Colonies contaminated with toxic chemicals result in eggs with thin shells that are more likely to break during incubation. Building roads and even simply walking near colonies usually results in the herons leaving temporarily or permanently. This species does not yet enjoy any special conservation attention, but these herons are easily disturbed by humans. Its range extends across much of the rest of the United States, but it breeds only sporadically across large parts of its range. In general, it is most abundant during winter months. It is uncommon in the northern parts of the state. The Great Blue Heron occurs in suitable habitat throughout most of Georgia. In addition to fish, its primary food source, this heron eats crustaceans and amphibians. When a Great Blue Heron finds prey, it quickly thrusts its head and neck into the water and comes up with the prey in its bill. The Great Blue Heron typically walks and forages more slowly than other herons. It commonly forages alone or well-distanced in loose flocks. The Great Blue Heron forages close to shore in slow-moving water in both marine and freshwater environments, including coastal habitats, estuaries, mangroves, rivers, and lakes. To nearby branches and by the ninth week they can make short flights. When theĪnd remain in the nest for 9-10 weeks. Incubation lasts about 28 days.īoth parents incubate the eggs and feed young fish to the chicks. Eggs are laid every 2 to 3 days untilģ-5 light blue eggs have been accumulated. Large stick nests areīuilt in tall trees 10-30 m (30-70 ft) above ground on islands, in swamps,Īnd sometimes along rivers and lakes. Pairs perform elaborateĬourtship displays and nest in breeding colonies. During breeding, ornate plumes appear on the head, back, and neck.īreeding season lasts from March through August. The Great Blue Heron has a long neck and legs. The largest heron in the United States, measuring 117 cm (46 in) from tip of bill to tip of tail, and 183 cm (72 in) from wing tip to wing tip. The bill is yellowish, and the legs are brown. The front of the throat is light gray with dark streaks. A dark stripe extends dorsally above the eye. I've heard variations of this joke before, and I'm no exception: I refuse to spend $20 on a Halloween costume, but I'll spent $40 on materials and spend a month making it myself! Worth it.The Great Blue Heron is gray-blue overall. I put a bit of stuffing into the captain hat so it would hold its shape before I hand-stitched it to the fleece hat. The stripes and Octonauts symbol are cut from felt and attached with craft glue. Then I topstitched the bottom edge of the brim closed. Then I made a slightly domed hat portion, cut it into a circle to fit inside the brim, and machined-sewed it to the inner brim piece only, about halfway down the brim. To make the captain hat, I made two identical felt brims, sewed them together into tubes, sewed them together along the top edge, then turned them inside out, pressed, and topstitched the top edge. I made at least 4 hat brims before I found one that fit correctly on the fleece hat. Then, I free-handed the fleece captain hat, but my math/measuring skills were NOT WORKING. I tried to freehand the fleece pattern, but couldn't get a good fit, so I used a free pattern from Fleece Fun and added little fleece ears into the side seam. The chevrons are glued-on bits of craft felt. They're held together in the back with a velcro strip. I cut two identical pieces from the light blue felt and stitched them together. I made the collar by tracing the neckline of the t-shirt and sketching a collar shape. Mae was very excited about the Octo-compass on her belt, which consisted of scraps of craft felt held together by a combination of sewing and fabric glue. The belt is just a doubled rectangle of felt, held in the back with two strips of sew-on velcro. I made the hat, collar, and belt from white fleece and light blue felt purchased at Jo-Ann. (One of Mae's favorite Octonauts episodes features a Long Arm Squid, so it feels very appropriate that she refers to this blue t-shirt as a "long arm sleeve shirt.") Their clothes are a bit pricey (I used a coupon code), but it's surprisingly hard to find a matching shirt and sweats in a color other than black or gray anywhere else! I also ordered the rubber boots from Amazon. Me: "How many legs does Professor Inkling have?"įor the costume, I ordered the blue sweatpants and t-shirt from Primary. We were discussing how many legs different types of animals have, and I asked about Professor Inkling (the Octopus from Octonauts). Mae also got in a little "trick" on us this week. She was so excited about it that we had to take it with us on our mini-vacation last weekend. We've enjoyed the Halloween haul, and Mae even shared her full-size Hershey bar with me.
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