Corella,1988, 12(4): 113-118 POPULATIONOF THE SILVERGULL Larusnovaehollandiae ON THE CAPRICORNAND BUNKERISLANDS. GREAT BARRIER REEF

T, A. WALKER

OueenslandNational Parks and Wildlife Service. P.O. Box 5391.Townsvillc Mail Centre.Oueensland 4810

Re(eired29 S.ptembet. 1985llevis

SilverGulls were censusedirom January1983 to March 1985 on the Capicorn and Bunker lslands. moved between the islands,congregating at siteswhere food scaapsand peoplewere most abundant.Such siles were permanent,as at Heronlsland. or temporarywhen campersand lrsrrermenwere presenlal otherislands. On wtnterdays up to 75% of gullsin the areasought food scrapsal the Heronlsland resort. In summerthe numberpresent was reducedto essthan 25% when secludedislands were soughl lor nesting.Gu ls are an importantpredator at lern and boobycolon es andthis p.edatiorrs increas,ngas a resuko, ruman aclv lies.

INTRODUCTION as a result of human activities (Hulsman and Kikkawa 1984). Gulls scirvenge table scraps. The prescnt century has been a time of grcat grrhrgc and tishingoffal. I here rrrenu quantita- population expansion for many speciesof gulls tive data on the importance of thesefood sources around the world. Thc increasc is whollv or locallv but somc cstimatesfrom other parts of the prrtirtllydrre to provi'ionot lood hr man r uiban. world suggestlhat gulls and.\avenging \(Jbirds maritimc and rural activitics (Bourne 1983. obtain as much food from commcrcial fishins offal Burger 1983, Blokpoel and Tessier 1985). The asthey ohtain nirlurally {Bourne I9R.1).Thc \ingle Silvcr novaehollardi..reof . most important source of food for gulls on the New Zealand and is no exception Capricorn-Bunkcr Islands appeais to be and it has cxpanded substantially over rcccnt foodscrapsand garbage at Hcron'Island. decades (Wheeler and Watson 1963. Blakers, Daviesand Reilly19t14). Breeding gulls on the Five Islands in New South Wales, for examplc. incrcasedin number from about 2 000 in 1940t

