Return of an Old Friend

Old-timers will tell you that Black-crowned Night Herons were seen and heard pretty often along the South Fork of the Eel back in the day. They recall colonies of the stocky mid-sized heron being a regular feature of river habitat. I remember hearing them at night along the river as far back as the 70’s, and then I realized I wasn’t hearing them anymore when I returned to live along the river again in the 80’s.

Black-crowned Night Heron over the South Fork of the Eel

A couple years ago I saw one briefly just outside of Garberville at the river and it was a surprise. I wondered if they’d been there all along and I’d just missed them. They roost and nest in colonies, so to just see one made me wonder.

On a subtly plumaged bird, the red eye is striking.

Since that time I’ve been seeing them more frequently, though always one at a time, so I imagined these recent sightings weren’t birds from a steady local population, but rather out-of-towners, just moving through.

This heron has a rather squat shape compared to some of its relatives, but here you can see the neck extension. You also get a decent look at the white occipital plume.

This year, however, I have seen more than one several times, and just recently saw a juvenile with an adult. My hope is that they are reestablishing a population around here.

Pre-dawn sighting of juvenile and adult.

They eat pretty much anything from leeches to turtles, and they rely on proximity to water for foraging and for a protective barrier around the nest. I hope these very local sightings are a sign that they are coming back to not just my neighborhood, but all along the South Fork.

You can read more about Black-crowned Night Herons here:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-crowned_Night_Heron/overview