Ladies and gentlemen— this is Japie. Japie made the local newspaper today because his situation is going to change. Every morning he comes down the street in the other part of the harbour, waits for a certain lady to open the curtains (this is his sign that food will be forthcoming). He carefully approaches her door and waits for a little snack to be produced. He does not enter her house and is not so tame that she can touch him. She flips Japie a piece or two of leverworst and then is off down the street to the nearby fish shop for more goodies. This happy urban intercourse with nature is coming to an end though; because the fish shop will be closing—another victim of the changing cost fluctuations. The shop is an iconic location in this town. Such a shame. So then, what’s a poor blue heron to do. The pensioner-lady will continue to feed it and increase the portions a bit…but will it be enough? I find it a bit sad; and a glaring example of how we humans ought not to interact with wild animals too much, especially to the point of making them dependent upon us. This beast has become so accustomed to people feeding it for so many years that I wonder if it could even survive away from humans.
People here are so protective of their goldfish in garden ponds -OR don't bother with them at all that the heron is suffering. They are dying here of starvation. Maybe the fact that most human beings seem not to bother with wildlife losing their habitat and food supply is the culprit for this kind of scenario. The ''Garden of England'' namely Kent where we live is rapidly becoming a concrete jungle, and there are thousands of new buildings taking over farmland that should be kept for growing food. Our most valuable assets are being lost, very often - or most often actually because of greed for wealth. I'd be inclined to watch out for that bird, and help him out a bit when he needs it.
That's a sad one Sjoerd. Hopefully kindness finds him to the end of his journey. We had a serious problem this year with migratory birds that would normally not be here. A man from Prince George shipped a humming bird to Vancouver to survive. We have had Thrush and a very worriesome pair of Grossbeaks. It is a commitment to care for wild birds with a seed feeder....I can't imagine a Heron. Here - they say if you can't keep the feeders full in winter for the chickadees, then you are ending thier lives in the middle of winter. Is there a wild bird or wildlife rescue? A sanctuary? We have them here. I hope it works out for Japie.
Japie can fly, so perhaps he will drift back into nature eventually…but in the summer, there will be more handouts, I feel sure.
