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

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.