Great Blue Herons

On March 15, SETF along with representatives from Chicago Audubon, Chicago Department of the Environment, The Chicago Legal Clinic,  two Northwestern students, and a reporter gathered on a mission to scout for nesting Blue Herons near Whitford Pond.  Blue Herons are large waterfowl that build their nests high atop trees next to ponds that serve as sources of food for the birds.

We were hiking the property owned by the Metropolitan Water Reclaimation Department, the site that the Chicago Police Department is proposing to build an outdoor firing range on and the only site in Chicago known for nesting Blue Herons.  The property is isolated, being surrounded by landfills on three sides.   It was last used as a staging area for the deep tunnel project and still contains limestone spoils that had not all been removed.  We walked atop those spoils toward the pond and where the spoils ended, the marshy terrain began.  As we trumped through the ankle deep water toward the huge nests that were easily visible in the bare trees, the nervous birds took flight.  We continued hiking toward the pond curious to get a closer look, noting the many deer tracks along the way.

We had to scale a berm in oder to get a view of the Whitford Pond. This time of the year it's a rippling pool of water surrounded by thinned out Phragmities.    With mission accomplished and not wanting to disturb the birds any more, we headed back to the SETF office to warm up with a hot cup of coffee.

Photo courtesy of Chicago Ornithological Society, 15 March 2011
Great Blue Heron nesting on MWRD property



Single nest




Looking closely, you can spot two birds standing in their nests.




Looking out over the Whitiford Pond.




Hiking along the berm surrounding Whitford Pond.

Left to right

John Pastirik, Calumet Ecological Park Association
Jill Nilland, Chicago Ornithological Society
Carolyn Marsh, Chicago Audubon Society
Peggy Salazar, Southeast Environmental Task Force
Jennifer Maxwell, Calumet Initiative




Grove of trees where birds are nesting.




View of Whitford Pond looking south.



Outdoor Firing Range Slated for Environmentally Sensitive Area

Nestled between landfills and the Little Calumet River (just south of 134th street and east of the Bishop Ford) river are 130 plus acres of fenced off MWRD property.  And on this property exist two ponds preserved by the historic Calumet Open Space Reserve Plan: the O’Brien Lock and Dam Marsh and the Whitford Ponds. Both are known for their value as habitat for white egrets and blue herons, as well as other migratory bird species not commonly found in our backyards. But a recent proposal by the Chicago Police Department to develop a firing range on 33 acres adjacent to these ponds may drive the birds away, thus reducing an already-limited pool of nesting options for the Calumet area's marsh and wetland birds.

Never mind that the Calumet Land Use Plan, a momentous undertaking of the Department of Planning and Development partnered with the Department of the Environment, had recommended that the property be reclaimed as open space, or that the area is adjacent to TIF redevelopment areas, the Chicago Police Department is determined to locate a project on the Southeast side that other communities would not embrace.

On a recent tour of the property, members of SETF, CEPA, IDNR, DOE, Chicago Audubon Society and and other community organizations were given a presentation of the project by Sgt. Raymond Hamilton of the Chicago Police Department. While Sgt. Hamilton briefed us on the details, butterflies flittered through the wet prairie plants, egrets flew overhead criss-crossing the river and a spotted hawk glided effortlessly above us.

Ironically, the same attributes that make it a plausible site for the firing range make for an even better nature reserve.  And after visitng the site and  discovering the bird rookeries along the Whitford Pond area, learning that there hasn’t been a serious natural resource survey of the area in more than 15 years, and observing the wildlife thriving there,  SETF is convinced that the Police Department should consider an alternative site - like one of the many brown fields or vacant industrial properties that exisit in the city - instead of impacting an area where nature and wildlife have taken refuge.  While there are many location options for a gun range, the herons and egrets would have few choices for relocating, as isolated wetland areas with tall trees that are suitable for rookeries are far less common than brownfields.

EGRETS AND HERONS

View of O'Brien Pond from 134th Street

CURIOUS MOTHER DEER AND FAWN WITH CID LANDFILL IN BACKGROUND

VIEW OF MWRD PROPERTY

BIRDS OF A FEATHER...

WHITE EGRET AT O'BRIEN POND

ASSEMBLING FOR TOUR OF THE MWRD PROPERTY