This is not a project of NYSOA.
This information is provided for New York birders who may encounter
marked Great Egrets.
See a project update below.
On June 17, 2002 between 11:00 am and 1:00 PM, twenty nestling Great
Egrets were banded at the heron colony on Motor Island in Niagara River
by Dr. D. V. Chip Weseloh, Wildlife Biologist for Canadian Wildlife Service-Ontario
Region, Mark Kandel, Senior Wildlife Biologist for the New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation, and myself. I had requested
that the Great Egrets be color banded in the hope that we might be able
to learn something about the post breeding dispersal and migration of
these young Great Egrets. There are many possibilities. They could migrate
east through Iroquois NWR and Montezuma NWR to the Atlantic Flyway. On
July 28, 2002 one egret banded this way was observed in the Finger Lakes
region of Region 2.
Please look for Great Egrets with leg bands above the "knee"
of the left leg that are RED WITH WHITE LETTER(S) AND NUMBERS. They also
have the traditional aluminum bands on the right leg above the "ankle."
If you see any please, if possible record the letter(s) and numbers.
Note: Dr. Weseloh also banded Great Egrets
with red leg bands in 2001 on islands in eastern Lake Ontario. See the
2001 Double-crested Cormorants, Great Black-backed
Gulls, and Great Egrets banding page for more information.
Report all sightings of Great Egrets with red color bands to at least
one of the following locations:
D. V. Chip Weseloh
Canadian Wildlife Service-Ontario Region
4905 Dufferin St.
Downsview, Ontario
M3H 5T4
Phone: 416-739-5846
and/or
Mark Kandel
NYSDEC
270 Michigan Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14203
Phone (716) 851-7010
Thank you,
Bill Watson
Tonawanda, NY |
PROJECT UPDATE
from
Bill Watson on NYSBIRDS-L on September 10, 2002:
[Since the twenty Great Egret nestlings were banded,] there have been
FOUR REPORTS of Great Egrets with red leg bands in NEW YORK STATE: The
first was received July 27 from Jim Kimball of a Great Egret with a Red
Leg Band matching a Motor Island code at Cuylerville, NY in Livingston
County. August 8 a red banded egret was observed in Lancaster, NY in Erie
County. On September 1 (Brenda Best) and September 2 (Mike Morgante) recorded
the number-letters on the red band of a Great Egret in the Mays Point
Pool at Montezuma NWR.
Please continue to look for Great Egrets with leg bands as described
above and report any sightings.
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