Some changes have been made at the Shrum Mound, a ~2000-year-old
undisturbed burial mound in Columbus. Recently, all the trees were
removed from the mound, some of them older hardwoods close to a foot
thick. There are several ways to appraise this; seems to me it's a
sensible way to conserve this site, which has never been dug up.
Fortunately, the conservators (they call themselves the "Ohio History
Connection" now, but they'll always be the Ohio Historical Society to
me) became aware that the mound was a good site from which nesting birds
on an island in an adjacent quarry could be observed, and some
vegetation has been removed along that sight line to make them easier to
observe from the top of the mound (~20 ft high).
        As of yesterday there is plenty to see on the island, with great blue
herons, great egrets, and double-crested cormorants still hanging
around, and who can be sure what else; in my brief observation, I
couldn't tell if any late nesting was under way. I did not see the
pairof herring gulls, but they could be on the harder-to-see western
side.Birders will remember that some years ago egrets were uncommon
migrantsin the county, but the birds' discovery of this little island
have made their nests easy to see. Blue herons will nest in trees near
to water, as will cormorants, but egrets insist upon a nest site
surrounded by water. There are only a few inland nest sites for egrets
in Ohio, and this is the largest I know of. Just search "Shrum Mound"
for a map.
Bill Whan
Columbus

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