Do Herons Talk?

Leaning in to hear God through nature

Herons don’t talk. But God speaks through nature.

October 10, 2026

I was researching the great blue heron yesterday. Because, after never having seen one locally, I have recently seen one twice: September 30, and October 5. At the edges of small ponds in the southern Indiana county where I live.

Reading about its attributes yesterday, patience was the main theme.

Today, reading about its (violent) use of its beak, this Scripture came to mind: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” Matthew 11:12 (NKJV).

Jesus, I do not understand “the violent take it by force” passage. And John was still alive as you were speaking those words, so what “days of John the Baptist until now” were you talking about? You say in verse 25 that you will reveal these things to babes, so please reveal them to me.

October 5 sighting of Great Blue Heron: This Great Blue Heron was completely out in the open and provided an overt demonstration of the structure of its neck.

October 11, 2026

I learned yesterday that the great blue heron doesn’t usually eat snakes, but it will. It is an opportunistic carnivore.

I was surprised to read that it swallows the snake headfirst (after violently battering, and perhaps drowning, it). “The violent take it by force” indeed.

I read Matthew 11 again.

October 12, 2026

I watched a video of a talk by a minister of gospel, in which the person mentioned flying around the world to do their work.

Last night I was thinking of the heron again—“flying.”

October 16, 2026

Yesterday I was telling a friend about the two sightings of the great blue heron, and my impressions and research. We talked about seeing God in nature, and about Scriptures that teach about God speaking through nature. (Have a look at Job 12:7-10, Romans 1:20, and Psalm 19:1-4.) And that’s when I remembered something.

Back on October 9, as I was walking near the same ponds where I had earlier had heron sightings, a snippet of an old hymn had come to mind. I had looked up the lyrics to This is My Father’s World, to find the bit that was going through my mind about God speaking to the writer through nature. And that’s when I had realized that God was alerting me that he was speaking to me through the herons. That was when I began to research herons so that I could lean in, to understand what he was saying.

October 19, 2026

While reading Revelation 12 today, I noticed that verse 9 specifically mentions a serpent: “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with them” (NKJV).

And then look what he did:

“And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of old and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17 NKJV).

That is what is happening on earth.

~

The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Matthew 11:15 (NASB)

~

From the Author

On October 21, 2026, a news headline on my phone caught my attention: a documented sighting in the state of Maine of a species of heron, gray heron, that is rarely seen in North America, and had never been seen before in Maine.

Heron again. And not a standard appearance. A very non-standard one, in fact.

God was not finished speaking to me through nature. And I was not finished listening. Not even close.

This content originally appeared in the October 2026 email newsletter. Subscribe at amylu-riley.com/subscribe.