“Make sure you take care of Woody Allen on the way out,” was not something that I thought I would hear when I went down to the heronry for a two-hour tour with Richmond legend Ralph White.
Mr. White has been the head of the James River Park System for the past 32 years and has announced his retirement effective January 2013. My brief experience showed a man who was passionate about the river and had a plethora (triple word score!) of information to share. I encourage you to take advantage of the heron tours now, while you still have the chance.
Back to Woody Allen and how he figured into the tour… You must remember that the thing that makes this particular heronry so unique is that it is located in the heart of downtown. These are urban birds; which means they occasionally wear their bills backwards (har) and they have to put up with things like graffiti. (So far I have seen no proof that the herons themselves are creating the graffiti, but I’m keeping my eye on them!) A large part of what Mr. White has been able to accomplish has been through coordinating and harnessing the power of volunteers. It speaks to Mr. White’s drive to make the James River Park System better that he took the opportunity to teach the eighteen of us on the tour, but also to bring in volunteers to help beautify the area.
I made another trip to the heronry right around dawn during the week. If you are familiar with the story of the birds and the bees (at least the birds part) you will have no trouble imagining what I came across as soon as stepped onto the beach. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at these things), they showed a modicum of decency and wrapped it up before I could get my camera out. However, I was able to spy a few herons in the river engaged in the more mundane act of hunting the numerous fish that have already started heading up the river!
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