Niagara Falls Ontario Great Egret Colony Since May 20th I have been monitoring the progress of the Great Egret Colony in the Niagara River on the small islands above Niagara Falls. On July 28th when I observed the Great Egret Colony above the Horseshoe Falls from Three Sisters Island, Goat Island, New York, I could see as many as seven Great Egrets and more importantly three of them were crouched on a nest and were nearly full size nestlings. It was raining and not the best observing conditions, and I relized that I should return under more favorable conditions. On August 1st (between 12:19 and 12:44 PM) I again observed the Great Egret Colony from Three Sisters Island. The three Great Egret nestlings were very active with strong wing flaps combined with jumping up and down, but not showing the ability to hover. They still had down on their heads. One of the nestlings had wandered onto a branch about two feet above the nest. I also observed a maximum of three adult egrets on the colony, but most of the time during the study period there was only one or two adults. Although egrets usually nest on the leeward side of islands, I decided to go to Canada and observe. Viewing just north of the Engineerium Building (an historic landmark) (1:44 to 1:55 PM) I could see 15 Common Mergansers, 297 elegantly prehistoric looking Double-crested Cormorants, and an adult Great Egret standing over a nest with what looked like about two inactive downy Great Egret nestlings. I then made several observations from just north of the Engineerium to about fifty meters north of the Engineerium. At a position about 30 meters north of the Engineerium I could see above the south corner of the sunken barge and below the Double-crested Cormorant nests, a Great Egret nest with four mid-size nestlings. Below this nest was a second Great Egret nest containing three smaller and very active downy nestlings. Although I realize that observational duplication is possible, I think (because of the numbers and ages of the nestlings) that I viewed four active Great Egret nests with a total of twelve nestlings. Best Wishes for Great Birding, Bill Watson Buffalo Ornithological Society
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