Great Egret

Conroy Island in Deschênes Park is one of the few nesting sites for the great egret in Quebec; the others are in the Montreal area.  Easy to recognize, this large, elegant white bird nests in colonies on Conroy Island, often alongside other aquatic species—like the double-crested cormorant, the ring-billed gull, and the black-crowned night-heron. The young egrets grow up during the summer and begin to disperse with the adults in August.  Although the population of this species is increasing across North America, the number of nests observed on Conroy Island appears to have been declining in recent years, possibly due to competition with cormorants. These spectacular birds can be seen through the foliage on the island, in the marshes of our region, and in flight as they return to the island in the evening after a day of foraging.  The Club des ornithologues de l’Outaouais organizes evening observation sessions of this return flight on Wednesdays throughout August.