With some trepidation I went down to the traditional site of wintering
black-crowned night-herons on the west bank of the Olentangy just south
of the stadium, and indeed the news is not good. Fifteen to twenty birds
have traditionally been present by this date, but I could not find one.
The nearby area is gouged and fenced by OSU's never-ending construction.
  The removal of the 5th Ave dam has dropped water levels so that the
river is now less than half the former width; this in itself may not
have discouraged the roost, but likely the ravages of the bulldozers
will. The wilder river should at least prevent more construction in the
newly-exposed dry land. Later this month the CBC survey should yield
more information, but for now the area is overall repulsive. The much
lower water should freeze more readily, and I could not tell if the warm
water outflow that enabled the birds to stay all winter will help the
roost at all. The birds have in the past temporarily moved down the
river a few hundred yards, to the other side, but that bank is radically
changed as well. Years from now we may welcome a more free-flowing
river, but the night-herons may have to pay the price.
        As some sort of consolation, I noticed a soaring red-tail above one of
the twin towers as I left; a peregrine falcon dashed out from behind the
building and drove him off, then retreated to the Shrine of Every
Idolatry, the OSU football stadium, to celebrate his triumph as the home
team.
More later,
Bill Whan
Columbus

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