The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note of any observations you have made of the world around you. Insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds and/or flowers. All are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
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Lake Chabot, CA
Some background for this diary is here.
Continued below the orange heron's nest;
My wife and I won't be available for the rest of the month and the first part of April. Accordingly, we and the other heron nest count team members decided to do an unofficial count on Sunday, March 17. We did and got an interesting surprise.
First off, we decided that at least 4 of the nests at Lake Chabot are active nests, and we counted at least 9 herons in the nesting area. While we were there, an additional heron flew into a nest already containing a pair of herons. It was almost as if, at this late date, there was competition between two males for the nesting female going on. This should be well past, as nesting begins in February. A bit later, the same thing happened in an adjacent nest. The two standing, peseumptively male, herons at each of the subject nests were not combative, but were simply standing facing each other. This situation continued until my wife and I had to leave.
I checked several sources upon returning home and find no mention of Great Blue Herons using nest helpers. None of the team had ever seen such a thing before, and the other members hae been at this for a considerable number of years. So that's it:
Lake Chabot, CA, 3/17/2013: 4 active GBHE nests, two of which were occupied by 3 herons each during the observation period.
Your Turn:
Just a reminder that this is a participatory venture. Please post your sightings and obsrvations in the comments as usual. Please remember to give the approximate location of sightings you post.
Thank you.