a "siege " of herons...

I looked it up yesterday and for those who care, a flock of herons is known as a "siege " of herons. I decided to brave the spider webs and deer ticks and went to look at the beaver dams yesterday. The big stream I mentioned was low enough that I could walk down its muddy banks in some places and I eventually found the new beaver dam. The water level is 2/3 down I guess, which exposes the dam and it engineering secrets. I was able to walk across the dam, it is that solid. No sign of the beavers there now, but I continued on to the bigger beaver dam I know about, on my neighbor's land and it too was down, probably 3/4. These beavers have  created a "lake" with lots of beaver-downed large trees in the middle. I was able to actually walk out into the middle of what is now more like a swamp than a lake and lo, and behold, I found the blue herons! I think it is a rookery. About 4 big herons lifted off as the Labrador and I carefully walked out in the muck. Then I watched 2 or 3 "baby" herons squawk and crash into tree branches close by. It was amazing to watch these gangly birds so close. This morning 4 of them just flew over again, so I assume I did not scare them all away. It was worth lots of spider webs in the face and I hope I washed all the ticks off in the subsequent shower.