obsen,cd,1l1,ingto and irorn thc surroun(ling TrrY f r' Irljrrrl..Ml.\iutunt nult.\1.r.,,.turr..rl,ltrrini 1' r.1 t,;t:r ;t a w,int.rnrt'nrh. \\hcn Lr lF urrl(,,,,,'.,,i1.,ra;,. 1,,,.*.;;;- raf. ,lr',nj'c\J lr)tI ;)rllll I'ci'r\\ 1lq11i111rlr. .lrrrrr]]..r. KIkkir\;r(l()-{l) l(l,,ft,-,1 i. nr,,r||nrirl],,1ltrrr5rrll. :rl I lcl,,Dl\l. l(l in ll)r I;rt,I,r,,rr'. ,rD,l .,,tr,id..r...1 thrs to bc an incrcltscor'cr. I.lr.crious tcars. Hr r.rrrl.irrrr.l i. rh, t.,,;rln,,ilrl I,,f I\,,l,uli,tr,,n. a "l 11,)tlrpf,)l'lr':rrr,l Silrt.r (,trll. irr rlr.:rr..:,. lrhrLr N an arcll ol approxintatclrl9 ha lrnd supportsll rounst [esort lrnr]ir Lrnivcrsilrhelcl statioD. rr[]'i/ I t . Thc 'j, rlcstcnl hall is corcrctl r.Lri l]1)i,/.i,lrrs I , sitlt iruilclingslnri r.oacls itnd ttre eastern hall is iirrestecl.In lgg"l the hLlnranpopLllati()n itrcragcd itl)oul 190 hut roscto Ii{urc I 1-or.,rrrr)rrarrrTr roughlv380 tt linlc\. Lach clavhrotlscraps lronr thc Icso atc duntpccllrt sclr.Hurrtl|ccls-0f gLtlis ;ru'aitthis e\'ent ()n the l)cacltitntl lollo\ the dunrprngboit! oui to 1ced.(iull chicksbandcd on Sihcr Ciulls \\'crc countcd al llcron Islald other (lapricornantl Bunkcr Isllrntlshare bcen sercral tirner each mitnth during l9lt.l. (.ounts loun(iilt I Icron Islanclu ithin ntonthsof brinding. wcrc tirkcniluring hith or nriclticlc to cnsurcthal llrc lIt-ds \\'efe not out fola-qiDgon the exprtscd Balrctt ( lt)10)lotcd tltarSijvcr GiLlls hatl ncsrs rcc'1.Most .sullsoccurrcri ori thi bcach.prirticu- at Hclon Island in a)ctobcr l9l0 brrl C'oopcr. (19-13) lltllr atountithc uesterrthltll ol the islanri.SnIrll \'is;tcdIlc'ron Island in Dcccnbcr li).l(r nunrbcrsalso ll-cquclttc(l kitchcn ancl dinilg tuca-s irndrcportcd thitt lis il r-csrlltoi thc cstatrlishment qhclc food \crap\ \\'ercarlrilable. ( ountiirgrvls ol il lourisl ccntrc thf gLrllsanrl ground-ncstiItg .rntl\lif(.1l'\ llr( r.,.1th..r rrrll. n!\(r \\.rrii t,, 1r'rnsno longerbre(i therc. Sinccthen therehavi lhc Iore\l bccn occilslonaifcports ol pails ol gLrllsncsting on IIeron Islill)d (Wheeler ancl Watson (iulls l9(r-1. uclc c()untcd scvcrlll timcs l)ctwccn Ilrrlsnlrn irnclKikkil\\'l l9ll-1)but brccrlingbircls .lrtnuarvl()fil ancl\'lrircir 1985 on all islandsin the lnvariairlYseck lhc ntoresecludecl islands to nesi. thc rcgione\ccpt Onc Trcc Isllnd. Ciruntsu'cr-c- madc on thc bcachb) lalkin! nrrrntlthc perinl- ctcr ()l cachislancl. Llnfrtrcstctl alcas ancl cantping ilrelis\\'etc i so rnspccicd. 1O00I Dail\'()ccuputioltoj thc islancjshv cenpcr-sirr l9SJ \\ls clrlcrrlirlcdlront pcrnrits issrLcdbv OuccnslandNational Prirksancl Wilcllilc Scrvicc lrnd nroclilicclbr tie-ldobserrations ol irctual - 700 ciurlpcrsprcscnl. Dailv attcnrlanccol tcssclsat 3 ooo thc islanclsancl ussociatedreefs \\'asdelived front trr'icc$ ccklt ofrsc'rrations irt surrcillancc llights .100 throughoul l9fi-1.The lotiil numbersoi vcsscls ,j rc'cordcrllt cach rccl clLrringthc \cnr wcrc 300 ciiliclccibr the numi)crol llightsto cive un iittli- 200 cati!c diiil\ \ aluc. 100 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION o 'Ihc rcsultso1 gull coiLnlsa1 IIeron lslandurr stroun in Figrrlc l. Nrrnrbcrslluctuatcd \\'idcl\ Irtllurc i \i,,,ff ,1 ,,1.f,1, ,) (;tll\ d llu)tt !\ ltrl tlutitryt:].lr llom dar 1oria\ lrnddLrring thc rinr as gullsu,crc December.1988 T. A. Walker silvet Gr s on Great Barr er Reef

