York, PA rookery

[Linda Dulak]

Has anyone been to the York rookery of black-crowned night herons this year? Would appreciate any information on number of birds and size of chicks. Any branchers yet?

We went last year and got some nice photographs, although birds are normally quite high in the trees.

Linda

[Will Webster]

Linda, is that Kiwanis Lake? I've heard of it but never made it out there. Some cooperative BCNHs have been popping up at Wildwood Lake in Harrisburg recently.

[Linda Dulak]

Yes, the one a Kiwanis Lake, the last place you would ever expect to find such a rookery. It's in the middle of town, busy highways on 3 sides and a very busy park in the middle. But the birds love it and last year there were about 40 pairs nesting there along with a couple of great egrets. Neat place. You have to get there early to catch any action. But it's fun to wait until about noon to see the change in activity. All the birds take a siesta beginning about 11 am.

Linda

[Will Webster]

Thanks Linda. We'll have to get out there this season. Have you ever been to the Wade Island rookery? You're not allowed to land but you can paddle a canoe around the island. Lots of Great Egrets, Black Crowned Night Herons, and Cormorants nesting.

Will

[Linda Dulak]

Will: No we've never been to Wade Island. Just where is that located.

We live on the Eastern Shore of MD and York is about 2+ hours away from us, so we don't get there very often.

Linda

[Will Webster]

Linda, Wade Island is in the Susquehanna River at Harrisburg. It and Kiwanis Lake are the only BCNH rookeries in Pennsyvania. It also has a lot of Great Egret and Cormorant nests. I was there this morning and there was a lot of action; the youngsters are about ready to fledge.

We go down to Delmarva a couple times a year for the birding; If I lived there I don't think I'd drive up here for that.

Will

[Linda Dulak]

Thanks. when you come to Delmarva, where do you go birding?

Linda

[Will Webster]

Linda, sorry for the delayed response; I haven't been here in a few days.

We like to go to Blackwater NWR and to Bombay Hook. Chincoteague is great, but it's a pretty long trip for us so we've only done it once so far.

Will

[Linda Dulak]

Will: Just a note to tell you that the wildlife drive at Blackwater is closed for 2 months while they do repair work. Should open late Aug or early Sept.

Have you gone from Blackwater to Assateague? It's closer than Chincoteague, but much the same, including the wild ponies.

Linda

[Will Webster]

Linda, thanks for the heads-up. We haven't gone to the north end of Assateague yet. The one time we went we stayed in Chincoteague and visited the NWR for a couple of days, also paddled around a bit. It was Easter weekend a couple of years ago and there were a lot of Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons, and Glossy Ibis - none of which are normally found around home. We spent a couple of days at Pokomoke on the way back and paddled there; got some good Osprey and landscape shots.

Any other places we should be going down that way?

Will

[Linda Dulak]

Will: Eastern Neck Island NWR is a good place to photograph ospreys. There are several nests along the way to the refuge and several others on the refuge which are very accessible. There are several areas where there are good opportunities for smaller birds. And if you are really into these small birds, the brown headed nuthatch nests there. In the winter it's a good place to see lots of terns and tundra swans. The swans are often quite a ways offshore and hunters just across the water from the refuge makes them move off to deeper water for much of the time. But when conditions are right, it's awesome.

Another interesting spot is on the road to Eastern Neck. It's owned by DuPont and is one of their research farms, called Chesapeake farms. You can do a Google search and see the web site. They have a wildlife tour through it which is open in the spring and summer up to the opening of hunting season in the fall. It has a road along many ponds surrounded by farmland. There are times when the waterfowl arrive that you can see large numbers of birds and many species. There was damage this year with some high winds and osprey nests on one of the ponds were toppled. There are also nesting eagles on the property and they sometimes are found perching nearby. But for eagles we go to Conowingo.

These are both within 10 miles of our home,so we are most familiar with them.

Linda