Don Armstrong of Falconer caught first Great Blue Heron of the year in this photo. He noted a couple facts about the bird, which weighs only 5 to 6 pounds thanks in part to their hollow bones — a feature all birds share. Great Blue Herons in the northeastern U.S. and southern Canada have also benefited from the recovery of beaver populations, which have created a patchwork of swamps and meadows well-suited to foraging and nesting.