Re: [SBB] Heron and Egret Question PA Baylands

[Bill Bousman <[[email protected]]>]

Folks:

Black-crowned Night-Herons are regular customers at the Palo Alto 
dump across from the Duck Pond.  I guess that means they feed on human food.

Bill

At 03:29 PM 4/27/2007, [[email protected]] wrote:
>Good afternoon all...
>
>I decided to take a quick run over to PA Baylands to collect some 
>Black-crowned Night Heron shells to show the difference in size 
>between Great Blue Heron shells for the Salute to Great Blue Heron 
>day tomorrow at Vasona....so while at the baylands I was watching 
>the Snowy Egrets, Black-crowned Night Herons and one Great Egret 
>when a Black-crowned chick caught my eye...it was making its way 
>down the palm tree on the cut off palm fronds stumps....I knew it 
>was not a good idea for this chick to be that far out of its 
>nest....when all of a sudden it fell to the ground (did you hear me 
>scream?).... I was just so upset... I went over to the Ranger's 
>office and the Ranger on call was just a doll...he came over and 
>made a rescue of the chick....but while I was getting the Ranger 
>another chick fell out of the nest....by the time I got back to the 
>palm tree I could see the Crows pecking at that bird, it had 
>died.  The Ranger was telling me that when they go to rescue a chick 
>usually all the adult birds fly up from the nest (or the trees) and 
>more chicks could fall to the ground.  The Ranger entered the area 
>by the palm trees and up went Snowys, the one Great Egret and some 
>Black-crowned Night Herons....luckily no other chicks fell....The 
>ranger was telling me how aggressive the Snowy Egrets are.... and 
>that they will push other chicks out of the nests....
>
>The Ranger got the BCNH chick (about three weeks old) and while he 
>was taking him out of the net (and putting him in the container) the 
>chick regurgitated the contents of its stomach....amazing....there 
>was a hard bone (the size of a small rock, the Ranger thought it was 
>some type of fish bone) and then the heron brought up what we both 
>thought was the skin of a chicken (rather a large piece).  Only 
>thing I could think of (and please help me here) was that the adult 
>BCNH got this from the one of the picnic areas where the bar-b-ques 
>would be ...someone may have dropped a piece of chicken and left it 
>and the heron picked it up.  Would that be possible?  I have seen 
>pictures of rehabbers feeding cut up chick to GBHEs...not 
>successfully... Can anyone tell me if they have seen or know of 
>egrets or herons eating human food?
>
>Okay, I am glad that the chick will be going to the Wildlife Center 
>of Silicon Valley...There is another chick in the bush right in 
>front of the palm trees....photogrpahers told me that it had been 
>there for days and that the parent comes to feed it!  Didn't know 
>that herons and egrets feed young out of the nests? Any ideas on this?
>
>Okie dokie...enjoy this beautiful weekend....
>
>Good birding and my best regards,
>Linda Sullivan
>
>
>
>
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