Letter: Heron rookery should be saved

Post Bulletin letter to the editor, by Michael Melford, published May 18, 2021

I am writing in support of the great blue heron rookery being threatened by a housing development in Rochester Township. While not currently endangered, great blue herons are in decline overall and in our state.


As a National Geographic photographer, I have traveled the world and have seen loss of natural habitat everywhere. This does not make it OK for us to take away habitat; instead, it makes it more important for us to preserve habitat. I visited the rookery myself with my cameras, hoping to make some images that would capture the unique setting. After approaching slowly and quietly, I decided that my stealthful approach wasn’t working and I was, in fact, disturbing the birds. I made a slow retreat. I had no more right to disturb the birds than the development that would totally disrupt their nesting site and cause the herons to abandon their nests.


These herons return to their nests each year to raise the next generation. This rookery has existed for decades. If we eliminate this habitat, where will the herons go? Imagine that you return home from your annual trip south in the winter to find that your entire neighborhood is destroyed. Where are you going to go?


We must learn to live in harmony with nature and not always control and displace it. We are learning this but we are not acting fast enough.


Ask yourself, is it OK for your grandchildren to only see the great blue heron in books and not on walks by the river?

Michael Melford

Photo by Michael Melford