[SBB] Little Blue Heron - Sunnyvale WPCP

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Yesterday (07/14/2005), at around 5:00 p.m. during an SFBBO survey, an adult Little Blue Heron was observed within Guadalupe Slough.  The bird was seen from kayak, but can be seen from land.

The bird was first seen in the main Guadalupe Slough channel opposite the Sunnyvale WPCP East Pond.  There is a large patch of Bull Rushes on the opposite bank of the channel that the herons/egrets like to roost and that can be easily seen from the end of the levy that divides the West and East Ponds - right where the bench and no hunting/firearm sign exists.  From this location one has to look North down the slough.  A scope is highly recommended as I had an extremely had time even seeing the bird with binoculars from kayak on the far side of the slough.  

The whole group was extremely skittish.  They let me observe them from the far side, but the whole group flushed when I tried to slip past down the slough - even though I was along the opposite bank.

One bird, a Greater Egret, did not flush.  Yes, it was on the makeings of a nest, scraggly as it was, and was not about to leave.  Doesn't look like it will last due to exposure, but then it was high tide and the tide was not going to get any higher.  The density of the rushes preventing approach from the opposite bank.

The group flushed down the slough.  So, sure enough, I encountered the goup and presumably the same Little Blue Heron within the Moffett Channel.  A herons/egrets commonly hang-out in this channel and can best be seen from the path along the south-east side of the channel.

I did not see the bird on the retun trip up the slough, paasing the initial location around 8 PM, but the light was poor by then.  Then whole group of heron/egrets was back and remained so when later I went past along the levy.

Good birding,
Eric Feuss 

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