Hi Connie and all:
The Great Blue Heron Marsh in Auburn at the jct of hwy 18, and I-167 at the
bottom of Peasley Canyon was predated by eagles, and became inactive. I
think it was in the early part of the 2000's, and the predation was
documented by someone w/ a video that was there at the time.
As I recall, Rainier Audubon was created by Thais Bock and others to protect
that marsh from the highways that were going to be built down there. Thais
Bock kept track of the heron marsh at that time. She passed away this year.
As far as I know, no one is birding that little area any more. The noise
there is bad as it is right next to several highways with lots of traffic.
RAS does have some of Thais' old records. I'll post a note to a RAS email
list and ask if anyone continues to bird in that area.
Carol Schulz
Des Moines
carol.schulz50 at gmail

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Connie Sidles" <constancesidles at gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2011 6:49 AM
To: "tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] Hunn hunts for help with herons

> Hey tweets, As many of you know, I am working on Gene Hunn's new edition
> of "Birding in Seattle and King County." We still have a ways to go
> before it will come hot off the presses and into your hands (print
> target: this spring!), but believe me, it will be worth the wait. Gene's
> style is engaging, his new information is spot-on helpful, and the
> accompanying photos are something never before seen in print: luminescent
> pictures of the birds as we see them in nature, thanks to the generosity
> of many of our fine photographers in tweeterdom. The new digital
> technology makes possible photos that have never been possible before in
> terms of color, highlights, shadows, and stop-action. I believe this book
> will be the first-ever bird guide to publish photos of this type. You
> will be amazed, I guarantee.
>
> In the meantime, though, I could use your help. In one section of the
> book, Gene talks about the heronry that established itself in Auburn in
> 1968 in what birders called "Great Blue Heron Marsh."
>
> I need to know how active that heronry is today. Are the herons still
> using the site? Does anyone know how many active nests were there in
> 2010? Lastly, has anyone kept a count of the total number of species seen
> at this site?
>
> Thanks for any information you can provide. - Connie
>
> P.S. Short Fill update: