A Blue heron stops on the railing of a wooden promenade over a swamp and is shaking its head. It seems to be a young bird. If it is an adult bird, it must have a partner. Young birds that hatch from eggs take two years to become adults. The Blue heron is monogamous and acts as a family until the chicks grow up, and does not flock. A blue heron has bluish-gray feathers and is called Blue heron in Japanese, but is called Gray heron in English. It is the largest of the herons, and the herons in Hokkaido migrate, but the herons south of Honshu are resident birds.

沼地に架かる木製の遊歩道の手摺りに青鷺が一羽ポツンと止まって首を振っています。若鳥らしい。成鳥なら必ず相方がいるはずです。卵からから孵った若鳥は２年掛かって成鳥になります。青鷺は一夫一婦制で雛が成長するまで一家で行動し、群れることはありません。羽根は青味がかった灰色で日本では青鷺と呼びますが、英語ではGrey heron と呼びます。鷺の仲間では一番大きく、北海道の青鷺は渡りをしますが、本州以南の青鷺は留鳥です。