Three or four years after our experience with raising the gray reef heron, we got a call from the Vet Tech on Kwajalein. A worker down in the industrial area near the west end of Kwajalein had picked up a down-covered white heron chick that had wandered into one of the warehouses. The Vet Tech, knowing of our previous heron raising experience, asked us to look after this one. At least this time, we knew from the beginning that the bird would eat chopped up squid purchased frozen at the food store, so it was not quite as difficult to feed as our gray heron. We did, however, rebuild our patio tidepool so we could start its fishing training young. As it lost its down, it was seen to be white with quite a bit of gray on its feathers.
There was a young heron who slept in a shoe....
As it grew, it started to lose its gray, becoming mostly white by adulthood.
Like our earlier gray heron, this one quickly recognized where we kept the blennies.
And she would get rather upset with me if I did not promptly get them out of the tank for her.
Even after she learned to fly, she would come back every few days for a while to check in.
Once she brought a gray suitor home to meet the parents. And the reason we know our bird was a she is because the gray one tried to mount her. She wasn't quite ready for that yet, though.
Created 25 January 2018