I have never known these large birds to be territorial but it sure seemed like I found a pair that just did not want to get along last weekend. To my eye, one clearly felt this small pond was its to use and it did not care for the company of any other herons.
Every time another heron would come along, this one would take off in hot pursuit and chase the other off. At one point there was a definite squabble with a lot of vocalization between the pair – something I unfortunately failed to catch on camera.
The heron did not seem to mind the geese or other birds that were hanging out. In this image the guardian is returning to its preferred spot where it was maintaining watch on the water.
