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
>>
>>
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