Last night from 600-700 PM, I had 21 Great Egrets and 22 Great Blue Herons foraging at Cranberry Marsh in Ajax including an orange wing-tagged bird (32H) and a green wing-tagged bird (33V). The former was banded this summer at Nottawasaga Island, near Collingwood, and the latter, also banded this summer, at Chantry Island, near Southampton. I was able to follow them to a new (to me) roost site on the west bank of Lynde Creek...visible from Bayly/Victoria Street about 300m east of the Lynde Shores Conservation Area (LSCA) parking lot. This morning I saw the birds leave their roost and head west. Thirty minutes later, from the east observation platform at Cranberry Marsh, there were 31 egrets (and both wing-tagged birds) and 77 Great Blue Herons foraging in the Marsh.
Directions: From Hwy 401 in Ajax, go south (toward Lake Ontario) at the Salem Road exit, turn left (east) on Bayly/Victoria St., continue to the LSCA parking lot on your right. To get to the east observation platform, walk down the blacktop road going south from the parking lot for about 15 minutes; it'll be at the end of the 2nd of two closely positioned paths on your right. Again, Ontbirders are encouraged to note feeding flocks of egrets at marshes, lakes or sewage ponds, especially late in the day, and wait and watch to see where they go, as sunset approachs, to locate their roosting sites. Please send any such findings to me personally. Also watch for wing-tagged egrets. Cheers, Chip _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
