Posted by Jack Graham on March 17, 2006 at 10:58 PM
Folks,
I was driving over towards the park this afternoon ( CVNP) . The herons are back!!!!!---AND ARE THEY!!! I counted over 125 birds in nests in this rookery. ( I bet there's probably close to 200, much more than last year)
The rookery is very very close to the south entrance of the CVNP, on Bath Road between Riverview Road & Akron-Peninsula Road. Cut & Paste this link for some more information.
The birds come back sometime in late Feb (depending on the weather) & sometimes stay until mid-late June.
The nests are in trees within 50-100 yards of the road. There is pullout to park ( some nests even kind of overhang Bath Road).
It's so cool to watch the males fly in ( just like airplanes--base, downwind & final approach!) with twigs etc. in their mouths adding to the nests left over from past years.
Photography isn't as easy as I may be making it sound. There is a 5-8' fence on the south side of Bath Road, protecting the marsh where the trees & wetlands are ( the Cuyahoga River is right across the street) There are mucho power lines that follow the side of the road that the nests are on.
However, there is great potential for silhouette photography early in the AM ( you are looking South east from where you park so it's a morning shot if you want some color in the sky. White sky makes for bad photography here.
You can get some tight shots using a 500mm or higher lens and maybe a 1.5 teleconverter.
If you have any questions email me.
PS--There were a pair or Bald Eagles about 20 miles north in the Brecksville Reservation adjacent to the CVNP nesting by the Cuyahoga River last month. You may have heard about them. Well, they haven't been seen for 2-3 weeks now and are probably on the way to greener ( & more productive) pastures. All the locals & park rangers were all excited thinking they were going to hang out & nest here! NO WAY... there's just too many people in this area and it's not a place that I would think eagles were going to make a home. Anyhow, it is good to see that the river and surroundings are at least conducive to encourage them to hang out for a few weeks on the way to where ever they are going. I got really spoiled seeing & photographing eagles out west when I lived there and though we are making progress, this area should not( and is just too crowded) expect eagles to return here, and stay for any length of time. But.... you never know!
CHECK OUT THE HERONS THOUGH1! They are really cool!
Email me if you have questions!
Jack
Posted by Josh Anderson on March 20, 2006 at 11:19 AM
I just emailed you!
Posted by Josh Anderson on March 28, 2006 at 5:59 PM
I know, I know dull sky and there is a stick in front of one of the herons, but it was a pretty cool experience regardless. Thanks for the great weekend, Jack!
Posted by Jack Graham on April 25, 2006 at 10:12 PM
They are here in abundance now, but since the trees are getting foliage they are harder to shoot. If you are going to the park check them out.
Discussion
3 repliesI was driving over towards the park this afternoon ( CVNP) . The herons are back!!!!!---AND ARE THEY!!! I counted over 125 birds in nests in this rookery. ( I bet there's probably close to 200, much more than last year)
The rookery is very very close to the south entrance of the CVNP, on Bath Road between Riverview Road & Akron-Peninsula Road. Cut & Paste this link for some more information.
http://tripsoflife.blogspot.com/2005/06/heronry-in-bath.html
The birds come back sometime in late Feb (depending on the weather) & sometimes stay until mid-late June.
The nests are in trees within 50-100 yards of the road. There is pullout to park ( some nests even kind of overhang Bath Road).
It's so cool to watch the males fly in ( just like airplanes--base, downwind & final approach!) with twigs etc. in their mouths adding to the nests left over from past years.
Photography isn't as easy as I may be making it sound. There is a 5-8' fence on the south side of Bath Road, protecting the marsh where the trees & wetlands are ( the Cuyahoga River is right across the street) There are mucho power lines that follow the side of the road that the nests are on.
However, there is great potential for silhouette photography early in the AM ( you are looking South east from where you park so it's a morning shot if you want some color in the sky. White sky makes for bad photography here.
You can get some tight shots using a 500mm or higher lens and maybe a 1.5 teleconverter.
If you have any questions email me.
PS--There were a pair or Bald Eagles about 20 miles north in the Brecksville Reservation adjacent to the CVNP nesting by the Cuyahoga River last month. You may have heard about them. Well, they haven't been seen for 2-3 weeks now and are probably on the way to greener ( & more productive) pastures. All the locals & park rangers were all excited thinking they were going to hang out & nest here! NO WAY... there's just too many people in this area and it's not a place that I would think eagles were going to make a home. Anyhow, it is good to see that the river and surroundings are at least conducive to encourage them to hang out for a few weeks on the way to where ever they are going. I got really spoiled seeing & photographing eagles out west when I lived there and though we are making progress, this area should not( and is just too crowded) expect eagles to return here, and stay for any length of time. But.... you never know!
CHECK OUT THE HERONS THOUGH1! They are really cool!
Email me if you have questions!
Jack
JG