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 (Castro Valley) CA - 6/16/2013
This is the latest in a series of diaries concerning the Great Blue Heron rookery at Lake Chabot, CA. The immediately preceding one is here with a link to its predecessor, etc.
I had anticipated that this woould be the last for this year and that we would find all of the nests empty and the nest site abandoned. This was not the case. Nonetheless, we couldn't identify any nests as active nests or really as containing young.
We spotted two adults and three juveniles, and, when we first arrived, two of the juveniles were in nests. Shortly thereafter, one of them flew to a different nest. All three juveniles turned out to be flighted and seem to be fledglings who have chosen to hang out at the nests when not actively fishing. We saw one such fly across to a point on the mainland, and hunt there before flying back. Another flew down to a point on the island to fish.
Thus, we have
No active nests, two adults, and three fledgling juveniles. By my count, that is seven fledges for this year.
So what's with your neck of the woods? What is going on in your area nature wise? As usual, please post some general location information along with your observations in the comments. Thank you.