I stopped by there this evening and saw about ten great blue herons.
On Mon, Sep 29, 2025, 12:43 Julia Plummer <julia...> wrote:
> Hi Kelly,
>
> It looks like Karen had 25 Great Blue Herons at Fisherman's Paradise last
> night:
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Febird.org%2Fchecklist%2FS276175931&data=05%7C02%<7CSCBIRDCL...>%7C5283de9fb5f04da423c108de0074aba3%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C638948698255582462%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=dLWvMSH1dWAoKj52icJyCy4g7o3UbdJP9Qm8FhWNl0M%3D&reserved=0 > <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Febird.org%2Fchecklist%2FS276175931&data=05%7C02%<7CSCBIRDCL...>%7C5283de9fb5f04da423c108de0074aba3%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C638948698255601015%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=N8cbe61UG%2B%2BzBoKkcp5jv0%2BcTS09VDUwfQw%2BDislSpg%3D&reserved=0> >
> Maybe she can weigh in on how focused they were on counting. But they are
> likely to still be coming in to roost tonight. Maybe closer to 25 than 70.
> But I couldn't find much in terms of earlier years where people reported
> the numbers later into September and early October.
>
> Julia
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 29, 2025 at 12:30 PM Kelly Johnson <kellyacjohnson...>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi, I tried to post a couple of hours ago and can’t tell if it worked.
>> Can anyone tell me if the herons are still roosting at fisherman’s
>> paradise? Family members considered driving in today to see them.
>> Kelly
>>
>> > On Sep 10, 2025, at 10:27 AM, Julia Plummer <julia...>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> > Yesterday, we had a very successful field trip to Fisherman's Paradise
>> to observe the Great Blue Herons coming in to roost. We estimated that at
>> least 50 people came to observe the herons, which didn't disappoint.
>> Between the time I arrived (early - at 6:10PM) and when I left around 8PM,
>> at least 70 Great Blue Heron's were observed flying into the trees to
>> roost. If you didn't get to attend last night, the herons will still be
>> coming in to roost at the site for a while longer.
>> >
>> > We also observed at least four bald eagles (two adults and two younger
>> birds). And a big thrill for many of us was seeing several small groups of
>> common nighthawks (I counted at least 33 total) hunting overhead during the
>> evening.
>> >
>> > Great Blue Herons can be found roosting here in summer but as we head
>> into October, most will migrate south. There are some Great Blue Herons in
>> our area over the winter, but most Great Blue Herons from the Eastern US
>> spend the winter in the southern US, Mexico, and the Caribbean. We're not
>> sure where these herons build their nests, but it doesn't seem to be in
>> this same roosting site.
>> >
>> > Julia
>> >
>> >
>> > Fisherman's Paradise/Bellefonte State Fish Hatchery
>> > Sep 9, 2025
>> > 6:10 PM
>> > Traveling
>> > 0.48 miles
>> > 117 Minutes
>> > All birds reported? Yes
>> > Comments: State College Bird Club field trip
>> > Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 3.4.1 Build 3.4.5
>> >
>> > 12 Mallard
>> > 3 Mourning Dove
>> > 33 Common Nighthawk
>> > 70 Great Blue Heron -- I counted about 50 individual birds then added
>> another 20 based on counts other people did while I wasn’t watching.
>> > 44 Turkey Vulture
>> > 4 Bald Eagle
>> > 1 Pileated Woodpecker
>> > 1 Eastern Phoebe
>> > 2 Blue Jay
>> > 4 American Crow
>> > 1 Tufted Titmouse
>> > 1 Carolina Wren
>> > 1 American Robin
>> > 10 Cedar Waxwing
>> > 1 American Goldfinch
>> > 2 Chipping Sparrow
>> >
>> > Number of Taxa: 16
>> >
>> > Sent from my iPhone
>>
>
