Today I studied the Niagara Falls Great Egret Colony from 10:55 to 11:38 AM from Goat Island. This is the time when the light is best when observing from Goat Island. Using 60X I was unable to locate Mrs. Kelly. (Mrs. Kelly is a Great Egret with a satellite transmitter on it upper back that is being tracked and studied by North Carolina biologists. If you see this egret with its transmitter located in the center of the upper back, please note what it is doing, the time, and it location and email me. They are requesting visual sightings.) It seems to me that if she was in the right position I should be able to see her transmitted from Goat Island, but maybe I am incorrect. At the right angle the silicon wafers should look near black. There were 21 Great Egrets (with 14 on nest) on the colony at Weseloh Rocks (the small islands above the Horseshoe Falls near the sunken barge). There were also 119 Black-crowned Night-Herons and 432 Double-crested Cormorants (about half on nests) at the colony. What I found more interest is that there may be two new Black-crowned Night Heron Colonies above the falls. A group of eleven Black-crowned Night-Herons were roosting on the island at the end of the water control structure. On the very small islands at the brink of the Horseshoe Falls only about 30 yard from Goat Island there were 37 Black-crowned Night-Herons and what appeared to be three nests! Why, after many years, have the Black-crowned Night-Herons decided to form new colonies? Perhaps the colony has just gotten to big, and it was time to split. I must also point out that in recent years Great Egrets and Double-crested Cormorants in increasing numbers have nested above them. Perhaps they do not enjoy being defecated on by egrets and cormorants every day. Evening observation make it more difficult to see transmitters, but result in higher egret numbers. At 8:18 PM April 21 there was a maximum of 35 Great Egrets, compared to 30 Great Egrets at 7:35 on April 15. Best Wishes for Great Birding, Bill Watson _______________________________________________ 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/
