Kathleen M. Buckley and Jeffrey Boone Miller
Have you ever seen a bird doing something so unexpected that it took a few moments to sort out what you were seeing? On July 3, 2022, at 10:00 am, we had that type of experience at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As we walked past a witch hazel shrub near a bench at the southwest corner of Willow Pond, we caught sight of a large bird floating in the water about thirty feet from the western edge of the pond. It took us a few moments of squinting, but we finally convinced ourselves we were seeing a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) that was swimming—not wading—in the pond.
To view the rest of the article you'll need to
subscribe. Bird Observer publishes original articles on birding locations, on avian populations and natural history, on regional rarities, field notes, field records, photographs, and art work.