Herons

I saw what I think was the first black-crowned night heron to arrive at Lincoln Park this afternoon. Black-crowned night herons are endangered in Illinois, but there are a couple of nesting colonies in Lincoln Park, one in the Children's Zoo at Lincoln Park Zoo and one farther south.

Originally, there was a small colony on the island in South Pond. The Zoo staff, being very conservation minded, immediately set it up as a sanctuary, with signage on the boardwalk and everything. The herons, as perverse as any other creature, decided they liked the red wolf habitat in the Children's Zoo better -- they seem to prefer nesting in somewhat spindly trees, such as birches, which I find odd -- they're fairly clumsy clambering around the branches. In the beginning, there were maybe eight or ten nesting pairs, making a racket and dropping guano all over the place. Over the past few years the population has grown until they've pretty much taken over the Children's Zoo during nesting season -- if you want to visit the Children's Zoo in the summer, you'll find it wise to take an umbrella.

At any rate, it looks like they're back (although it's a bit early, I think).