AKRON, Ohio — If you notice a bunch of people lined up along a fence in the middle of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, you might want to pull over and join them. It’s nesting season for great blue herons who call the park home. The Bath Road Heronry is a nesting colony seen from Bath Road, between Akron Peninsula and Riverview roads in Akron.
Hundreds of great blue herons are nesting in the trees at that location. CVNP Biologist Dr. Mariamar Gutierrez told News 5 it’s especially remarkable since the birds disappeared from this area and didn’t re-emerge until 1985. The colony grew from 40 nests in 1993 to 440 a decade later. It’s leveled out now, with about 120 nests expected at this location each spring. It is a popular spot to pull off and look into the treetops.
“The great blue herons are gorgeous birds; they’re easy to see, they’re easy for beginners to enjoy because you don’t really need binoculars to appreciate them, and they’re just such massive birds that you can actually get to enjoy them,” Gutierrez said.
Right now, the nests are full of eggs. But these heron mothers have a specific system for picking their partners before they nest down for the season.
“They’ll, like, stretch out their necks in tandem to each other,” Gutierrez said. “The male will bring just the right stick to the female, and she will judge the stick if it’s worthy of putting it into the nest. They’ll stretch out their wings, and because they’re such big birds it’s really cool looking.”
After the female birds picked the male with the best stick, the couples settled into monogamous nests for the season. We can expect their eggs to start hatching anytime now, usually around late March and early April.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the Bath Road Heronry.
