It looks like one of the Great Blue Heron babies has left the nest.  Yesterday I thought both would be gone but apparently one has decided to stay behind for a while.  Too bad, Mom and Dad are no longer bringing food to the nest for them.  The last one left looked for a while today like it was going to make the big leap to the trees below but decided against it.  The plumage is very well developed.  It looks like it could use a little more development but the bird should be capable of flight for short distances now.

But, the attempts were for really, really short distances.  The practice consisted of holding the wings up, standing on one foot and hopping to the other side of the nest.  But, it’s a start and should end up with a flying heron very soon.

But, junior tired at this after a while.  One of the parents showed up to encourage the little thing to come down for the free food at the Peace River Wildlife Center below.  But, it wasn’t to be.  As soon as the young bird saw the parent, it stopped the attempted flight, sat down and started squawking for food.

The parent wasn’t buying that ploy though and flew over to the pen to feed itself.