A siege of Nankeen Night- Herons, Yanco, NSW

Over the years I have seen the odd Nankeen Night-Heron up and down Oz but usually alone and skulking along a river bank. Yesterday we saw a “siege” (collective noun for herons, according to Wiki) of NNHs.

At Yanco just south of Leeton, NSW there is a weir on the Murrumbidgee. In dry seasons it’s a dam to feed water into the MIA but now it’s a weir and feeds overflow into a loop of the river. At about 3.30 pm a pair of NNH’s flew into a tree about 200m downstream from the weir. By the time we left half an hour later we counted up to 100 birds had arrived at the roost and more were arriving every minute. About one third were juveniles and conditions in this neck of the woods are excellent at the moment.

I know herons are colonial birds but is this odd or are there large Nankeen Night-Heron roosts up and down the inland rivers?

Chris Gregory ===============================

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2 comments to A siege of Nankeen Night- Herons, Yanco, NSW

  • David James

    Chris,   apologies for mixing up your name in my quick post eralier. I really should know better!  

    David James, Sydney burunglaut07@yahoo.com ==============================

    Sent: Monday, 15 August 2011 1:50 PM

    Hi Greg,   I counted 150 Nankeen Night Herons (67%) in June camped in Coolabahs on Marra Creek, (Tributary of the Bogan River), Williewarina Station (North of Nyngan) NSW in June. I reckon there might be hundreds of such events in western NSW this season.    David James, Sydney burunglaut07@yahoo.com ==============================

    Sent: Sunday, 14 August 2011 10:16 PM

    Over the years I have seen the odd Nankeen Night-Heron up and down Oz but usually alone and skulking along a river bank. Yesterday we saw a “siege” (collective noun for herons, according to Wiki) of NNHs.

    At Yanco just south of Leeton, NSW there is a weir on the Murrumbidgee. In dry seasons it’s a dam to feed water into the MIA but now it’s a weir and feeds overflow into a loop of the river. At about 3.30 pm a pair of NNH’s flew into a tree about 200m downstream from the weir. By the time we left half an hour later we counted up to 100 birds had arrived at the roost and more were arriving every minute. About one third were juveniles and conditions in this neck of the woods are excellent at the moment.

    I know herons are colonial birds but is this odd or are there large Nankeen Night-Heron roosts up and down the inland rivers?

    Chris Gregory ===============================

    To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)

    http://birding-aus.org =============================== ===============================

    To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)

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    To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)

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  • David James

    Hi Greg,   I counted 150 Nankeen Night Herons (67%) in June camped in Coolabahs on Marra Creek, (Tributary of the Bogan River), Williewarina Station (North of Nyngan) NSW in June. I reckon there might be hundreds of such events in western NSW this season.    David James, Sydney burunglaut07@yahoo.com ==============================

    Sent: Sunday, 14 August 2011 10:16 PM

    Over the years I have seen the odd Nankeen Night-Heron up and down Oz but usually alone and skulking along a river bank. Yesterday we saw a “siege” (collective noun for herons, according to Wiki) of NNHs.

    At Yanco just south of Leeton, NSW there is a weir on the Murrumbidgee. In dry seasons it’s a dam to feed water into the MIA but now it’s a weir and feeds overflow into a loop of the river. At about 3.30 pm a pair of NNH’s flew into a tree about 200m downstream from the weir. By the time we left half an hour later we counted up to 100 birds had arrived at the roost and more were arriving every minute. About one third were juveniles and conditions in this neck of the woods are excellent at the moment.

    I know herons are colonial birds but is this odd or are there large Nankeen Night-Heron roosts up and down the inland rivers?

    Chris Gregory ===============================

    To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)

    http://birding-aus.org =============================== ===============================

    To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)

    http://birding-aus.org ===============================