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Activity at the Cub Creek Heron Colony north of Jordan Lake



I am once again monitoring activity at the Cub Creek
Heron Colony just north of Jordan Lake off of
Fearrington Road (S.R. 1008).  The colony is much
smaller this year.

Last year at this time there were 50 active Great Blue
Heron nests, and the first five chicks were hatched in
the week before April 11th.

I started monitoring this year on Feb. 9th, at which
time there seemed to be 33 nests left in fairly good
shape from the previous year, and several adult herons
were in the process of fixing up a few of them.
On March 22nd I counted 26 nests.  This morning (April
6th), 6 of those nests had been abandoned, with only a
few remnant twigs remaining.  There are now 20 active
nests, with 23 adult herons in attendance at the time
I visited (11:00 a.m.).  The adults were sitting on 11
of the nests, and standing on the others.  Several
herons seemed to be poking around at the eggs, but
there was no evidence yet of any chicks. 

So, why is the colony smaller this year?  Perhaps
there is some dispersal of nesting sites, as new ones
seem to be reported regularly on Carolinabirds. 
Perhaps the quality of nesting trees at this site is
deteriorating over time.  The large dead trees which
have most of the nests are definitely deteriorating
with most of the bark off now, and many limbs falling,
and even some whole trees have collapsed.  Perhaps it
is the incredible impact of the beavers.  The
environment has clearly changed, with much of the area
now in a stagnant, swampy condition.  Predators?  I
noted a large group of Black Vultures hanging around
last summer.  The only Black Vultures seen today were
in the distance.  Most of the abandoned or now missing
nests were at the periphery of the colony, which is
now more tightly bunched.

Still, it was a wonderful Spring morning, and I
counted 25 species of birds from my vantage point at
the edge of the swamp.  The loudest and most
persistent were the Ovenbirds calling from several
locations around the swamp.

Alan Johnston
Chapel Hill


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