There has been an active Great Blue Heron rookery on Lake George Land Conservancy property for many years. There have been over 40 nests, many trees having 3,4 or 5 nests each. Dozens of young have fledged in years past. Last year there were about 30 nests, eggs hatched, and young were about 3/4 grown, when it appeared that the rookery was abandoned. Although there were not frequent trips in to check on the birds, calculations from dates that various photos had been taken made us think that the young were not ready to fledge yet. There was no indication of damage to nests, there were no carcasses, no feathers anywhere that would indicate predation of any kind. This location is off the beaten path so to speak, quite a ways from inhabited areas, and not likely to be a target of any vandalism. It was a mystery.
This year a trip to the rookery on April 18 showed 26 nests left intact (after an extremely windy winter and spring) with 5 nests being worked on. Birds were showing courtship behaviors. Spring arrived very late in this area - is it really here yet? - and we hoped that more birds would be arriving soon. A trip in today revealed that the rookery was abandoned yet again. No sign of any birds, and all the nests were empty. Several birders locally are puzzled and wondering if anyone can offer any thoughts on this strange happening. Has anyone witnessed a similar thing? Is there something specific that we might be overlooking that would be a clue to why this has happened again? All thoughts welcome. Mona Bearor S Glens Falls, NY -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
