I was looking at my most recent posts and realize that almost all of them revolve around birds. Even Penny has noticed my obsession.

But I can’t help it. They’re so beautiful, and interesting, and entertaining. I could watch them all day.

Wait!
Sometimes I do watch them all day! Like Easter Sunday when I went out to Kensington on my own. I figured it wouldn’t be busy because everybody else would be getting ready for church or family dinners or both.

I was wrong. There were plenty of people, mostly photographers, out there. But we all work around each other and it’s fine.

I started out walking on the boardwalk near the heron rookery, an island with huge trees filled with heron nests. Every year the heron couples choose a nest and then have a set of little herons there.
It’s fascinating to watch.

Easter Sunday there was much heron coming and going as the couples updated their fixer-uppers in order to make them meet current esthetics. They definitely favor wood floors over carpet.

I spent a long time out there on the boardwalk watching all the work being done, and then I wandered back into the woods to see what else might be around.

Stay tuned.

May 3, 2025 at 10:34 am
How cool to watch the herons building their nest! I look forward to “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey would say. Have a great weekend! 😊
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May 4, 2025 at 3:08 pm
You too!
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May 3, 2025 at 1:33 pm
this is some excellent work, Dawn!!! I love it!
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May 4, 2025 at 3:09 pm
I’m glad, Michelle!
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May 3, 2025 at 5:51 pm
Wonderful photographs!
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May 4, 2025 at 3:09 pm
Thank you!
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May 3, 2025 at 7:11 pm
Keep the birds coming! I enjoy your photos very much. I wonder if there will be baby herons to see.
I just got one of those smart bird feeders and got it hooked up today. It takes 20 second videos of the birds that land on it. I’ve only seen a chickadee so far but hopefully there will be more.
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May 4, 2025 at 3:10 pm
I think those smart birdfeeders are so cool. I’m intimidated about trying to put one up though. Yes there should be lots of baby herons. You can’t see them for awhile because the nests are so big and deep. I usually see them again when they’re teenagers.
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May 3, 2025 at 10:29 pm
Wow! That first Heron photo was spectacular! But then the others appeared, and I was impressed over and over. I was fascinated by the stick thing. How seldom one might see that, unless one (that would be you) was actually looking. Thank you! But I still love that first photo the best. 🙂
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May 4, 2025 at 3:14 pm
They herons are so prehistoric looking! The one in the tree was soooo far away it took me awhile to figure out what he was doing. I guess I’m just assuming it’s a him doing the stick retrieval, I really don’t know. There were lots of herons in the woods near the lake, searching on the ground for sticks, picking some up, ditching them and looking for something ‘better.’ It’s really interesting.
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May 4, 2025 at 2:04 pm
No wonder you spent an entire day watching birds, Dawn — they’re so fascinating! I love watching the progress on their home-renovation or new construction projects. Isn’t it amazing that they can do all that work with no tools or specialized education? I’m afraid I’d have to consult YouTube videos (and likely wouldn’t make anything near as pretty or functional as a bird’s nest!)
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May 4, 2025 at 3:17 pm
Maybe there’s a heron academy somewhere that teaches these skills. It’s very amazing. Like the oriole nest, how do they do that And hummingbird nests…and, and,and.
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May 4, 2025 at 7:06 pm
From following Jocelyn Anderson’s Kensington’s posts all these years, I am always fascinated by the roosting herons and their offspring at the rookery and the rituals of building the nest to the Missus’ specifications beforehand! You were lucky to see it firsthand on Easter Sunday morning.
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May 4, 2025 at 7:19 pm
I am SOOOO lucky to live close enough to visit on occasion. I’d like to live even closer!
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May 4, 2025 at 8:25 pm
Yes you are! I still follow the Metroparks photographers group on FB and enjoy it very much. Many years ago there was a rookery near Grosse Ile, but only visible if you viewed it from a boat.
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May 4, 2025 at 8:28 pm
Years ago I used to jog past a rookery somewhere in Bloomfield Hills after working there during the day. I have no idea where that was now though.
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May 4, 2025 at 8:47 pm
I wish there were more of them around.
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May 8, 2025 at 5:45 am
I spotted a heron in my new neighborhood this week. I will start looking UP to see if I can spot a nest.
I love how the little birds land on the cattails and sway back and forth for a bit. I bet they enjoy that too – like a little swing.
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May 8, 2025 at 9:13 am
It will be easier to find a heron rookery now, before the leaves on the trees are fully out. You might be able to google it, rookeries are fairly well known in their neighborhoods. But then, we have a heron at the pond across the street and I have no idea where his rookery would be.
I bet the little birds swaying on the cattail reeds feel something like we did as kids at an amusement park.
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