I’m tracking, with my lens, a Yellow-rumped Warbler who’s bouncing around her kingdom. She stops then hops, as warblers often do. And, for a split second, she clears the branches and looks back at me, bearing the criss-cross shadows of her woods:<\/p>\n
![\"Yellow-rumped](\"https:\/\/www.thewildbeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/@UBNAwarbler.jpg\")
<\/a>Yellow-rumped Warbler at UBNA – \u00a9ingridtaylar<\/p><\/div>\n
A warning croak in my left ear signals an interloper — a Great Blue Heron who then flaps into view. He drops on a perch, perfectly framed by the same mesh of branches which engulf the warbler.<\/p>\n
![\"Great](\"https:\/\/www.thewildbeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/UBNAHeronHabitat750.jpg\")
<\/a>Heron Habitat – click for larger image – \u00a9ingridtaylar<\/p><\/div>\n
The light yesterday was so anomalous that I’m sure I said these words at least 27 times: “Look at that light. I can’t believe that light.” My comment reflects first, how lovely northern, winter light really is, with the sun’s rays beaming at low angles through atmospheric particles, gifting us with magic hours. Second, my comment suggests an ebullience deriving from life in the Northwest, where gray and drizzle drive us into blue tones, mist, and sequestration — and where we all rise from our burrows and dust off like moles when the mystery orb in the sky reappears.<\/p>\n
Great Blue Heron as Seattle’s City Bird<\/h3>\n
Thanks to Larry at the local blog Union Bay Watch<\/a>, I learned something today about the Great Blue Heron that I didn’t know but should have known: In 2003, the Great Blue Heron was chosen as the City Bird of Seattle<\/a>. Here’s the process and reasoning through which Resolution 30586 was adopted, unanimously. The American Crow came in second and the Northern Flicker, third, with several other honorable mentions (e.g. the Osprey).<\/p>\n Source: Green Policy 360.net<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n Resolution Number: 30586<\/p>\n A RESOLUTION designating the Great Blue Heron as the official bird of the City of Seattle.<\/p>\n WHEREAS, Seattle citizens have voted at city parks, in school classrooms, and through other methods for a bird to be designated as Seattle’s official bird; and<\/p>\n WHEREAS, votes for the Great Blue Heron outnumbered the second place finisher, the ubiquitous American Crow, two to one, the Northern Flicker, Seattle’s most plentiful woodpecker, finished the race in third place, and honorable mentions include the “Seattle Wren,” a sub species of the Bewick’s wren; the Osprey, a bird of prey also known as a Seahawk; and the Wilson’s Warbler, a migratory songbird that benefits from shade-grown coffee; and<\/p>\n WHEREAS, the familiar Great Blue Heron is the largest heron in North America having a slate-gray body, chestnut and black accents, and very long legs and neck; and<\/p>\n WHEREAS, the unique geology and ecology of Seattle, including large amounts of open water and wetlands, urban forest habitat, fish and amphibians provide good conditions for the Great Blue Heron to reside all over Seattle; and<\/p>\n WHEREAS, nesting colonies are typically found in mature forests, and do best when they are free of human disturbance and have foraging areas close by; and<\/p>\n WHEREAS, the large and majestic Great Blue Heron has charmed Seattleites of all ages because it is easy to see, identify and enjoy; and<\/p>\n WHEREAS, the City Council and the Mayor recognize that the Great Blue Heron is a common permanent resident in many Seattle parks and greenbelts; and<\/p>\n WHEREAS, the official bird designation offers heron habitat no additional regulatory protection, and<\/p>\n WHEREAS, the official bird designation of the Great Blue Heron will raise public awareness of the unique behavior and habitat requirements of this species, and foster public stewardship for its continued existence; and<\/p>\n WHEREAS, at the request of the Seattle Audubon Society and Seattle citizens,<\/p>\n NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE, THE MAYOR CONCURRING, THAT:<\/p>\n The Great Blue Heron is hereby designated as the official bird of the City of Seattle.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n [\/fusion_text][\/fusion_builder_column][\/fusion_builder_row][\/fusion_builder_container]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” overlay_color=”” video_preview_image=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” padding_right=”” type=”legacy”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” center_content=”no” last=”true” min_height=”” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_sizes_top=”” border_sizes_bottom=”” border_sizes_left=”” border_sizes_right=”” first=”true”][fusion_text] Photographed at Union Bay Natural Area in Seattle \u2022 Olympus E-3 […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1060,13],"tags":[504],"class_list":["post-15496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wildbeat","category-birds","tag-herons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ingridtaylar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ingridtaylar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ingridtaylar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ingridtaylar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ingridtaylar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ingridtaylar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ingridtaylar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ingridtaylar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ingridtaylar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ingridtaylar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}