No other bird at Breeches is more patient than the Great Blue Heron.
He will fly from his nesting area, usually on the low waters, all the way to the headwaters where the lake feeds from Sunday Lake brook. He will land on the marshland and stay on his feet for hours moving nothing other than his eyes.
If he sees some fish activity under the waters he will very slowly move towards the location of the fish and stay quiet until perhaps another fishing event will happen.
The heron’s beak is like a harpoon at the end of a long rope. His powerful neck, always retracted in an elegant curve, will stay in this position until his pray is at reachable distance.
Once the trout (or bass) is nearby, he still waits further until the fish is closer. Then, in an instant, he throws his powerful neck forward towards the location of the fish and nine out of ten he will pierce through the body of the fish. The Heron will swallow the fish immediately and will continue his expedition.
There was once a young heron called Oscar at Breeches Lake who was very sad because he did not know how to fish and he would consistently run out of patience trying to get a fish. One day, after two hours of constantly trying to grab one of the small trout that swims in the waters of the Breeches marshland, and miserably failing in his effort, he lowered his long neck and cried bitterly.
The Kingfisher passed by with a small trout in his beak and noticed the heron’s sadness to which he stopped at a near branch and asked, “Hello, Oscar, what is the matter with you?’ “Why are you crying so bitterly?”
“Hello, Kingfisher, I am sad because I have been trying to fish for the last several months without any meaningful success. I am so unhappy that I am planning to fly away from Breeches Lake to other lakes where fish are abundant and large, not the minnows that we see here only once or twice a day. I am sure that there is not a single heron in Canada who is hungrier and more miserable than me.”
“Good luck, friend,” answered the Kingfisher, and he left.
Oscar went to the nest and said good bye to his parents. He left immediately in search of a lake that would be generous to him. He reached a small lake nearby called “Little St. Francis Lake”. This lake had no heron and it was totally surrounded by cottages. He stopped at a nearby beach to rest and a boat with four people stopped and started taking pictures of Oscar. They said “O, look, a Blue Heron! This is the firs time that I have seen one in many years!” They got a bit closer and Oscar asked: “Hello, people, I am looking for fish to eat. Do you have a river nearby where I can fish?” “Fish?”- they responded, “we do not have fish in this lake.” It is so polluted that we cannot even swim in it.” But we have a lot of fun with our powerful motorboats. If you stay with us, we will bring you food every day. It is so neat having a Blue Heron who can talk in our lake.”
“No, thank you.” Oscar responded “I need to be free and need to find a natural environment where I can fish.” And in so saying, he flew off looking for another lake.
He reached a small lake in the South, called “Lac du canard” and… amazingly, there were no cottages built. Not a single one. He landed on the lake and sure enough, another heron was already there. “Hello, friend. My name is Oscar and I am looking for a place where I can fish in tranquillity. My lake has fish but I have to wait a long time until a trout gets close to my beak. How is fishing here?” The resident Heron took a few seconds to respond. “Hello, friend. I have been using this lake for the last few years but there is no fish in it. The lake has no feeding brooks where fish can spawn. This is like a huge pond in the middle of the forest. Besides, all the land around the pond belongs to an American logging company, that every year brings huge trucks and other machinery pestering the waters with oil and gasoline. Do you want to know what I eat here? Squirrels! And I have no competition.”
“Squirrels? This is amazing! It is the first time that I learn that a Blue Heron can fish squirrels. Can you show me how you do it?”, answered Oscar.
“Sure, it is lunch time so I will show you. But you have to be very patient. Squirrels are fast and unpredictable.” Herty, that was the heron’s name, stood quiet for more than two hours before a baby squirrel appeared on the shoreline. The squirrel was picking some acorns from a nearby oak tree and was totally oblivious to the presence of the two big birds standing a few feet away.
After two hours the squirrel had collected several acorns and returned to the same place several times, and in doing so, he was approaching the reaching ground of Herty the heron. At one precise moment, Herty extended his long neck with the speed of an arrow and snapped the poor squirrel, holding him in his beak. Soon after Herty swallowed the squirrel full, as if the heron had suddenly converted into a huge reptile. Oscar was not very fond of this operation but he understood that survival needs creativity.
“Thanks for the demonstration, Herty, but I am not fond of killing a squirrel and eating it. Actually I find it quite repugnant.” I need to find a lake where I can fish in peace. Good bye! And he flew off.
These two experiences had traumatized poor Oscar. So, he thought to himself, “I was very sad because Breeches Lake did not have enough fish. I realize that I have to be more creative and find better places around the lake, not just the head waters.”
Oscar returned to Breeches Lake and learned to be more patient and more creative in finding new fishing places. He managed to survive very nicely and he was very proud of himself.
Comments