In response to Fred's message about School House Pond, I was there yesterday 
evening and had 28 Great Egret's and an immature Black-crowned Night-Heron.  
Also, at Oxbow Lake Nature Preserve there was an immature Little Blue Heron, 
Great Egret, and a Trumpeter Swan.

Jim Brighton
Oxford, Md


>From: Fred Shaffer <>
>Reply-To: Fred Shaffer <>
>To: 
>Subject: [MDOSPREY] Schoolhouse Pond conditions & birds
>Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2006 13:13:01 -0400
>
>I have gotten a few messages about conditions at Schoolhouse Pond relating
>to the recent fish kill, and thought that I'd post the information I had.
>
>The fish kill occurred while I was out of town, but the results were still
>evident at the end of last week when I returned.  The Parks Department
>came out after the fish kill had occurred, and determined that the fish
>kill was the result of low water levels, high temperatures, and possibly
>an algae bloom which resulted in low oxygen levels in the pond.  This
>killed the large number of fish reported last week.  Some had suspected
>that the fish kill was the result of dumping or runoff from nearby
>development, but apparently no evidence of this was found.
>
>Keep in mind, my information is second hand, and what I received when I
>returned to work at the end of last week.  This is the first time I can
>recall something of this scale happening at the pond.  I can verify that
>water levels have been at their lowest levels in recent memory (due to dry
>conditions and a lack of beaver activity).  Hopefully the rains of the
>last few days have returned the water levels to a more normal balance.
>
>Today at Schoolhouse Pond, I saw an unprecedented 36 Great Egrets on the
>mudflats around the pond, as well as 6 Forster's Terns, and 1 Caspian
>Tern.  There was also a swirling flock of Laughing Gulls over and around
>the pond.  This is by far the biggest group of Great Egrets I've seen at
>the pond.  On Thursday morning, which was my first day back, there were
>over 100 Black Vultures ringing the pond, busy with their cleanup of the
>fish kill.
>
>Fred Shaffer
>Patuxent MOS
>