Information for Angeline

There is a pdf from Washington state department of Fish and Wildlife posted here, on management recommendations for Great Blue Herons. Scroll down a few posts and you'll see the link.

That bulletin says that herons will use the tallest trees available to inhibit mammal predation (I've seen raccons climb trees in my ravine to eat eggs), and the current nests are indeed in tall trees.The longer a rookery has been in use, the better the nesting success of the birds.

The bulletin also recommends a 300-meter buffer (meaning no human activity) around rookeries during the breeding season (February 15 to July 31), but there is a lot of activity, such as cars and construction, within 300 m of the current rookery. In fact, the nearest house is probaby within 50 meters of a nest.

The bulletin closes with this final statement: "Great blue herons that have experienced few disturbances may not tolerate human activities near their colonies. However, great blue herons that have been frequently or consistently exposed to disturbance may be more tolerant of human disturbances."