Blu the Great Blue Heron Coming Soon to Assist Stafford!
Hi, there! My name is Blu, and I’m a local from a long line of Stafford Great Blue Herons. We live in Crow’s Nest, which I happen to think is the most beautiful area in Stafford County! I am the new ambassador for Stafford County’s AskBlu citizen online assistance system. You can ask me anything, and I either know the answer or I know someone who can help you.
You may wonder how I ended up getting this job. Well, my family has had a literal bird’s eye view of Stafford County for hundreds of years, and we have many stories to tell. We watched the Patawomecks and Manahoacs hunt and fish. We saw the first English settlers – the Brents – arrive.
We saw a certain family, named Washington, move into Ferry Farm. We witnessed Henry Brown box himself up to be mailed to freedom. We watched Samuel Langley achieve the first unmanned flight. And over the last 50 years, we watched as this county’s population started to boom and the look of the county changed.
We are so grateful that our beautiful home, Crow’s Nest, will be preserved forever and that the Board of Supervisors is working to save other open spaces for all our fellow animal species. My community is the largest heron rookery in North America. It warms our hearts to see all the residents who recycle and help protect the environment for our family, friends, and fellow humans.
You might not know that Great Blue Herons have three times sharper eyesight than humans – we even have a built-in zoom lens! I do not miss much, which is perhaps the best thing that makes me a good resource for county residents.
I like to nest high above the many trees in Crow’s Nest in my spare time with the other herons in my colony. We can be a noisy bunch, though. During loud times, I like to hang out in the shallows of ponds and rivers and hunt. I also love to soar over Stafford to see what is happening. I also like to hang out with my best friend, Shelly the turtle.
You are going to see a lot more of me as I am the face of a new chatbot on Stafford Government’s website as well as the Stafford County newsletter (Blu’s News), which will debut soon. In the meantime, have a great Stafford day, and I can’t wait to meet you!
Color your own Blu by downloading and printing the Blu Coloring Pages! We would love to see your work so please share them and tag us and use #askblu!
Help Blu find out more about Stafford! Print out your own Flat Blu, cut him out and take him around the county with you. Remember to take your picture with Flat Blu, tag us and use #askblu.
