Visitors to the wetland area at Lansing's Fenner Nature Center this summer may have noticed a large nest high in the trees, and in it, three great blue heron chicks.
It's not unusual to see the the tall and stocky bird species at the center, but this is the second year a pair of herons has nested and raised chicks.
Fenner Education Director Sam Ansaldi said the birds are hard to miss because of their size. An adult heron can be up to four and a half feet tall with a six-foot wingspan.
“It's the largest native heron species that we have in North America, and it's one of the largest birds that we're going to find up around this area," Ansaldi explained.
Ansaldi said like many birds, herons return to same nesting site year after year.
“If their nests have been destroyed over the winter, they'll typically make a new one, but they typically go back to that same area whenever it's available, and it's still safe,” he said.
In the time since the eggs hatched in late spring, the chicks have rapidly grown.
“It's incredible because after only like a month and a half, you'll take a look at those baby birds that are in the nest, and they look almost the same size as the adults."
Ansaldi said it's getting close to when the chicks will be ready to leave the nest, but they won't stray too far for now.
"You'll see them around the different areas, but they won't necessarily be in the nest."
But come fall, it will be time for migration.
“Once they're fully-flighted, and they can eat and hunt on their own and stuff like that, their normal natural instincts take over, and they will start to migrate down when they need to or how far they need to," he said.
"By the next season, they're usually taking and mating up and trying to establish their own nest."
Ansaldi said it's the center's mission to steward the land and promote conservation, so native species like the herons can thrive.
This story is brought to you as part of a partnership between WKAR and Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism.