I am a Watermelon

Here are more incredible pictures. Check out the eggs! They were cut with a laser beam.

I am a Teeny Tiny Fawn

Here I am Roaming Clear Lake

Watch this Adorable Video of Me

I Am a Green Heron

Here is Some Interesting Information About Me

The Green Heron is relatively small; adult body length is about 44 cm (17 in). The neck is often pulled in tight against the body. Adults have a glossy, greenish-black cap, a greenish back and wings that are grey-black grading into green or blue, a chestnut neck with a white line down the front, grey underparts and short yellow legs. The bill is dark with a long, sharp point. Female adults tend to be smaller than males, and have duller and lighter plumage, particularly in the breeding season. Juveniles are duller, with the head sides, neck and underparts streaked brown and white, tan-splotched back and wing coverts, and greenish-yellow legs and bill. Hatchlings are covered in down feathers which are light grey above and white on the belly.^[2]

The Green Heron’s call is a loud and sudden kyow; it also makes a series of more subdued kuk calls. During courtship, the male gives a raah-rahh call with wide-open bill, makes noisy wingbeats and whoom-whoom-whoom calls in flight, and sometimes calls roo-roo to the female before landing again. While sitting, an aaroo-aaroo courtship call is also given.^[3]

Watch This Video of How Clever I am at Fishing

I am a Raccoon

Look for me in your trash cans!

See! I Told You I Could be Found in your Trash Can!

Watch This Hilarious Video!

Learn More About Me

I am a Double Crested Cormorant

Look for me along the shoreline of Clear Lake

Here I am as a Chick Drying my Wings

Here I am as an Adult Drying my Wings

Why do Cormorants Spread their Wings?

The structure of cormorant and Anhinga feathers decreases buoyancy and thus facilitates underwater pursuit of fishes. Hence, their plumage is not water-repellent, but “wettable.”

It has been suggested that the functions of the spread-wing postures in these birds is to dry the wings after wetting. Biologists once thought that deficient production of oils from the preen gland necessitate wing-drying behaviors.

We now know, however, that the degree of waterproofing of feathers is primarily due to their microscopic structure, not to their being oiled. In addition to helping wing feathers to dry, other suggested functions for these postures include regulating body temperature (thermoregulation), realigning of feathers, forcing parasites into motion to ease their removal, and helping the perched bird to balance.

Spread-wing postures may serve different purposes in different species.

Anhingas, for example, have unusually low metabolic rates and unusually high rates of heat loss from their bodies. Whether wet or dry, they exhibit spread-wing postures mostly under conditions of bright sunlight and cool ambient temperatures, and characteristically orient themselves with their backs to the sun. Thus, it appears that Anhingas adopt a spread-wing posture primarily for thermoregulation — to absorb solar energy to supplement their low metabolic heat production and to offset partly their inordinately high rate of heat loss due to convection and (when wet) evaporation from their plumage.

Cormorants, in contrast, apparently use spread-wing postures only for drying their wings and not for thermoregulation. Although cormorant plumage also retains water, only the outer portion of the feathers is wettable, so an insulating layer of air next to the skin is maintained when cormorants swim underwater. The difference in feather structure may explain why cormorants can spend more time foraging in the water than Anhingas, and why cormorants can inhabit cooler climes, while the Anhinga is restricted to tropical and subtropical waters.

source: The Birder’s Handbook, Simon & Schuster, 1988, pp. 25-27

In China They Use Me to Catch Fish

Watch this interesting video of me in action

I am a Great Blue Heron

Here I am as an Adult

Watch This Video to Learn More About Me

Watch This Funny Video of Me

Great Blue Heron (38-54″ tall):

This dramatic bird, standing four feet tall and with a six-foot wingspan, is the largest and most widespread of all North American herons. It is distinctive with its bluish-gray coloring, white crown stripe, and elegant black plumes extending from behind the eye on to the back. A patient hunter, often waiting motionless for long periods, it stabs prey with a quick lunge of the bill. Although this species is primarily a fish eater, it will stalk fields and meadows for rodents. Small-sized rails and the young of other water birds are also targeted by this heron. They nest in large numbers placing their large platform nests of sticks high in trees, and Clear Lake is fortunate to be the home of several such colonies. Their courtship displays are elaborate and involve much posturing and bill clacking. The Great Blue is a long-lived bird with a life span up to 23 years, with 10-15 years more usual.

Attend the Next Heron Festival and Widflower

Brunch at

The Clear Lake State Park in Kelseyville on April 24-25

click here to visit the web site

a baby River Otter

Here I am all grown up. Click on me for more fun facts and pictures!

Watch this funny video of me and a swan!

Read on for some interesting facts and history about Clear Lake

The Green Heron is relatively small; adult body length is about 44 cm (17 in). The neck is often pulled in tight against the body. Adults have a glossy, greenish-black cap, a greenish back and wings that are grey-black grading into green or blue, a chestnut neck with a white line down the front, grey underparts and short yellow legs. The bill is dark with a long, sharp point. Female adults tend to be smaller than males, and have duller and lighter plumage, particularly in the breeding season. Juveniles are duller, with the head sides, neck and underparts streaked brown and white, tan-splotched back and wing coverts, and greenish-yellow legs and bill. Hatchlings are covered in down feathers which are light grey above and white on the belly.^[2]

The Green Heron’s call is a loud and sudden kyow; it also makes a series of more subdued kuk calls. During courtship, the male gives a raah-rahh call with wide-open bill, makes noisy wingbeats and whoom-whoom-whoom calls in flight, and sometimes calls roo-roo to the female before landing again. While sitting, an aaroo-aaroo courtship call is also given