fed by a returning parent. Mentally, I chastised myself for not recogniz¬ 
ing the familiar sound of young herons sooner. I found better cover hop¬ 
ing for a repeat of what had just occurred. 
The wait was not long before the Great Blue was headed in my direc¬ 
tion once again. This time the bird landed on the far side of the tree and 
began the process all over again. Having gathered, crushed, and swal¬ 
lowed what I estimated to be somewhere between 18 and 20 cones, the 
parent again flew directly to the nest and was greeted with the cries of its 
hungry offspring. 
I was to witness the entire process repeated three more times in trees 
further away before the adult left the nest for the last time, and headed 
west towards Black Creek. Having been crouched in hiding for over an 
hour, I took advantage of the adult's absence to circle the stand of spruce 
and locate the nest. 
The nest itself, located about 50 ft. from the ground near the top of the 
tree, was another surprise. It was tiny by Great Blue Heron standards, 
and comprised of what appeared to be loosely woven, small dead 
branches of evergreens only. I could look through the nest and see two 
forms moving about within it. I made noises and the forms stopped mov¬ 
ing. Spying a small dry dead branch on the ground, I picked it up and 
snapped it. Two small heads attached to long skinny necks rose over the 
rim of the nest to look down at me. Having confirmed my count, it was 
time to leave, and I did. 
I returned to photograph the nest and birds on 5 Jun and 19 Jun. Both 
juveniles were in the nest and appeared to be healthy. The nest itself 
appeared to have been rearranged. On these last two dates both parents 
were in evidence, taking turns bringing food and watching the nest in the 
other's absence. On the last date, one the parents discovered me and 
became highly agitated and distressed. I left as rapidly as possible and 
did not return to observe the nest again. 
Initially my impression was that ravens had started this nest, and that 
for some reason the Great Blues ended up with it. This was the first time 
I had ever observed Great Blues nesting in an evergreen. This also was 
the first time I had ever seen this species pluck and consume spruce cones 
and new growth shoots (greens). Whether the cones or the new growth 
were fed to the juveniles is not known, as I did not directly observe such 
activity. What purpose these items might serve is not known. I speculat¬ 
ed that the items might be used for roughage to clear a blockage, or assist 
in breaking down food in the crop. 
Additional research on the subject highlighted my ignorance of the 
species. As it turns out, nesting in spruce or pine trees by the species is a 
The Kingbird 2000 March; 50(1) 
8 
