Suzanne,
So sad to read your post. I lived in Renton in the 80's and 90's and
remember my mother taking my siblings and I for walks through the Black
RIver area before most of the office buildings were there. I can still
remember the colony being a bit further east in the older Cottonwood trees.
You could almost forget you were in the middle of a city! As a resedential
appriaser I turned down a work order to appraise one of the newer condo's
located above the hill from the colony because I would have felt like I
somehow contributed to the herons demise. It makes me angry to think that
all of the hard work the Herons Forever (I think that is what they are
called) and others have done is in vain. The city of Renton should be
ashamed of themselves. I guess you don't know what you've got till it's gone
huh?
Amy Schillinger
Seattle
schillingera at hotmail.com


>From: "Suzanne Krom" <szkrom at drizzle.com>
>To: "Tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>CC: Tricia Thompson <thomppat at dfw.wa.gov>, Russell Link
><linkrel at dfw.wa.gov>
>Subject: [Tweeters] need your help locating 250 nesting herons in
>PugetSound -- Black River colony appears headed for failure this year
>Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 13:17:00 -0800
>
>The Black River heron colony appears to be in very serious trouble this
>year. There are only one-quarter to one-third the number of herons that
>should be there, and none have returned to their nests. Even if/when they
>do, we anticipate that it could well be an exceptionally difficult nesting
>season for them.
>
>
>
>The likely reason is cumulative impacts -- rich habitat on an adjacent
>hillside was cleared recently, and now there is a brand new nest of bald
>eagles less than 400 feet away. These are the most recent incursions. In
>2000, an office development was built less than 500 feet away, causing the
>herons to move their nests deeper into the colony. Many of us in the heron
>community are concerned that a tipping point may have been reached.
>
>
>
>We need your help locating the ~250 great blue herons that have been
>displaced from this colony. Some may have joined existing colonies. Others
>are probably nesting in small remnant forested areas within perhaps about
>20 miles of this Renton colony. They could be anywhere in the Southend or
>Central Puget Sound.
>
>
>
>This situation is of grave concern, as there is a very limited population
>of this unique heron subspecies. The Black River colony was the largest by
>far in the tri-county region, with 138 active nests for the last many
>years.
>
>
>
>Please help us if you can by contacting me immediately when you see herons
>nesting where you didn't before, or if you see an unusual number of herons
>joining an existing colony. You can reach me by calling 206-933-0222, or
>email szkrom at drizzle dot com.
>
>Thank you,
>
>Suzanne Krom
>
>West Seattle
>
>szkrom at drizzle dot com
>
>
>
>


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