THE GREAT BLUE HERONS OF STOW LAKE
Golden Gate Park

During the pandemic, I became increasingly fascinated by the Great Blue Herons that I observed while walking my dog around Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. I began to carry my camera with a 300mm lens to capture these beautiful birds in their nesting habitat and in various locations around the lake. While many of the nests were hidden behind branches, luckily some of them offered a good view and, during a six month period, I documented their life cycle starting with the arrival of single herons at the end of December, to courtship, followed by building the nests where eggs would be hatched. With the arrival of the chicks, the nests became full of life and the feeding created a ruckus that could be heard from afar. The chicks, with their odd “mohawk” crests, grew rapidly and were ready to spread their wings and leave the nests in June until, six months later, the life cycle of the Great Blue Herons will surely repeat again.