Please enjoy these photos of an incredible inter-species encounter.  As I was walking along the dock at Thieves Bay late in the afternoon, I spooked a Great Blue Heron who was hiding behind a boat.  She took off and landed on the breakwater.  What followed will be etched in my mind forever.  The heron began to chortle — a low, gentle, gurgling sound.  She shook her wings and proceeded to preen and move south towards the entrance to the breakwater.  It turned out that she was actually moving towards three young Columbian Black-tailed Deer.  One of them was particularly curious and started moving purposefully towards the heron.  They began to prance around one another.  This was broken by moments of pure stillness and moments where the heron would lift herself up a few feet off the ground and land just in front or behind the deer.  At one point the heron picked up a twig and moved towards the youngest, as if offering a gift.  I’m not sure how long they would have gone on like this, but my camera reports that I was visibly present for 15 minutes of pure bliss before their engagement was disrupted. Inter-species interaction is always fascinating to observe, but it is also an important reminder of how little we know and how quick we are to assume the level and limits of non-human sentience.

Related Images: