Blue Heron Colony in Stanley Park

Comments 4 by Rebecca Bollwitt

One of the things I love about Stanley Park is that it’s a natural oasis on the tip of a bustling metropolitan area. Taking a few steps under the canopy of evergreens, city sounds fade while the tune of rushing creek water amplifies. Raccoons prowl by the lagoon, bushy-tailed squirrels greet visitors, and harbour seals poke their heads up along the Sea Wall. Then there’s the blue heron.

Skimming
Photo credit: TylerIngram on Flickr

It’s a staple of any Stanley Park or Sea Wall trek, and often spotted at water’s edge. Earlier this month a colony of pacific blue herons returned to their Stanley Park nesting site for the 12th year in a row.

The Park Board has setup a fence around the colony to protect the birds and to also protect the public from any falling debris. Last season the bird occupied 110 nests and produced more than 100 fledglings. That number was down from previous years but it’s great to see them back.

Nesting Herons
Photo credit: Tyler Ingram on Flickr

The Pacific great blue heron is considered a blue-listed species-at-risk in British Columbia. An average bird stands about one metre tall, has a wing span of 180 cm and can live as long as 17 years. Reports of herons nesting in Stanley Park were first documented in the mid-1920s and although the herons have been regular inhabitants of the park, they have tended to migrate from one area of the park to another over the years. Predators include bald eagles, raccoons and owls. [Park Board]

Herons // click image to enlarge
Photo credit: CogitoErgoShoot on Flickr

The blue heron colony is located in the trees across from the Park Board’s offices and the tennis courts in Stanley Park, toward the English Bay side.

The Stanley Park Ecology Society has more information available online as well as an Adopt-A-Nest program to help protect the colony.

Current Contests on Miss604
*All contests are open to residents of Canada only, unless otherwise stated. Contest timelines are published on each individual post along with entry methods. Some contests may only be open to those 19 years of age and older. Winners are announced on the contest blog posts. Contest policy »

4 Comments  —  Comments Are Closed

  1. Trevor ASunday, March 25th, 2012 — 6:14pm PDT

    Love the Blue Heron colony in Stanley Park. My favourite thing about it is that the Heron’s are normally so slow moving – you rarely see them move much. But when they are building their nests they are busy and constantly flying in and out.

    If anyone hasn’t seen the colony, I’d highly recommend going down and spending some time.

  2. Judy Bishop – The Travelling Eye photographyMonday, March 26th, 2012 — 5:12pm PDT

    Oohh Rebecca … you always have good blog postings, but this one is top-tier. Excellent !

  3. Cynthia BootonMonday, March 26th, 2012 — 5:20pm PDT

    We have a lot of Blue Heron on the Sunshine Coast. They are magnificant birds.

  4. CarmelleTuesday, March 27th, 2012 — 8:38am PDT

    I’m going to go see if I can catch a glimpse of them this year!

Also on Miss604.com
«
»