True Nature Stories: Magical Thinking

Green Heron Shows Its Tongue

I held off on my walk today after looking at the Accuweather radar report, which forecast rain starting at my location in 29 minutes, which would have had me getting wet about one-third of the way into my jaunt. I figured I would just wait and stay dry. And besides, I had other things to do, so I did them.

Naturally, it never rained another drop. Highly local weather forecasts often miss the mark despite all the available technology.

As I was watching the green heron at the Lily Pond this morning I overheard someone urging the gardener who was working there to join her in an experiment, and to spread the word to get more folks on board. The experimenters would pray for good outcomes at the lakes throughout the park, then later judge their success.

I've actually heard of scientists looking for evidence of the efficacy of prayer, and they have yet to find it. As the gardener went back to placing mulch around the edge of the pond, I couldn't help thinking his work was a far more certain way to achieve a good outcome than any number of folks praying for it (even assuming they could all agree on what the good outcome would be).

Although the green heron was out in the open and close to shore, the person advocating prayer to benefit nature was unable to see it.

I wasn't going to post this shot of a mostly concealed hairy woodpecker until I noticed those big feet. Maybe it's just the angle, but they seem large in proportion to the size of the bird. Just for laughs I googled "do hairy woodpeckers have large feet," and the humorless AI response was, "No, hairy woodpeckers don't have large feet."

Dense gray clouds scudded across the sky throughout my walk, but it never did rain again after the early morning soaking.

Got One

Bird tongues do have taste buds, but the green heron's is also suited to guiding prey into its mouth. Green herons (also known as water witches, possibly because they sometimes use tools to lure prey into range) are the second-smallest herons in the United States, just behind the least bittern.

And speaking of small birds, the resident male and female ruby-crowned kinglets were active again today, often using these elderberry branches to launch from.