Impatiently Waiting

Since it had been nearly two weeks since my last visit, I decided to take a quick trip to the wetlands after work today to see how the Great Blue Heron kiddos were doing. All six Great Blue Heron chicks are doing well! There is even one new chick in a nest close by. The Mama, or possibly Daddy, of one of the nests arrived shortly after I got there and was greeted by two hungry, hostile juveniles.

Great Blue Heron parents continue to feed their young for 60 days at which point the chicks are fully grown and able to fledge from the nest.

The chicks were more than ready for their meal and quickly got into position to receive their regurgitated dinner.

The large chicks made it clear they were very hungry! Feeding these two looked like a dangerous job!

Chicks can become aggressive to one another at feeding time.

Luckily it didn't take the parent very long to cough up some dinner. The parent quickly left the chicks to consume their dinner.

This chick resides in the neighboring nest. The chicks are all around 50 days old so it won't be much longer until they are on their own!