Avid birders stumble across bear ... in a nest, atop tree (3 photos)

It’s not often one goes birding and sees a roughly 125-pound specimen high up in a tree.

But that’s what happened to Midland residents Ken and Susan MacDonald during an expedition this week to view a heronry in Severn Township.

Expecting to view a colony of adult great blue herons and their chicks, they were astonished to see a medium-sized black bear high up in a tree, hovering over a heron’s nest.

"My wife saw a big black shape, so we got our binoculars and there was a bear standing upright," said MacDonald, who serves as program director of the Midland-Penetanguishene Field Naturalists.

“This must have been one determined bear. As far as the height of the tree, I thought it looked like the height of a four- or five-storey building, which puts it in the 60- to 75-foot range.

"We wondered whether he might come down under cover of nightfall because we were a little surprised that none of the adult birds in the herony seemed to be making any sweeps, or doing any defensive tactics."

While the sight was extraordinary, MacDonald said he hopes the bear doesn’t become a colony regular.

“Bears are omnivores and will eat anything available so they will go after eggs and baby birds,” said MacDonald, who noted they didn’t actually see the bear eat any chicks or eggs from the nest, but worries he could become a regular visitor.

"Raccoons are famous for doing this and they're related to bears. Herons build their nest in the middle of ponds on top of tall, spindly trees. And I guess the idea is to try to make it more difficult for predators like raccoons."

And while most area residents are used to seeing one or two great blue herons at a time along a marshy area, the birds tend to nest in colonies, according to MacDonald.

They decided to return to the Severn spot after viewing 50 adult herons there in the spring.

“There are still a good number of nests there,” said MacDonald, who declined to give the herony’s exact location.

"Basically, it's an area that my wife and I walk out in the woods. It’s off a trail so we have to bushwhack to get there. We've been doing a lot of bird watching during the pandemic."