Pat Nichols and I made the 8 mile round trip paddle to what used to be only
a Great Blue Heron Rookery. The location is in Gerrard County on the
Kentucky River 4.5 miles upriver from High Bridge boat ramp.
Many of the Great Blue Herons have fledged and large Sycamore leaves make
seeing any nest very difficult but we sure can hear the few that are left
and you do not want to paddle under the trees due to danger of falling,
smelly objects. This rookery usually has 60-65 nests.
In 2016, Pat Nichols photographed nesting Double-crested Cormorants. Today,
we found 8 visible Cormorant nests, in 3 trees, with 1-3 young in each nest
or perched near by. We conservatively counted 32 Cormorants but this
number is low as some have fledged and other nests hidden. While paddling
on the Kentucky River it is now common to see fly-overs and swimming
Cormorants on almost every paddle that are likely originating from this
location.
According to Ebird and Roseanna Denton the only other known rookeries for
Cormorants are in Western Kentucky and on the river in Jefferson County.
Photos here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37510815
Tina Nauman
Pat Nichols
PS The Peregrines are great and I'm behind on reports and photos but both
fledglings are doing great and practicing acrobatics and trying to learn to
grab prey from their parents in-flight.
