Eleven people participated in the Crow's Nest hike on Sunday morning. The group walked through mayapples on the forest floor, a half-mile into the woods en route to the heron rookery.

TOP: Great blue herons have made their rookery at Crow's Nest in Stafford County. Many of the birds feed at the Rappahannock River and return to the rookery to nest and have chicks.

LEFT: John Kaldahl of Spotsylvania films great blue herons at the Crow's Nest heron rookery on a hike with the Friends of the Rappahannock Sunday. The area is near a proposed development of about 700 homes, but Stafford County is trying to buy the land.

In the tops of sycamore trees at Crow's Nest, great blue herons sit on their nests near the proposed development. There were 15 nests in the sycamores in this part of the rookery.

Tour group, led by Friends of the Rappahannock, laces up its hiking boots to tour the nesting sites of great blue herons in Crow's Nest

Date published: 4/10/2006

By CATHY DYSON

John Kaldahl of Spotsylvania County wanted to see the place where great blue herons build their nests while the area around them is still pristine.

So, he and 10 others laced up their hiking boots yesterday and toured the heron nest site--called a rookery--at Crow's Nest in eastern Stafford County.

The rookery is near a proposed development of almost 700 homes.

Kaldahl is a member of Friends of the Rappahannock, which sponsored the outing. He wasn't disappointed.

He aimed his camcorder at the sycamore trees in front of him and recorded the sights and sounds of the prehistoric-looking birds.

In some of the tallest, fullest trees there were as many as 15 nests clustered in the canopies.

"It's pretty spectacular," he said. "It's almost like condominiums, the way they build so close together."

Like others in the group, Kaldahl was even more impressed by the connection the birds have with the Rappahannock River, even though their nests are closer to the Potomac River.

"I would say almost all the blue herons you see feeding in the Rappahannock are nesting right here," said Bill Micks, a river outfitter and advocate who led the tour. "As the crow flies--or as the blue heron flies--it's probably no more than four or five miles from here to the [Rappahannock] river."

Anyone who's gone over the Falmouth Bridge on U.S. 1 in the springtime probably has seen the lanky birds lined up in the river, waiting for their chance to snare a few shad, herring or other migratory fish. The steady food source attracts them to the Rappahannock, Micks said.

There are as many as 600 heron nests in the Crow's Nest rookery, he added. Most of the stick-built nests are in a 70-acre parcel that's owned by the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust and can't be developed.

The 3,230-acres around the rookery is another matter. A McLean developer wants to build 688 homes there, and Stafford County is trying to buy the land from the developer. The two differ on the price--by more than $30 million.

Hence, the sense of urgency Kaldahl and others in the group felt about seeing the nesting site this year.

In March and April, the birds pair up, fix their nests and then lay pale-blue eggs, which hatch in 28 days.

Date published: 4/10/2006