Most of the eBird reports of Yellow-crowned Night Heron in the Cayuga Lake Basin have been of juveniles in the summer.
There is one report of an adult in April 2009 seen on a single day next to the Clyde River at Mays point, Town of Tyre. There is also a report of one adult on private property in Waterloo from late March through the end of June 2006. Other than the Freeville sightings, that is all there is for springtime or for adult birds. To me, it seems likely that an adult would only stay for the spring (as 2006 in Waterloo) or show up repeatedly in spring and be seen various months (as in Freeville) if it was breeding. It would be very cool to verify breeding for the Atlas. But, it would only be cool if the bird(s) aren’t disrupted. I recall when a juvenile was found by the marina at Taughannock Falls State Park. It spent a long time up in a tree while satisfied birders stood nearby below, talking to each other and no longer even looking at the bird. It wasn’t until the people drifted away that the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron came back down to the grassy shore of the marina and resumed devouring Crayfish. Was the bird tolerant of people? Only kinda. It was hungry, and loath to leave a good food source, and keeping a safe distance. A bird that stays in a tree may just be waiting for the people to leave (as non-birders do) so it can get on with its business. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron is noted for being more nocturnal than the Black-crowned Night-Heron and for specializing in eating crabs. In MD I’ve seen adult Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in April wading in a creek in daytime. As Lea wrote, she has seen one in Fall Creek eating a Crayfish. Why would it leave the creek to eat worms on a field during daytime? Maybe high water made feeding in the creek difficult. Maybe to get enough food for breeding - egg laying, or feeding while taking a shift off from incubating, or feeding young. The satellite view of the area in Google Maps seems to show a lot of wild undeveloped land along & near Fall Creek, so a mate on a nest could be anywhere within half a mile, yet that playing field has been attractive to it lately. Please give it space. And if you prowl around looking for a mate or a nest, again please give them space. Please, if you find a nest, take the quick bad photo, don’t approach more, & leave promptly. If there is a way to watch a nest through a scope from a long distance, that would be way to do it. Also, if anyone wants to compare the markings & plumage in all the recent Freeville photos to see if it’s actually 2 birds, that would be cool. - - Dave Nutter > On Apr 26, 2023, at 9:11 PM, Dave Nutter <nutter.d...@me.com> wrote: > > Yellow-crowned Night-Heron is rarely reported in the Cayuga Lake Basin > generally and in Tompkins County specifically. However, there have been > several reports in recent years from Fall Creek in the Freeville area, two of > which were verified with photographs and accepted by eBird: In May 2021 an > adult was seen in Mill Dam Park very near to this location, and in June 2021 > an adult was seen along Fall Creek adjacent to Groton Avenue Park. It’s > possible the species is regular there and just hasn’t been noticed much. > > - - Dave Nutter > >> On Apr 26, 2023, at 7:31 PM, Fred Rimmel <fredrim...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> A yellow crowned night heron was seen about 7:00 pm at Groton Avenue Park in >> Freeville. I would appreciate knowing how common they are in this area? >> >> Fred Rimmel >> -- >> >> 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/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ >> >> -- >> -- 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/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