Nunrben of gulls jntcrtidal 'f at thc other islandsare sum- zonc. As rvcll thcre is somc consurrrlt- nurizccl in ablc l. Dctailcd examination of tion of insects (F-mbur! 1933. Cooper. 19,18. counts rcveiLlcdthrec lacts.Firstlv. numbersof Hulsn'tirrr 197.1). bcrries (c g. .Solanunr gullson an islancioften varicd greatlvover short ttnericanrut) and tLLrtlehatchlings $,hcn lllcsc are IlnlLrruri,rLlr. Sr;, rr,llr.nr,,r,.nicnt ,,1 !:trll. k,,m scasonallvavailablc. lt appearsthat if thc abovc islanclto island *as stronglv influenciaib_v the sourccsof foocl arc the onlv attritctionof thc lrr(\e1Lr','lI\(',l\l(. Tllrrrll\. Ih(,qntrner,l( r:r( ir.( islanclthcn thc nuntbcrol gullsislo\\'. Ihis is bc\t iu gLrllnLrrrhers ilt LIcron Islandcoincide'd with dcmonstrirtcdat North ReefIsland which hacltlrc lr) rncrcirsein gull numberson manv of the nest- lowcstgull visitationoi unv islarrd(lablc l). At inq islancls.An cstimatefor thc total avcragcgull this island.lvian fooclsources (seabirci colonies) population 'lirtalon the islandsin l9ll.lis approxirnately are feu' (Walkcr ancl Dolnrn l9116):thcrc arc no I 100. nun]bcrs lluctuatc as a rcsult of gull nestingsites ulcl the lvailabilitv ol human mo\enlent to and fronr the rnainland(Hulsrnan tir,',1.(rill..r. rrrin,'r.,- errJr.rrcr',1Irr rlrt l,'u 1979.also bandinglcturns). Thc closestisland is hurran visilation(Table l). little more thrn an hour's flight from shore (.15 knr). Silvcr Gulls flr'up to three tincs this dis- Avitn Iootl sottrtes lirnccto ieed on clurrps (van 'l'cts larbagc in Svdnev Gulls arc thc major nlturiil prcdator ol eggs 1969). luntlchicks ilt tcrn and boobv colonies in thc Ciulls arc lttritcted to u particularrislancl litr rcgion. IIigh clutch mortalilv iLrpto 100'11,)has feccling anclkrr.brcedinq. In thc Capricorn- bccn obscrvcd at smiill tcrn colonies(Emburv Bunker rcqion iour tvpcs of attractantcan bc 1933.Coopcr 19,{E.Llulsman 1977). Ciulls also dcplivc chicks of lirocl bv robbing fish lronr thc dcscribe(l:natural non-iivian foocl sourccs; avian 'l ioo(i sources:human litod sourccs:and ncsting lriir(|lt. llllrl\nl.,lt It)-r'] hesq .r!llviti\.s iilL sitcs. scasoniLlirnd are rlost cxtt:nsivca1 ciist Fairfax Islnnd. u'lrichhas thc onlv largc Brorvn Booby Srtlu lurtogLtstcrcolonv in the region. Brown ,\ttlureI tkDt-utittrt lltod sourte.; Boobicsbrccd mrinlv from August to April. Egg t.-it1urlrl footl consistsprirnarilv t)f smtll irlvcrtc- or fish robbing bv gr.rllsis highlv clcvclopecl.par- burtcs and fish foragccl fronr thc rccf flai iLncl ticularlvwhcn boobiesrrc disturbedat thcir ncsts

TABLE I

Visitation l(JCapricorn a d Uunkcr Islandsbv campcrs(198,1). vessel\ (t981) and Silver Gulls (.tanuar). 1983March l9E5).

