Westchester’s Only Great Blue Heron Rookery In Bedford, Nature Group Say | Bedford Real Estate

A colony of great blue heron has made Bedford its home for the season in a remote, yet visible wooded area that Naturalist Tait Johansson says is the only place in all of Westchester that you will find the large birds.Photo AlbumGreat Blue Herons Nest, Breed, Incubate In Bedford

There are about 20 blue herons nests at a rookery – or colony of breeding animals – on Route 121 just past the intersection with Route 137.

Some of the birds could still be seen this week building nests high up in the barren trees, flanked by a swampy surface with dead trees. The tall bird with an S-shaped neck and long legs usually settles near water or in a marsh and preys on fish, frogs, mice and even other birds.

“This rookery started two years ago,” said Johansson, who works at the Bedford Audobon Society in Katonah. “It’s something interesting. A lot of people have called here asking about it.”

The Katonah resident and lifelong bird admirer said not all of them have migrated back north to the Bedford rookery. He said the birds you see now are adults, who will breed and then incubate their eggs in the nest for about a month – he added that they’re not as interesting to observe while incubating since they mostly stay in the nest.

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