Joe:
I conducted a lot of heron and egret rookery surveys throughout southern
Wisconsin in the 1980's and 1990's. However, we waited until late June to
survey them for two reasons:
1 - we also wanted to obtain production figures so we wanted to see the
young in the nest when they were grown enough to see overhead and before
they fledged.
2 - These birds are always spooked when someone enters the rookery so you
want to make any visit brief. We were the only ones to visit these remote
sites and always made our surveys as quickly as possible. We waited until
late in the nesting season and since the adults had invested so much time
in rearing their young by then they returned to their nests as soon as we
left.
Entering a rookery at this time of year, early spring, will always get the
birds to leave their nests, so photographing them can be challenging if
they are hesitant to return to a perch. Also, I have seen rookeries
abandoned by birds due to too much disturbance. They are looking for
relatively isolated locations and when people enter these too often they
may get the feeling that the site is no longer that safe. So like
photographing any nesting bird concern for their welfare needs to come
first.
In the early 2000's I worked with the Waukesha parks department and city
council to protect a rookery off of Capitol Drive and Barker Road. Noel
Cutright and I got permission to install power poles and erect artificial
nest platforms because the nest trees were not only dead but falling over
with no large living trees available for nesting. However, Waukesha also
allowed a developer to construct a number of large homes adjacent to this
site and as the birds became crowded, and I assume curious neighbors
accessed the rookery, the birds abandoned the site in spite of our
management efforts. The main consideration is that these birds are looking
for isolated locations and need isolation!
While photos of herons and egrets make for some great shots of these
graceful and rather prehistoric birds I would be very cautious about
entering these rookeries and would suggest trying to get pictures of birds
perched outside of there, flying overhead, or fishing on nearby wetlands
and waterways. Some of my best pictures of herons (now only on slide film)
were taken from a "muskrat hut" blind. This can be built with a truck
inner tube, PVC or other frame, and camouflage covering, and then wear
waders to move around in a wetland. It is amazing how close you can
approach birds this way. However, I often did this in early spring - like
this time of year - and had to wear long underwear, insulated pants,
several pairs of wool socks and then barely fit into my waders. Even then
I would lose feeling in my feet after an hour or so. But the effort is
worth it and greatly reduces disturbance to your subject while producing
amazing results.
Good luck,
Bill Volkert
FdL Co
On Fri, Apr 9, 2021 at 10:47 AM Joe Luedtke <onaturalist@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
All,
Iâm sure if you live in SE Wisconsin youâve seen the Great Blue Heron
Rookery off of 94 just east of the Johnson Creek exit. Iâd like to try and
photograph them. Is there any access points to the rookery? It seems to
be next to or in the Johnson Creek Landfill.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Joe Luedtke
Wauwatosa, WI
Milwaukee Country
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