Campcr\/day Ve\.elJdi,y Silvcr (;ul1s

lsland (na) !lean Max. Reef Me an Melln Min Max (n) North Rccf I 10 1 :l ll livon ll ll 30 l.; 19 L: 120 13 105 l: 150 1.I 5l '1 11',7 20 5l :5 0.5 51 6 120 12 0 70 .1 230 t2 Nhstherd l0 t9 s0 ]E I t0 l-i 17 t2 Erskine l- t7 l0 70 1l Floskvn(ensl) l 0.5 16330 I t{o\kvn (lvcst) ) 69 : 200 lJ Frirlar (east) .100 0.u 133 2E l0 .+- ) :1 6 .10 6 Lrdt Uusgrave 75 6.2 100 17 260 t6 116 T.A. Walker:Sitvet Gulls on Great Barrierueef Corella12(4) r:r.n...,)t pconte,Atrer Heronlsland, 160 tll.ll^,1..,f numbcrsut gullswer( presentat easr I,rrrlaxf,gh::, (Tahle l\land ll. Thisis a|lribulcblero r40 o o {ne presenccof thehoob} colony because human ""r relari\elvlou andhcnce tbotlscraps ;,:i,i,ll.tj| o 120 O J J 100 f a o O E El) LIuman Jood sources u.l o'o 60 a . Awav from Heron Island the main foods avail_ J able.through human agcncv are att a offal discarcled 40 o by hshermen and table scrapsfrom campers and people on boats. (ln Masthead and Wilson t a Islrntlsthe highestnumhcr of gullswere rccorderl 'i[i: wnen the hlghest numbers ot L.ampcr\\\ers prescnt. Thc correlation between numbers of llllr,. gulls and numbers of campers is most clearlv 0 l0 20 30 40 50 60 10 dcmonstrilted at North Wcst Island whcre guil numbcrs are not influenced by nesting (Fig. 3). CANPERS Figlrfe 3. R€ldrioaslip benreen Siher GuLtsan(l Gulls and other ground-ncsting canp{s al clo not North West Islnd. y:t.65x +22 (R=0 82, ncst on North West Island because it has had P<0.00t). e population of feral cats sincc thc lg90,s (-Cribb 1969) In Ocrober 1910 Campbcll anJ White (1910) recorded small numberi of gulls rrthcr thnn crmpers. ( rlculation usingrn lly"rrn" trequenting the bcach trut no sign of nesting.'The givc. 1.15gulls whilc rhi marimu]m .l!0,rscuDan1.'\{1.,)\'eulants srtuatlon appears to havc been dillerent in Livc\ h5{rgujl.. fhe.r Icsrrll.fir ),iovenber and December of 192-5and 1926whcn wrIl \\ rthlhe ir( tulrl numhCr{ ,,f lull: prercntt Fig. MacGillivray (1926. 1928) and Gitbert (1925) -r. I n\' equatronj. Drrl.uilri)lc i r thr orhcl reported severalpairs of gulls to be nesting.Thev cilmping islands becausegulJ numbers are influ_ irlso noted that the gulls fzrredwcll from the offil enccd bv nesting as well as trv nunbers of p()duced by the turtle soup factor.vthat operated cilmpers. trom 192.1to l92il. MacGillivray (l93lj notcd onlv about a dozen gulls on thc beachin Mav l()11)ir\ th( trl le litctur\rvas elrrscd..leh fcar ut Nzsl lhlt limc It wouiLlscrrn rhargulls ncsted.lt.spirc slrcs lhe prcsen.cul cals(which fccd mainlv,rnnr..ting Junc was thc only month whcn eggsor chicks Wedsc-tailcd Shearwarcrs Puflinui pa<:ificui were not observedon irt ieastone island but mest dunng sumnrcr) so long as there was an easvtbod brecding occurred during the warmer tnonths of 5()ure( ll rhcrurtlc hctor\.In Ma1 lg84aciruai thc lerr (Ocroher-Aprilr.Nesrinu occurr(d on irll ri]r11r:'9d killing :r gull in rhe .rmping rrer. l:l:rndscxcCpl Heron. Norrh We\t. N,,rth Reei (Following this studv a cat eradication pro- and east Hoskyn. I{eron Island. as noted above. gramme commenced in 1985 