Harry was a young Great Blue Heron who graced us with his presence for a few months this year. When he fell out of his rookery nest high in the trees, he suffered a greenstick break in his wing (actually a severe bend that was straightened with some splints).

Harry grew into an awkward teenager with very poor manners. He got into everything and made everything his business, whether he was welcome or not. He was prone to scream loudly at whatever displeased him. Volunteers new to the Center were always warned ahead of time about Harry's attitude problem.

The amount of space Harry needed to flap his wide wing span and run in order to learn to fly was more than any enclosure we had could offer him. Eventually we had to give him the run of the Center's property (it is enclosed), where he could gain enough land speed to get off the ground.

Toward the end, Harry would elude the clinic volunteers sent out at night to round him up until the next morning. Perching high up in the evergreens surrounding the clinic's property, he would make obnoxious noises as if to say, "Just try to get me down from here!" At his worst, he would reach his long neck down from a high perch and peck the volunteers on the top of their heads as they unsuspectingly walked by.

All were somewhat relieved when Harry was old enough to be released into his natural habitat.