VANCOUVER — Ecologists have mounted wireless cameras in Vancouver's Stanley Park, transporting the public straight into the nests of the region's Pacific great blue heron — and with it comes a close-up of intimate birdie behaviour.
The mating ritual of the long-legged creatures is just a sample of the featured viewing now available online, along with nest building, egg laying and the spring hatching of chicks.
Around 90 nests have become active since the herons returned in February, and about two chicks per pairing are expected to start cracking their shells in April.
Vancouver Park Board Chairman John Coupar says the remotely controlled cameras — installed on the roof of a nearby building — provide a bird's-eye view that will educate and promote conservation.
Robyn Worcester, a biologist with Stanley Park Ecology Society, says she's watched the herons for a decade but has learned more than she thought possible simply by watching through the cameras over the past two weeks.
The herons of Stanley Park established their colony in 2001, and their species is designated a special concern under a Canadian wildlife act.
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