and a single is overpopulated bv tourists. North Wcst Island unfledgedgull was present in May 1986). has feral cats, and the other two are verv small and remotc islands. At anv time fewcr than -100 In the absence of campersthe averagenumber gullsucre ncstingin the region.fhe mrlor ne,r- of gulls present at North West Island can be calcu- ing islands urrc Vr:rherrd- Wrcck rntl lrrll lated from the rcgressionequation of Figure 3 to Musgrave. It seerns iikell' that the islands are be only 22. This equation can be applied io Heron nesting sites for gulls fron the mainland as well Island, inscrting numbers of human occupants as for resident gulls. Wreck Island is particularll' December.19B8 T.A. Walker:Silve( Gulls of Great BarrierReef 117 suitable to examination oi ncsting occupation human deaths and loss of aircraft during gull because there is no humzrn visitation and strikes (summarizedbv Burgcr t983). On thc foodscrapsare not available. Capricorn and Bunker Islands it should bc possiblc to reduce gull numbers by restricting Since 1982Wreck Islandhas been enclosedbv lheir access to fooclscraps. Gulls would be :r \llrrinc Plrk Prc*errarir'nZone rrhcrcpublii deprivcd of the Heron Island garbage iI it were cntrv is prohibitcd. The abscnceof peoplc makes to be dumped at sea in darkness rather than in the island an unattractive source of food to gulls Llavlight.A campaignIo cducilt(tLrurisl\. campcr. and winter numbcrs (Mav-August) rangcd from and fishcrmen not to makc food availablc to gulls four to 20 birds. In the warmer months it becomes has recently commenced.In the long term similar an importani ncsting site and counts grcatcr than nlcasures might be considcred for the adjacent 100 were recorcied.The numbers actuall)' nesting mainland if the Silver Gull population continues are difficult to estimatc becauscof the secretivc to cxpand. behaviour of breeding gulls. Gulls were previ- ouslv rcported nestingat Wreck Island in Octobcr by Booth (1970). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks are due to Stcve Domm. John Mcssersmith. Dean Lcc. Suc C)sborne. Mikc trlanLtgementproblems Osmond. Mark Sinmons. Zena Dinesen and Marg MacAndrews for assistingwith gull counts The Capricorn-Bun ker gulls are lessnumerous and to Kees Hulsman for commenting on the text. than those on sonrc southern Australian islands This work is dedicatcd in mcmor_v of Marg but thev have a censiderableimpact on the breed- MacAndreu's. ing successof other scabird .Thcse islands constitute a principal seabird breeding area for thc ClrcatBarricr Reef.Lindcr natural conditions thc seaLrirdcoionics co-exist with gull robbing but REFERENCES tlrr'i. r.l ,'i r,rl\lrrn.i\ rrrr.cdbr irum;rnlrr'trvilics. ('. Scrrlriidsure disturbed from their nests when BafreIt. (1910).Narrative ol theexpcrlition to IheislIllds ol rhc Ctfricorn Croup. trxr 10: l8l-19.1. apprt;:tchc'cl1.r'pcoplc and eggsare lcft unpro- Illirkcf\.!1.. L)rvics. S J .l F. ard Reill).P N (1961).lhe tcctc.l As rvellas this. thc lvailabilitvOI human Atlas{)l .\u\lraliirnBirds l\'lclhourncLJni!crsit! Prfss too(l-\!raps sr.rpportsan incrcascJ €{ullpopulation Al{Jkpoel.H. rnd Tc\\ier.