Some will recognize this as the site of one of the few inland breeding
spots for egrets in Ohio. We had a picnic at the Mound today, and found
the island in the quarry to the east hosted dozens each of cormorants,
great blue herons, and great egrets. Thick vegetation made it harder
than usual to assess numbers, but what I could count were a predominant
number of herons.
        Interestingly, while the few larger trees were dead, and cormorants and
herons continued to nest in them, a lush profusion of smaller saplings
below hosted all the egrets and some of the others. The current dogma
says that cormorants' droppings kill vegetation, but it does not seem
the case here, as the island is well-vegetated. This site is important
as a unique and well-established Ohio inland site for nesting egrets and
cormorants. These species seem to nest only on sites surrounded by
water. The herons are picky, but do not seem to require a moat to
isolate nest sites. We looked for night-herons, but could not find any:
information about these Ardeidae is much desired!
Bill Whan
Columbus

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