Blue Herons Anyone!?

Nestled against the mountains along the Vedder River in Chilliwack British Columbia, is the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve. It's about a twenty minute drive from my home and being a lovely, fresh spring day, my husband and I decided to pay a visit and check it out.

Once we arrived and had parked our vehicle, we entered the gift shop / information building and I was awe-struck by the many beautiful displays of wildlife and birds and the amount of information available. The lady at the counter was most helpful and extremely knowledable about the the reserve. She brought us into a room with computers and a large screen TV which were all tuned to various 'nest cams' amongst the 'Great Blue Heron Colony Loop'. We discovered only two negatives we would face this day, most of the heron loop was closed due to nesting season, therefore getting close was impossible and the leaves on the trees made it difficult to get a real true sighting of the over 150 nests! Oh and the over 300 Great Blue Herons that call this home.

If you look closely, you can see two herons in flight and then approximately a dozen on the ground.

There were about eight nests in this one tree.

Of course like any other wildlife reserve, many different species live there as well. Here at this location, two resident bald eagles keep other balds away, not to protect the heron's safety, but more in greed to keep any carnage strictly to themselves We were able to observe both these magnificent American Bald Eagles.

This fella was busy chowing down on his lunch and was not aware he had an audience.

We also watched several hawks circle above most likely hunting the wild rabbits that roam the reserve or perhaps other small rodents hiding in the near by framers fields.

There were also plenty of pretty things to admire as we strolled through the trails, wildflowers, several different birds and calming scenic spots.

Salmon berries

Wild lupins

Wild thistle

Red-winged Black Bird (male)

Canada Geese

Northern Flicker (female)

One of the lagoons

A small stream

Oh, I must not forget the bees!!! My husband spotted them, screamed like a little girl and ran off....hehehe...I'm joking...he did point them out making sure we strolled casually by but not before I snapped a couple of photos!

Honey!?

I must say I am very happy we went to explore this wonderful place and I know I will most definitly be returning. There is so much more to see and I was going to tell all you but decided to keep it a secret until my next visit!!

For more information on the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve, click here http://www.chilliwackblueheron.com/index.html