What’s Up at the Colony

April 3, 2025 By Marla Master

Check out our latest newsletter. Colony update, Bird Lover’s Day April 11 2025, volunteer opportunities…

It's not all digging in the dirt!

Let us know what piques your interest and skill set. We're open to your ideas so don't hesitate to contact us to chat. Some current needs are:

• Monitor the colony - We’re looking for enthusiastic citizen scientists who will volunteer to observe and record data on a large colony of great blue herons next to the Ballard Locks in Seattle. Volunteer hours will be a minimum of once/week, three hours/day during heron breeding season – March to early August. No previous experience necessary. We will train.

• Content creation - We'd love to post your articles and photos on our website and social media pages. We're open to subjects about birds - especially herons, native plants, your nature volunteer experiences, etc. Submit your ideas or contact us for more info!

• Reaching out - Help us increase our presence in the community. We plan on having a table at a few farmers markets over the summer and hosting special events. We could use a hand!

• Signage at the Locks - We're working on information signs about herons that will be posted at the Locks. Got design skills?

• Get on Board - HHH is looking for passionate people who want to be on the Board. Work with us to promote our mission and grow HHH into the future.

HHH works with Seattle Parks and Recreation Department (Parks), www.seattle.gov/PARKS, to restore, maintain, and monitor Kiwanis Memorial Preserve Park. We interface and share projects with Parks in the Habitat Advisory Panel (HAP) committee. Also, we are a member of the Green Seattle Partnership (GSP),www.greenseattle.org, a partnership between the City of Seattle and the Cascade Land Conservancy. The City of Seattle is represented by the Department of Parks and Recreation, Seattle Office of Sustainability and Environment, and Seattle Public Utilities. The partnership goal is to restore all of Seattle's forested park lands by 2025. We are one of the many non-profit organizations supporting this effort.

In addition, HHH is part of the Great Blue Heron Working Group, a consortium of citizens and scientists organized by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, WDFW. The group has participation from scientists as far north as Protection Island, B.C. (near Nanaimo, B.C.) and as far south as Olympia, WA. One of the scientists from that Heron Working Group is Ann Eissinger, and she has formulated a protocol for studying heron colonies. In that protocol is an in depth study about the life cycle of the great blue heron. To read the study, please click HERE. HHH is working to establish a sense of community throughout this region, called the Salish Sea, focused on appreciation and support for the Great Blue Heron.

Great Blue Herons can be seen courting and nesting between February and August. We encourage you to visit Commodore Park to see the nesting birds during these months. Kindly watch quietly and carefully during this very sensitive time so as not to disturb these lovely creatures. Remember, this is their home. In addition to the newly expanded great blue heron colony in Commodore Park, other colonies in the greater Seattle area are located on the University of Washington campus, at Marymoor Park in Redmond, and in the City of Kenmore.

Heron Habitat Helpers is attempting to learn about new nesting locations and will provide periodic reports. Residents who spot herons flying with twigs and small branches in their bills, a sign of nest building, are encouraged to report these sightings to info@heronhelpers.org.

The Great Blue Heron’s long legs allow it to hunt in deeper water than most other herons and egrets.
Herons can swallow a fish many times wider than its narrow neck.
Herons look for food anytime there is enough light. Studies suggest that cloudy weather is ideal for the birds to look for fish.
Adult herons stand around three feet tall, but can stretch to about four feet.
Their wingspan is about six feet, yet these birds weigh only about 5 to 6 pounds.
In flight Great Blue Herons average about 25 mph, their maximum flight speed can approach 35 mph.
Herons often reuse a nest, adding sticks to it each year.
The male brings sticks and the female works them into the nest.
Herons lay from three to seven eggs, but the usual number is four.
Heron chicks are often aggressive toward each other, and some are pushed from the nest.

Kiwanis Ravine is a natural area that sits close to the eastern edge of Seattle's Discovery Park. The ravine was formed by two drainages coming from the east and west forks of Wolfe Creek. Very little is left of those drainages today, but what remains does channel water down through Kiwanis Ravine toward the Lake Washington Ship Canal, where it is intercepted and piped to West Point, a nearby wastewater treatment plant. The ravine is home to many species of birds, plants, and animals, particularly the Great Blue Heron. In 2010 the ravine hosted approximately 80 successful heron nests. Supporting the herons through restoration of their native habitat is paramount to our mission. However, Kiwanis Ravine is so steeply sloped, the City of Seattle cannot allow the general citizenry, or HHH volunteers, to do restoration work on the steep slopes of the ravine, so specialized contractors, like EarthCorps, are hired to work these areas. Three areas with no significant slope allow volunteer access; Kiwanis Ravine Overlook (KRO), Kiwanis Ravine Stevens (KRS), and Kiwanis Wildlife Corridor (KWC). Please click here to see those areas identified on the map.

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