Did I Save Lives Today?

                                                        Juvenile Red-winged Blackbird

                                                                  Great Blue Heron

                                                       Green Heron Juvenile, Clutch 2

                                             Juvenile Male yellow shafted Northern Flicker
                                                                 

                       
                                                           Green Heron Chick, Clutch 3
                                                           

                                                         Green Heron Chicks, Clutch 3

                                                         Green Heron Chick, Clutch 2

                                                            Green Heron, 1st Summer

                                                                          Ditto

                                                                          Ditto

                                                                         Ditto


071616

0710-0940/75-79 degrees F/partly cloudy/10 mph ENE winds/80% RH


Yesterday was an odd day with too much activity, not all of it good.  Everything began a bit
slow, but things heated up at a rapid pace once Great Blue Heron announced that he was coming
and sent the entire cast of characters scattering.  The first that disappeared was clutch 3, who
was unnerved  by a giant bird like Great Blue Heron, squawking as he flew in.  The youngest ran deep into their former nest tree.  Our great blue barely tolerates the Green Herons, who have usurped his favorite perches during the summer.

Some of clutch 2, also sitting in the same snag, retreated a short distance away to the secondary
southern snag in The Southern Cove.  Our Hero, the 1st Summer Green Heron arrived as threat protector, and all was copacetic for a short time.

All birds appeared to be sitting in anticipation, which lead me to believe that clutch 4 is now a
reality, as much movement was going on in one nest tree.

A short time later, a good deal of alarm calls were happening in the southmost willow tree in the heron cluster.  I trained my bins in the tree, and soon saw a spotted breast, which was not a Northern
Flicker.  I soon discovered a kestrel, so I moved to the rear of the nest area, which I try to avoid, but
felt that I had no choice.  As this point, I'm not certain if potential clutch 5 was being ingested, or it
could have been a Great-tailed Grackle chick/egg meal.  In any event, the kestrel moved on with my
intervention.

The last five photos were taken during the alarm calls that were sounded.