(; l). 11985)j he Rrng,billedcull lcadiir: to hi-qhcrpreclation on scabirclcolonies. irr Orrlario:ir re\lc$ ol a newproblcm spceie\. ada. Itri.l1. ()(u\ionul Foocistlps urc arailirblcon thc islandsand on S.^. I'tru 51:l) l. Booth..l (197(]).llirds ol Iirrrfa)iIslan(l (Bunkcr Croupl and tbe nrainiand. Wrcck islund(Clrpric(,rD Croup). (lrc:it Brrrlcr Rccf..lri, ,r/11l: 85-92 Prcdationof turtlc hatclringsis incrcascdbl 'r'nd an Ilourne.W. R. P. (l9lJ-l) IJird\.llsh lnd oil.rl in thc Norrh (\p:rnrlr(i.:rrll p,rpulrrti,rn Th, t;'prieorn Sca. Mdt. t'oll. Bull. 14 )94-296. Bunkcr Islands arc principal ncsting areas for Ilurger.J. (1983).Birdconliol rrairports. Lnrinn. (ons 10, (jreen Chelonia mytlus and Loggerhead Turtles I l5-Ll1. (1972). t drcua Ilustard.H. R. AustralinnSca Turlle\. fheir Natural curdla on thc Great Barricr Rccf. When Hi\torv rnd Conservation.Collins. London. gulls are abLrndantthey may take large numbers Campbcll.A..1. lnd White.S. A. (1910)Birds idcrliiicd on i)f turtlc hatchlings that cross thc beach during the (lapricornGroLrp dLrring expedition of R.'\.O.Lr . 8lh davlight (Nebc 1928.Bustard 1972). to 17thOct(Jbcr. 1910. trn& 10:195-20.1. Coopcr. R. P. (1918).Birds of ihc Clapricorns (ircat Llontrol measureshave sometimes been intro- Barricr Rccf. Enlu 48t l0'l -126. duced clsewhere in the world Cribb.A. B. (1969).Hislorical notes on North WesrIsland. where increasing Nat. gnll QL1 19:82-85. populations have rhreatened populations of Emburl-,E. M. (1933).The CrcatBarricr Recl. Shakespcarc seabirds.These have included poisoning, shoot- HeadPress. Sr_dnev. lrB. nerlrng. \lerilizing. Gibson.J. D. (1979).cro$th in thc populationof rhc Silvcr lrappr-nE. rrrkingoI nests ilnd lntroducttonol lo\e( f,ndrJCoons tu colonies Gull on rheFive Islands Group. Ne$ SouthWales. Colc//d (Nclson 3:103-10.{. 19tt0). Massivc control measures havc Gilbcrt. P. A. (1925).The biolog) of North West Islel. also been implemented at airports because of CapricornGroup. Aust. Zool. 4:210-226. tlB T.A. Walket: Silvet Gus on GreatBarrier Reef CorellaI2(4) | ._..\, \.,,,,r . r,..\r,,r|j.(j.. '7;,1;'-"i,1ri-ill::,,1,..1,\ R 'r- rt" \.a./,,.,/s.)..t'i:i '.-,tlr '' "' 'r''i' ' ' i'''' il,'',r,,,tto \ \a\ \ , ,',,. ,,r,''.,,i Hr. .,I r BJ(LLl|l,t.tni,..:rr.l ''.':, ',li)'ij, ,1,. .'_-r |,.,.|L|||.\..I lLnr. '.r,.r\ ', , , ,i, , p,,r,,, I)rc In..l..rr.l.(;r....t ,',':.'r'r''r ,rrr R.rn,rR.,r /,,,,,:; ;..,;;' i, "ljll.,:ii.i ''' ,\' '|1,),,( ":,ijll;,,1 sei,hi,(r:rhcir Biorogl unrl i',' ,i,)'1'l rr'.1.'.J,, ,_illil] Ecologl n,j\1,:,,r1. van Teis (;. F. tr)(19) K, . ,i Krkt_..$| .i , t.,lrr ( ,.r.,\\(.. \ L,r.rl { Ouanritrrj\ernl ^ r'i In \'.,r.r'.'r, ,r.r R.\r i',1,,,r","i,".i',,"ii"ii,,;:i' ll:jll:;'iii,,liiil' ;llil;,,l r,' x..r r..i,, :liix,illjlii: *'lll]l:i;.' 'i]j:;i;'ni 'i;i'lji,'r,;i'( j'I(1\ (le7r))Ilird' f.cor(ic(l,rr IIc()n Ishn.r..r,/,r,,/.21 re86)n (',\(i'.h Rccl 'l!iiijtr), :i;:l tti;f1!;:i1\ t R rndwnlso,,. r.(re6r). r'hc tt' ( r!)r6)nir(i\ of rhc( tp'licorrrIsr,,rds r,,,i sir!c,curr ri,,,i ''tiili,'::i;i ;.,1i,,,,'ili),,,"liii:!ll, of ,hcB,,nke.,n(,

