NIGHT HERON NESTS.

NIGHT HERON NESTS. On our walks down to Long Island Sound, we look for birds—seagulls, of course, sometimes an egret or a swan, occasionally a cormorant. Now the night herons are back. They are big birds, about waist high. They look more menacing than the egrets as they stalk the edges of Farm Creek, even though the egrets are about the same size. (My imagination is influenced by the dark colors of the herons compared to the brilliant white of an egret). When I say the herons are back, I mean they are back in their nests, which are in the same locations from year to year, very high up in certain trees. The nests seem small for such large birds. The nests are conspicuous and so are the birds, either in the nest or standing guard outside the nest. Annalisa was the first to notice a nest some years ago. She said that the white markings on the ground gave notice that there was a nest above.