Did you know that Peterborough was certified by Nature Canada as a bird-friendly city last year? Bird Friendly Peterborough worked hard for this and provides resources to support us in supporting birds.
Bird Friendly Peterborough recently held a contest to select Peterborough’s first official city bird, and the winner was recently announced…
The Great Blue Heron!
This was the perfect choice to me. There are several heronries – isolated treed swamps used for nesting and roosting – in the region, and they use many places in the city, reflecting the abundance of water-based natural area within the city limits, including Jackson Creek, the Trent Nature Areas, and Little Lake.
These majestic wading birds stand 1 to 1.5 metres tall and seem the epitome of patience as they stalk their prey in shallow waters. You may have had the pleasure of glancing up to spot one flying overhead, the combination of their size and the slow, deliberate beat of their 2-metre wingspan reminiscent of some sort of prehistoric creature. If you haven’t, look up once in a while as twilight approaches…. Great Blues nest and roost (sleep) communally in heronries and move twice daily between them and individual daytime feeding territories.
Andrew