Last night, Clive Hodder, Kory Renaud, Josh Vandermeulen, Bev Wannick and I counted Great Egrets coming into the roost at the Holiday Beach Conservation Area near Amherstburg from 6:50 to 8:10 PM. We tallied 184 birds. This is down by over 550 egrets from the count on 27 August (745) and by over 300 from the count on 4 September (494). One of the obviously differences in the local ecology in the last 2+ weeks is that the water levels in the adjacent marsh have increased considerably (by pumping). This may have dispersed the egrets' food supply greatly from previously and the egrets themselves may have dispersed from the marsh. Alternatively, the egrets may simply have begun their autumn migration from the area. Whatever the cause, there are not as many egrets there as there was only 9 days ago!
Cheers, Chip Directions: >From Malden Centre, SE of Amherstburg, Ontario, go south on Hwy 50 for about 1 km and enter the CA and follow the signs to the Hawk Watch Tower. _______________________________________________ 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/
