Hi Ontbirders, Linda McLaren and I spent the first few hours of daylight today in the area of the Luther Marsh egret roost; she was counting egrets and I was looking for wing-tagged birds. She counted 320 egrets leaving the roost around sunrise. This is the largest numbers we have ever counted at Luther; the previous high count was 304 from 2009. This is also the largest egret roost known in Canada. I was able to identify 5 wing-tagged birds (green wing tags): 3 had been banded earlier this year, as young of the year, at Nottawasaga Island near Collingwood and two had been similarly banded at Chantry Island near Southampton.
Tina Knezevic and I had counted egrets coming into to the roost last Monday evening and tallied 285, 22 of which were tagged but we were only able to read 4 of the tags. All four of those tagged birds had come from Nottawasaga. So there are a lot of tagged birds in the area to be seen. For Ontbirders who may want to see these egrets and search for tags, I recommend two locations at Luther. It is quite difficult to read the tags when the birds are in the roost; they sit too low in the bushes. Viewing is much better after they have dispersed out in the AM and are foraging locally. Once at the main Roost Parking Lot, see below, follow the trail/path under a barred gate until you come to a large cairn marking the "Monticello Project". Immediately to the left of this is a 6-7' dirt Mound from which you can view a favoured egret foraging area. Four of today's tagged birds were easily visible from there. The other viewing area is at what we call "The Roadside Swamp" See below. Directions: From the town of Grand Valley, approximately 20 km west of Orangeville, take highway 25 north out of town until you come to a sign with a large "C" for the Luther Conservation area (Concession 6/7), turn left, go to it's end where you have to turn right (Sideroad 21/22). Approximately 1.9 km up this road, on your left, is the Roadside Swamp. We have seen up to 87 egrets foraging in this area. Continue on for approx 2.0 km, past the main entrance and over a small bridge, and on your left will be an in-drive to a small (3 car) parking lot. This is the main roost parking lot. Follow the path/trail from here to get to the Cairn Mound. The roost is another 200m or so down the path, among many dead trees (with GBHE nests) and bushes, as it turns to the left. Please send me the number-letter combinations of any wing-tags you are able to identify. Good egretting. Chip D.V. Chip Weseloh, PhD. Senior Population Assessment Biologist Canadian Wildlife Service ON Environmental Stewardship Branch Environment Canada 4905 Dufferin St. Toronto (Ontario) M3H 5T4 [email protected] Telephone 416-739-5846 Facsimilie 416-739-5845 Government of Canada Website www.ec.gc.ca D.V. Chip Weseloh, PhD. Biologist Evaluation des populations Conservation des Populations Service canadien de la faune ON Direction générale de l'intendance environnementale Environnement Canada 4905 rue Dufferin Toronto (Ontario) M3H 5T4 [email protected] Téléphone 416-739-5846 Télécopieur 416-739-5845 Gouvernement du Canada Site Web www.ec.gc.ca _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
