Among the highlights of the second day of the Harbor Herons Conference here at DeKorte Park was the New Jersey Audubon Society's report on the foraging patterns of the egrets that nest on South Brother Island in the East River.
   As suspected, these Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets love to feed and hang out in the Meadowlands — confirmed by the band of citizen scientists who visited many sites in the district time after time over five months.
  Some of the findings confirmed what many of us have noticed by eye — that Snowy Egrets love to fish in water below their knees, while Great Egrets prefer water above the knee.
   Low tide seems to be a popular feeding time.
    We will let you know when New Jersey Audubon Society posts the Harbor Heron reports  on its site.
    And mark your calendars: NJAS will be looking for more citizen scientists to participate in the 2009 study, beginning in April.
     Click here for previous Harbor Herons posts.