The 2009 Birding Season has officially begun at Gatorland, and despite the rather frigid conditions the past several days the bird activity is steadily increasing. As of today, we have over 30 Great Egret nests constructed, many of which already contain eggs. Snowy Egret, Wood Stork, and Anhinga courtship activity has also increased, but at this time the only nesting species are the Great Egret and Double Crested Cormorants. Walking around the boardwalk this morning I spotted the following birds:

Tri-colored Heron
Wood Stork
Black Crowned Night Heron
White Ibis
Great Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Cormorant
Assorted Songbirds such as Grackals, Cardinals, Sparrows, Wrens and Titmouse

While there were no Spoonbills present this morning, they have been coming in and out for the past several weeks. Here’s a shot of one of the Spoonie youngsters posing for the camera!

Extended hours for the Rookery are now in effect every Wednesday - Sunday through June 28. As a reminder, our “Dawn to Dusk” program allows for entry at 7:30am (please be prompt as the gates do not remain open) and the opportunity to stay until dusk. Early entry is through the Event Gate located in the far south parking lot (look for the cream colored tent top). For those wishing to take part in the Dusk access, we ask that you arrive no later than 30 minutes before normal closing time (currently 5:00pm). Late entry is through the Main Entrance to Gatorland, and while we exit through the south end, we do provide shuttle service for photographers and their gear back to the main parking areas.

Stay tuned for more updates, and don’t forget, you can always check the activity in the Sanctuary by visiting our Gatorcam at: http://gatorland.com/gatorcam.php

Mike Godwin
Gatorland

This entry was posted on Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 3:41 pm and is filed under Rookery Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.