June 18, 2015Macedonia Bottoms Heronry,Forked Deer River Bottoms, Hwy 104Gibson
County
Yesterday, a non-birding but outdoors friend of mine and I took a boat and went
into the swamp in the Macedonia Bottoms to check on the heron & egret nesting
colony that has been active for a few years now. While we were putting the boat
in I noticed that there was not a lot of activity in the area of the colony but
with all the trees it is difficult to see into the area. After the boat was in
the water and we got to where we could see, we were very disappointed at the
lack of birds. There were lots of nests but very few birds. We saw maybe 10
Great Blue Herons, despite the fact that there are probably 300 nests in the
trees. No Great Egrets. No Anhingas. No Double-crested Cormorants. Where were
they? Last year we went into the colony on July 17 and there were birds
everywhere with 16 Anhingas. Now a full month earlier this year, there should
have been lots of activity, but there wasn't. What happened?
I had my first Anhinga on April 10 and the last time I saw Anhingas there this
year was May 7. I had noticed that in the last couple of weeks that there were
less herons and egrets coming and going into the colony area in the bottoms but
I though that maybe they were just going a different direction to disperse and
feed. I thought back over what I had witnessed in the area of the colony this
spring and I have a theory on what happened. Several times back in April and
May when I visited the colony there were lots of Fish Crows (and a few American
Crows) there. A couple of times I could hear loud, raucous calls from the
herons and egrets and constant calling from the Fish Crows like there was a
fight going on. The loud calls would attract more Fish Crows and even though I
couldn't actually see what was going on I would guess that the crows were
raiding the nests in the colony of eggs. Fish Crows are known nest robbers and
will take the eggs of many other species and there are almost always Fish Crows
in the bottoms and we heard a few there yesterday. There was no other evidence
of any other kind of disturbance - nests were still intact so it wasn't a storm
or winds that caused the colony to be mostly abandoned. I can only surmise that
it was the constant harassment and depredation from the crows that caused the
birds to leave. It was disappointing to see this and I have no idea where they
might have moved to but I will keep an eye out in the river bottoms in the
area. It was nice to have Anhingas nesting in my home county for a short while,
maybe they will return.
Good birding,
Mark GreeneTrenton, TN
