The Destruction of the Great Blue Heron Rookery

There is an island rookery on the Mississippi river just a short walk from my house that is, ok... was home to over 200 Great Blue Herons. A tornado recently hit Minneapolis and the island rookery took a direct hit from the tornado. Most of the island was destroyed. All of the nests were destroyed. All of the eggs that had been laid were lost.

The next two photos will show how the island looked before the tornado, and how it looks now. You can click on either photo to see a full sized version of it.

Before the Tornado:


After the Tornado:


You can see more photos of the Great Blue Herons here.

You can see all of my photos here.

The good news is the herons are adapting and rebuilding nests. I'm not sure how many of them will stay at this rookery, but these magnificent birds have already built nests about 2 miles south of the rookery, AND about 2 miles north of the rookery.