4 / August 2023 The South Marysburgh Mirror Natural South Marysburgh Great Egrets Nesting in County There often is some dispute as to the correct name for the island that lies off Prince Edward Point. Is it False Duck Island or is it Swetman Island? Technically, it is correctly Swetman Island, reflecting the surname of the first two lighthouse keepers to serve there, but almost everyone refers to the island as False Duck Island. Swetman Island is really part of the False Duck group of islands, which also includes nearby Timber Island. Together they make up The False Ducks. Whatever you choose to call it, there are new residents now on the island. Nestled in a grove of trees to escape the writhing mass of Double-crested Cormorants, is a handful of nesting Great Egrets. They have joined a small colony of Black-crowned Night-herons that also call the island their home, equally perturbed by the expanding population of cormorants. The Great Egrets were found by photographer Cathy Caley and her husband, Eric, of West Lake, four years ago during one of their boat excursions to the island. On June 20" of that year, Cathy and Eric were watching the small colony of Black-crowned Night-herons when they spotted three Great Egret pairs nesting, each of the nests containing three or four baby egrets. This sighting became the very first confirmed nesting record for Prince Edward County of this once southern species, alt- hough adult individuals have appeared in the County since 1949, likely overshooting their destination during their spring migration. - Photos by Cathy Caley The bird has experienced a rather challenging existence in its history. In the southern United States where this bird com- monly occurred, sadly it was reduced in numbers in the early 1900s by hunters who killed it for its long plumes for the milli- nery trade. When this trade became illegal, the egrets recov- ered and started expanding their breeding range north—much like the Northern Cardinal, Carolina Wren and Blue-gray Gnat- catcher have done in more recent years. Great Egrets began nesting at Presqu’ile Provincial Park in 1999 and have nested yearly although the number of nests has declined from the initial 32 nests to only 11 in 2015 or so. nesting worries are over for the year, Great Egrets begin gather- ing in what is commonly referred fore heading south for the winter. It’s like a convention of sorts. The first such roost was noted 11 years ago on Indian Island in the Bay of Quinte at Trenton, but collapsed a few years later, allegedly due to the presence of cormorants. Other roosts numbering well over 100 egrets have occurred at the Hamilton Wetland (near Demorestville), Slab Creek (Hillier), and at the Ducks Unlimited impoundment at Charwell Point along the County’s South Shore. It is not clear where the egrets are roosting these days as they seem to move around a lot. However, to finally have Great Egrets in our County as a nesting species, is a real treat. Let’s hope the cormorants of the False Ducks give them some peace. Terry Sprague is a County field naturalist who lives on Big Island. His website on nature in the county can be found at www.naturestuff.net and he can be reached at tsprague@xplornet.com Terry and Christie—