Several new updates to report from this evening, starting with the youngster you see above… a juvenile Bald Eagle! This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to see this bird fairly close, as he normally likes to hang out with his buzzard buddies way up in the sky. It appears as though he’s taking a liking to Gatorland, so chances are fairly good you might run across him (or her) during a visit.

This evening, we had two juvenile Spoonbills come into the Rookery to roost, my best guess is that they are the pair raised during the 2007 season. One made several laps around the Rookery, giving the gathered photographers a great opportunity for flight shots.

The Glossy Ibis are also returning to roost, as well as increasing numbers of Little Blue Herons, Cattle Egrets, and Snowy Egrets. Hundreds of White Ibis return to the Rookery to roost, with flocks of 20 or more at a time coming in from all directions. It’s quite an experience to see the birds returning to roost above the safety of the alligators, at times the air is just “alive” with birds literally surrounding you as they maneuver for a landing spot.

Quite a few Black Crowned Night Herons were around the park, I counted 8 individuals, including several who didn’t mind posing for a quick portrait. The Night Herons can be found at either the north or south ends of the the Sanctuary, as well as within the park itself along the northern walkway across from the Aldabran Tortoises, as well as right in front of the North Alligator Island.

While I was unable to personally verify the report (meaning see it with my own eye), one of the photographers spotted the first Great Egret chicks in a nest located in the Northwest Cove section of the Sanctuary. Chicks already… WOW! I’ll do my best to verify this sighting within the next few days.

One other sighting I can verify, we have a pair of Hawks with a nest within the Swamp Walk, and while it is high in a cypress tree, it is perfectly viewable from the boardwalk. The nest is located on the south eastern section of the loop, on the right hand side of the boardwalk before you get to the last rain hut on the east side. We’ll have some signage in place shortly to make spotting the nest easier.

Today, the weather finally started warming back up… and this weekend looks to be even nicer with the following weeks temperatures expected to be in the high 70’s and low 80’s. Should be nice weather for the Orlando Wetlands Festival this Saturday, and great weather at Gatorland if you’d like to come out and visit the birds this weekend!

Mike Godwin
Gatorland

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 7th, 2009 at 12:20 am 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.