In early June, the herons are nesting. Trees stand in the water — beaver have turned a wetland into a lake. At sunset, the dark shape of a beaver swims by the cattails along the shore.
From the pull-off along the road, stand quietly with binoculars and focus on a bare tree. You can see a broad nest and a mother heron preening as she sits on her eggs. Come back in a couple of weeks, and the heron chicks will be looking over the edge of the nests.
Mass Audubon, the statewide conservation nonprofit, protects six wildlife sanctuaries in the Central and Southern Berkshires. In Richmond, it conserves one of the largest blue heronries in the county at one of the newest sanctuaries, a wetland and woodland on Tracy Brook. It has no marked trails, but guided walks explore the area.
