Photos from 2014

    As a big THANK YOU to all HERON volunteers who monitored colonies, and to the landowners who allowed access, I've put together a slide show, "Photos from 2014".  Check it out by clicking on the picture below, and be sure to have your volume un-muted because there is accompanying music.  ENJOY!

HERON's Sixth Year Marked by More Volunteers and More Colonies

[caption id="attachment_1191" align="alignleft" width="300"] Photo by Victor Morin[/caption] In only six years, the Heron Observation Network grew from 78 to 246 volunteer members! Just as Dr.

First Field Visit a Rewarding One

[caption id="attachment_1089" align="alignleft" width="300"] Volunteer, Rick Lawrence and technician, Brittany Currier, making observations from the wetland edge.[/caption] This Thursday, I had the pleasure of going out in the field with volunteer, Rick Lawrence, and technician, Brittany Currier.  This was my first heron

2013 Heron Observation Network Photos from the Field

To celebrate the Heron Observation Network's fifth year, I put together a collection of Photos from the Field, taken by myself, co-workers, and some very talented HERON volunteers.  Many THANKS to all the HERON volunteers who monitored colonies, and to the landowners that allowed access.  Here's to another exciting year ahead of us!  Happy 2014! http://youtu.be/GW31bH30grM

Fall Colony Visit

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="390"] Photo by Doug Albert.[/caption] The great blue heron nesting season went by as quick as a flash this year.  Fall is when I collect all the HERON volunteers’ data and enter it into the database to get an idea of how the season went for herons (which I will blog about at a later date).  It is also a great

Painting a Picture from the 2012 Results

[caption id="attachment_1010" align="alignleft" width="240"] Adult great blue heron in flight over a nest with five young.

Sale of New HERON Sticker Will Fuel 2015 Aerial Survey

[caption id="attachment_960" align="alignleft" width="250"] This is what the new HERON sticker looks like![/caption] I am really excited to announce that the Heron Observation Network of Maine (HERON) is partnering with

How Herons Handle the Heat

We’ve had some hot sultry days this summer, and if you were smart you retreated to a shady spot or went for a swim at a nearby pond.  But what about all those great blue heron nestlings that were sitting in their nests 20-100 feet up in a  tree, often in full sun?  Sure, their nest tree may be surrounded by water if it is a snag in a beaver flowage, but that water is completely inaccessible to a nestling who takes around 80 days to learn how to fly.  How do they keep cool on those 90+ degree days?  Like humans, birds rely on evaporative cooling to release heat; however, birds do not have swea

HERON Volunteers Can Help With Research on Great Blue Heron Productivity

[caption id="attachment_832" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Molly Meserve is a graduate student at the University of New England."][/caption] Hello, my name is Molly Meserve and I am a graduate student at the University of Ne

Monitoring Maine's Great Blue Herons - Three Years and Counting...

Photo by Ron LoganView a slide