Wildlife In Delaware Now Have a New Place to Call Home

We all know there’s no place like home. Now, Great Blue Herons and Egrets in Delaware have a new, exclusive nesting place on Middle Island to call home.  With funding from the NRCS, the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays (CIB) recently completed construction of four unique nesting structures to help increase heron and egret wildlife habitat in Delaware.

According to CIB Habitat Coordinator Eric Buehl, Middle Island in Sussex County was the ideal location for a nesting site.  It provides a safe haven for birds because it is isolated from the mainland and would be difficult for large predators to reach.  There was just one problem. “Herons are normally a tree-nesting species, but there were no trees on Middle Island and their efforts at nesting on the ground could easily be washed away during a very high tide,” said Buehl.  Therefore, it was important in the design process to have the site mimic the natural structure of a tree.

“We can’t recreate a tree canopy, but we can give them an alternative,” said Buehl.  The nesting site is composed of four wood pilings that measure 12 to 14-feet high.  On each post there are seven metal nesting baskets, some filled with grasses, phragmites or sticks to appear “ready-for-use.”  One basket is directly on the top, and the others are angled approximately three-four feet below, so no nests are directly above or below the other.  Posts is about 15 feet apart.

The structure was finished mid-March 2009. Since then, CIB staff has been monitoring the activities of the Herons and Egrets visiting the nests.  “It appears there are four to six breeding pairs of Herons.  I base it on the fact that several were flying back and forth delivering additional nesting material to a specific one that would remain in the nest structure, who in turn was weaving the sticks into the nest,” said Buehl.

The ultimate goal of the project is two-fold. The first is to ensure the designated species have plenty of breeding places; the second is to see if this is a cost-effective alternative so that others can eventually use this to increase wildlife habitat.

NRCS provided nearly 75 percent of the $13,400 total project cost.  “We could not be more pleased with the success of this project,” said Delaware NRCS State Resources Conservationist Sally Kepfer.  “This is a very unique design that wouldn’t have been possible without the partnership between NRCS and CIB.”  Go to the Delaware NRCS Website to find out more about cost-share programs or contact Sally Kepfer at 302-678-4182. 
Your contact is Eric Buehl at 302-226-8105.