I’m never disappointed when I walk Theler Wetlands because I know I’m going to find beauty no matter when I go. Generally I can count on seeing a fairly wide variety of birds, but even if birding is slow I can count on the native plants, particularly the wild roses, or the garden maintained by the Master Gardeners.
Still, it’s a particular treat when I see favorites, like this striking Cedar Waxwing,
or this Wild Iris which fights its way through the thickest vegetation once a year,
or, when I’m really lucky and get a shot of the Green Heron,
which is the reason I originally started walking Theler. I never did see one the first year I went there. The second year I got some good shots of an immature green heron, which lacks the red neck seen on this Green Heron. I’ve been saying for years that the ditch that lies just inside the dike trail looks like the perfect habitat for Green Herons, but I’ve never seen a heron, even a more common Great Blue Heron, in the ditch before Sunday’s walk.