Blue Heron - Nesting Update 4

Today's pass by the nesting great blue heron shows one or the other parent on guard, mouth open and panting in the early summer sun and heat following a long cool and wet spell. We saw no chicks, but their hatching cannot be more than a day or two away.
The adults take turns sitting on the eggs, so that each can feed and exercise. As soon as the chicks hatch, the food conveyor belt will begin, with the parents bringing a diverse diet of bugs, amphibians, and small fish, or anything that will fit down a young throat.