Get thee to a heronry!

By Nick Kotula, JRA Guest Contributor

Hidden in the heart of Downtown Richmond is one of the few places where you can see Great blue herons come together to nest and breed. Some people (including the James River Park System) call it a “heron rookery,” but as it turns out there is a more precise term, “heronry.” I mean really, how often do you have the opportunity to use the word heronry in a sentence?

The heronry is located on a small island in the James River, just to the west of the 14th Street Bridge, accessible by climbing down to and walking along a rather large platform-covered pipe. Follow the signs for access to the Pipeline Walkway at the south end of 12th Street. Once you slide through the guard rails (no easy task with a camera bag strapped to your back!) you find yourself on a sandy beach facing an island that has already started to fill with Great blue herons.

In 2011 the herons began returning to the heronry around Valentine’s Day, so I really wasn’t expecting to see much on my first visit on January 31. Perhaps it’s all the warm weather that we have been having this winter, or maybe they’re just… uh… eager, but I was surprised to find quite a few of the 4-foot tall birds with 6-foot wingspans.

As you can see, the Great blue herons have already started to form pairs. For the next few months I will be visiting the heronry on at least a weekly basis, taking pictures and blogging more about the herons of Richmond here on the JRA site. If you head down to the heronry and see a guy with a camera who knows what a heronry is, that’s me! Feel free to say hi!