A few years ago, when I was on campus to lecture, I stopped by Cornell's Lab of Ornithology. Everyone was excitedly grabbing scopes and running for the boardwalk overlooking the marsh behind the building. They too had a fall immature Little Blue in white plumage. Beautiful bird! Very consistent with Ali's info.
I'd love to see the Vermont representative -- but work calls! Thanks to the Worleys, Ron and Ali for the news, info and pics.
Scott
Moretown
On Sep 3, 2013, at 10:55 PM, Ian A. Worley wrote:
> Thanks Ali for this interesting info about the Little Blue Herons.
>
> There are 18 reports for Vermont in eBird. 6 spring reports, 1 summer report, and 11 fall reports. One report from the 70's, 5 reports from the 80's, 7 reports from the 90's, 2 reports from the 2000's, and so far 2 reports from the 2010's. No year looks like a "massive reverse migration".
>
> Ian
> ----------------------------------
>
>
> On 9/3/2013 10:38 PM, Alison Wagner wrote:
>> Hello Little Blue seekers!
>>
>> I just read a piece in the July/August edition of Bird Watchers Digest about Little Blues. According to Jim McCormac (jimmccormac.blogspot.com):
>>
>> "Little blue herons also engage in a fascinating 'reverse migration' in late summer. They, along with several other species of southern herons, engage in northward movements following the nesting season. These flights are unpredictable and irregular from year to year, and often the bulk of the northward wanderers are immature birds. In lean years, few if any birds travel north. Once in a great while there is a massive exodus,....." He then mentions in 1930, there were at least 1,185 individuals found throughout Ohio.
>>
>> I'd settle for ten. Or maybe just one. Good luck to everyone who dreams big for little blues! And thanks Ian (Mary, Eli) and Ron for yet another awesome report!
>>
>> Ali
>> Huntington
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Ron Payne
>> Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 8:10 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Juvenile Little Blue Heron ... Twin Bridges Dam, Weybridge
>>
>> After Ian left I went over to Twitchell Hill Rd. to try to get a closer
>> view, but as I drove down the road it took off headed to the west. I
>> went back around to Quaker Village Rd. and could see the bird perched
>> in a tree from the bridge. It stayed there for about ten minutes before
>> changing its perch to another tree, where it stayed for about another
>> five minutes before taking off and flying to the west. I drove west
>> after it looking at points where the Otter Creek is visible but wasn't
>> able to find it again.
>>
>> Here are a couple of blurry digiscoped images of the bird:
>> https://picasaweb.google.com/103744238038089080957/September32013?authuser=0&feat=directlink
>>
>> --
>> Ron Payne
>> Middlebury, VT
>>
>> On Tue, 3 Sep 2013 19:54:35 -0400, "Ian A. Worley" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> This afternoon while fishing from a canoe my wife Mary and son Eli
>>> discovered a juvenile Little Blue Heron in the shallows and waterside trees of the small lake above Twin Bridges Dam in Weybridge. Ron Payne and I rediscovered the bird this evening and had excellent views as it stood on a log well lit from the setting sun behind us. A Great Blue Heron was close by, actually looking "great" in size by contrast with the small size of the heron.
>>> The plumage was all white, the bill greyish or grey-greenish with a black tip, there was no mane, and the legs and feet were uniformly olive-greenish. Throughout the afternoon and evening it flew from location to location all within 1500 feet of the dam. Mary and Eli got quite close to it with the canoe.
>>> From land it was most easily viewed and photographed from a high, roadside location on Field Days Road about 500 feet north of Quaker Village Road. It also could be seen, at times, from Twitchell Hill Road a quarter of a mile east of Field Days Road.
>>> Photos to come.
>>> Ian
>>>
>>>
>
Scott Sainsbury
Beacon Associates
P.O. 1660
Waitsfield, Vt. 05673
802-496-9393 ext 13
802-249-0525 (mobile)
www.beaconassociates.com
|