Oorella.1988. 12,4). 11ar 1g

OBSERVATIONSOF PREDATIONON NESTLINGEGRETS

(;REGORY S, BAXI'ER

ShortlLtnd\Vctland\ Ccnrrc. I,.O Bo\ t,tt).Wll \clrj. Nc!\ SoLrth$,rtcs tlfT

acrrf. frir 'rr\ir)nnrcnrrl itnLtL:rbiin S,uai"lftilr.,1uur,. Uni\rr\il\. \crr soulh \\ate\:109

RtI t\.'1 i JIttL. lr,\-

L)n 5 .lanriarr'.l9lJ7 obscr',ationsn,crc macleo1 Melulatrcu tlrtintluananiu, u,hich uus itself an rttack bv an adLrltWcdgc-tailccl Eaglc Aquilo :rp1tr,'rirn.rtrlr l5 rn hr-r:h.lh. rrt.r rr.r. in.,n airrlrrr on ncstingCaltlc Eercts,1r(/(.r1.ribl.-Thc exposedsltuiltl()lt on the northcrnsiclc of the tree. rncldcntoccurrcd on I mjxcd brcctlingcolonv of Othcr Cattlc Egrct ncsts$erc scitttcrcdthfoLlgh egrctsirt lhe Shortl;rnclWctlancls Cenlre. Short- the tree hieherunil lotvcr than this ncst. All the lanrl. Nerv SoLrthWales. (12'51'S.. t5l.-ll,E.). aclultsin thisantl surrouncling trccs rvhich had not This colony citntainsfour specics:Great Egret prevrousl\taken flieht irrmecliarelvdid so. The \,'lrnr (\, Egrctm ulbu, Internediilte Eu.et E. iurcnncdit, illl(rnl\lULlt,r rl)r hr nrrrrrr! l,|l.1 hl Little Egrct E. gur:,erta,ancl iattle Esrct. llonllni l,' l\ll!.\ \\ul ,rl llr( e:rr_lt. re:r,.h. Large nunrbcrsof othcr voung cgrcis lleclthcir r\t l(l::: irours a largc disturblnce ol adult ncstslnd look relugcin thc smalluppcr branchcs l.irds on thc north,ct\tetn side of the heronrv of trccs. ..ttr:r.lr.lrrrr .r L tt,.n.Lrr!! nlIIlr'.,f,,,t.rJrrit. Thc cugle clr.rickllcau-qht tlrc two lestlin-{sancl hacit:Lken flisht ancl haci begun to callloucllr'. The . killcclor disablcdthcm. then vigorousll Jhasccl .('l|li( , 1 lll\ (Ii\LI|'\ir|]((rr.r. l,rr .rdr,lt W,..dr:e ,,111c'tn(.tlin!. lllf.,utlttlr. l,'li:rur.:r. rr:sll .,. it. tarlcdEagLc *hich srvoopcrldorvn rapidlv into a Itulku,',rl,l:rll,rrr llrr -:rll-r..r.rl ..r,r'. Itint... C'ritllc Lgret ncstoccullicci br an atluliand at lcast and thet returned1o the chasc.Durinl thisperiLrd tqo rcstlin-gs.'l'hctrcst $ls apploximatclt l-1nt thc clglc $irs incffcctulrllYntotrbccl br adult rr,,rrr'i. !t,'lll(l in L Itr,,.rrl-lr'.rrtJPlrp,.r B.rrk (:rtll\'Lirct.:rn.lLlltl( | sr(t..\\lri.lr \\(t( ..rr