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S 4 eh E2% £2 SEASIN TP SA AREAS SEE FERRIC NANE TS SEEL RRS AE See ' : y - 2 4 vg The Great Blue Heron is not becoming extint Birds return to Scugog Island every ap by Valerie MacDonald The Great Blue Heron is a prehistoric looking bird found in and around Lake Scugog and many other Ontario Lakes, In flight its dangling feet and slow wing motion make it look like it will drop out of the sky at any moment. Once, the Kawarthas had two large heronries (nesting sites) -- one on Scugog Island and the other near Rice Lake, twenty miles south east of Peterborough. Now they have spread into many locations. Cathy Donnelly is a grad- uate of the University of Toronto in her first year of a Masters programme in Biology. Her thesis is the co-relation between vegeta- tion and soil and the effect of the Great Blue Heron droppings on them. Since April she has been mapping flora and fauna on the site of the Lake Scugog heronry and believes this is the first "intense study of its kind in Canada." Donnelly has observed, like others familiar with the nesting habit of the birds, that once the heron builds one of its stick nests in the tall 50-80 foot beech, maple or ash trees, a circle of vegetation around the base of the tree dies . . . and then in a few years the tree itself. This means a great loss of timber in heronry locations and property owners do not always favour the bird be- cause of it. At Rice Lake a former owner of the heronry site there, Everett Elmhurst asked for government com- pensation for the loss. Instead he was given a per- mit to Kill the birds. Being a conservationist Elmhurst never used it. (The Heron is protected by law under the Migratory Birds Convention Act). Donnelly says there are more than 200 colonies in Ontario ranging from two or At one time there were two major nesting areas like this in the Kawarthas, including one on Scugog Island. However, there are now numerous smaller "nesting areas in this region. "lus QUEEN STREET, PORT PERRY IS offering JEWELLERY APPRAISALS --WHILE YOU WAIT -- SAT., SEPT. 25th Member of the LIMITED jewellers association three nests to several hun- dred. Still, their appearance in the spring as they migrate to their nesting sites here is always the cause for dis- cussion. Doris Williams and her husband Murray live south of concession nine on Pine Point road near the Scugog Island heronry and recall the yearly return: 2"They'll come back in a blizzard (from their southern winter homes in Panama, Venezuela, Col- ombia, Georgia and the Carolines; . they don't come all at once... Two will fly back and sit up in the top of a tree with the wind blowing . . . you wonder how they exist." This usually happens in the last week of March each year no matter what the weather. Donnelly counted about 135 nesting pairs on Scugog Island this year and although they nest in a community, they feed alone. Nests are made of twigs and no mud or lining is employed. It almost looks like the eggs -- usually three to five in number and of a soft green-blue colour -- will fall right out. The nests are at the top of the trees where the adults can fly in and out without getting caught in branches. Standing forty to fifty inches and a three foot wing span, they travel up to forty miles a day in search of food. The Great Blue Herons eat frogs, fish, water snakes, small rodents and some insects. Food is ingested and then regurgitated for the young when they return to the nest. Doris Williams says the birds make a great racket at night fighting over who gets the most food: "They don't share their food very well . . . they push each other out of the nest." In a recent U.S. study, according to the project manager of the Otonabee Region Conservation Authority, Terry Murphy, it was also found that when the birds became frightened, the mortality rate rises, as the young commit suicide by leaping from their nests. In past years tourists have been a regular occurrence here and in other heronry sites during the nesting season and perhaps it has been detrimental to their survival. However, says Murphy, "The Great Blue Heron is not becoming extinct." When Herons feed they use their beaks much like a spear to catch fish and wade _ around on their stilt like legs . . . they can often be seen sitting on docks (or some- times even patios) waiting quietly for their food to swim by. As the summer ends the herons pack up and leave; few stay after the freeze up. But before their departure during the nesting season when visitors are in the .. heronry, an umbrella is much needed. The ground is white-washed from the highly acidic droppings which saturate the earth and Kill the vegetation within the area. Murray Williams speaks fondly of the young and says watching them learning to i | PARI TRNAS VERE Wl SPN ANTE SIN Pa +o SS indie la) gid Sage PORT PERRY STAR -- Tues. September 21, 1982 -- 21 With its huge wing span and long gangling legs, the Blue Heron may look awkward at times, especially when settling in after a landing. But when in flight, this magnificent bird moves fluidly through the air. fly is entertaining: "They have an awful time learning to fly . . . they flop all over as badly as Kids. When they are in the air they hardly even miss the tops of the trees they are flying over." In fact some birds don't make it and the bodies of young birds are often seen hanging from their necks in the forks of trees. The Great Blue Heron is a symbol of times past, and as The they fly across the water with the sky as a backdrop these interesting birds cause all who see them to stop and marvel. 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