[Umpqua Birds] Re: GB Herons on nests
- From: "Jay Walters" <waltershome@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <umpquabirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2014 18:13:10 -0800
This afternoon I drove past the GBH colony across the South Umpqua River from
Old Melrose Road that Matt mentioned. There were 14 herons, plus maybe one or
two more obscured by branches, standing on or near the nests. Nice!
Jay Walters
Roseburg, OR
From: Matthew G Hunter
Sent: Monday, February 24, 2014 9:37 PM
To: umpquabirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Umpqua Birds] GB Herons on nests
Hi Folks,
On Friday, Feb 21, a resident of Canyonville (I'll let him reveal himself if he
so chooses) emailed me to let me know that some of the Great Blue Herons
returned to a nest colony in that area on that day. Having been given this tip,
on my way home from my mom's place in Umpqua on Sunday I detoured down Lower
Garden Valley Road (one of the roads that goes into Cleveland Rapids Park) to
see if the herons there were back and indeed they were; one or two birds
standing on top of about 13 nests. This colony is located in the tops of large
cottonwoods along the main Umpqua River, visible from the western third or so
of Lower Garden Valley Road. It's all private land in there, so you just have
to look out your car window or find a wide spot to pull over (there aren't many
of those).
There is also a very visible colony in tall cottonwoods across the river from
Old Melrose Road just a half-mile or so from Harvard Blvd. I haven't been by
that one recently.
At the same time, the group of 5-12 Great Egrets that have been foraging in the
field on the south side of Melrose Road, just west of the S. Umpqua River, seem
to have left. This is about normal time for their departure from here to go to
their nesting areas elsewhere. I'm not aware of any nesting egrets in Douglas
County, but there are some colonies on the southern Oregon Coast, not to
mention eastern Oregon.
If any of you observe heron nests, it would be interesting to hear updates on
their progress, from presence, courtship, incubation, feeding young, fledging,
as time goes on.
Matt Hunter
Melrose, OR
Other related posts:
