HERON HOTLINE
Great Blue Herons depend on open water and adjacent riparian habitats
for food, shelter, and space to rear their young.
Despite El Paso County's scant annual rainfall and dry prairie expanses,
important wetland resources here support a growing population of herons.
To further our understanding of these birds and the local environments
they inhabit, we need more information about their movements, feeding sites
and behaviors. Many aspects of the herons' local story remain unknown.
Your observations could fill in these gaps.
Anyone may participate in this project.
Use the "Hotline" field report form to record and share your heron encounters.
Either call in, fax, or send us this information.
We will chart your sightings on a large display map
in the Fountain Creek Nature Center.
We are particularly interested in locating places where herons feed.
The map of the major wetlands and water ways in El Paso County identifies
some known sites. Other feeding areas surely exist. If you know the locations
of small ponds or marshes in your neighborhood or elsewhere in the county,
please tell us about them. We will add these sites to our expanding inventory
map of county wetlands.
Broadening our understanding of herons and elevating our awareness of local
wetlands
will enhance our knowledge and appreciation
of this unique place on the Front Range we know and share as home.
Please send us your heron sightings
Heron Field Notes
1. FLYING - direction headed
2. FEEDING - location
pond/creek
creek/shore
irrigation ditch/bank
3. PERCHING - location
tree
ground
4. BEHAVIORS NOTED
displays, calls, feeding, territorial defense
5. OTHER COMMENTS - OBSERVATIONS
Please send your observations to:
Fountain Creek Nature Center
320 Pepper Grass Lane
Fountain, Colorado 80817
or
call (719) 520-6745 or
FAX (719) 520-6746
RIPARIAN
WETLANDS .. FOUNTAIN CREEK.. EL
PASO WETLANDS