Valentine’s Tips from the Heronry

By Nick Kotula, JRA Guest Contributor

Guys, Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. If you’re anything like me you’re still struggling with what to get that special someone. Let’s take a tip from the male Great blue heron. Nothing says love quite like… a stick!

The male Great blue heron flies from the nest to find a present for his beau. After careful consideration and close examination of all available options, he finds that wooden piece of romance that best expresses his deep and abiding feelings of love. (Never mind that he did the same thing last year for a different female or that he will do the same thing next year for yet a different female.) He takes the stick gently in his bill and takes off to bring it back to his fine feathered female friend.

He alights in the tree next to his sweetheart. After some deliberation he places the stick in the perfect place. He looks over to his intended with a glint in his eye, expecting at any moment for the heron equivalent of Barry White music to take hold. The female looks at the sticky representation of heron love that has been so carefully sought out and placed just so. She looks at her intended and… picks up the stick and moves it to where it’s supposed to go with a look that seems to say, “Really? You were going to put that stick there?”

The male, not to be disheartened, comes to the only rational conclusion that one can come to in this situation. She wants MORE sticks! This ritual repeats itself until the female is finally satisfied, ensuring the continuation of the Great blue herons species.

So this year, instead of roses or diamonds, give her what you know she really wants: sticks!

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Richmond Heronry!