The Nighthawks, Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds and Chimney Swifts have all arrived on the scene and the seventeen-year cicadas are starting to emerge out on the east side of town, so as far as I'm concerned, summer has officially arrived. One of the highlights of the long weekend was a fourteen mile kayak trip down the Little Miami. I arrived on the river at eight in the morning, well before the "cabrewers" showed up. There were simply scads of birds about, including Spotted Sandpipers, Cedar Waxwings, Waterthrush and Black Vultures. I floated past a Great Blue Heron rookery, in which I counted twenty nests, though I'm sure there were more that I couldn't see. In fact, I floated past it three times, since I kept paddling back upstream to take in the sight. I apologize for the poor picture quality, but I'm nervous about taking my good camera out on the river, so I had to settle for my cheap, water-resistant digital with a mere 4X zoom. There are some nice photos and descriptions of heron courtship, breeding and nesting behavior at the Great Blue Heron Rookery website.
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