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Lake Chabot, CA - continued below the orange Heron's nest
I've been reporting on the Great Blue Heron Rookery, or what's left of it after the Eagles took up residence nearby. Lake Chabot is where Oakland, San Leandro and Castro Valley all abut (in California). In summary - the long standing nesting colony abandoned its established rookery when Bald Eagles began nesting nearby and overflying the rookery on their way to and from hunting. One pair, however, set up a new nest on a small island in another part of the lake. The pair produced 3 juveniles.
It appears that all 3 have fledged. There were still 3 juveniles as of about 10 days ago, and at that age, they are pretty likely to survive most natural occurrences. As of Thursday the 14th, only one was sighted, hanging out in the vicinity of the nest, but never in it. On the 16th, two were spotted, fully flighted and flying around in the vicinity of the nest, but also never in it. Our conclusion is therefore:
June 14, 2012, all 3 Great Blue Heron "chicks" have fledged.
So, what is going on in your vicinity, and whereabouts are you. As usual, please post your observations of nature's activities in the comments. thanks.