraging them to avoid feathered garments. They also sent literature asking these women to, in Hall’s words, ‘join a society for the protection of birds, especially the egret.’ Later that same year, they founded the Massachusettes Audubon Society. Over 900 women came together with Hemenway and Hall, and across the country, many others were doing the same. These boycotts were largely successful, and the efforts of the early society members helped bring about the end of the plume trade and assisted in the introduction of early conservation legislation such as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.”

Your questions and comments are appreciated. Please feel free to email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!