Ask and ye shall receive! In my last post I was wondering when the cold weather would end, and wouldn’t you know it, it has! While the past two days have been rather wet, at least it’s warmer, and the birds within the Rookery are now responding. This morning I spotted a Green Heron at the South Lake (right next to the Early Entry Gate) carrying a stick over to a papyrus island. They normally spend a couple of weeks making their nests, so be sure to check out the South Lake if you want some nice flight shots of the Green Herons.

I should mention that besides the Green Herons, there are lots of photo opportunities outside of the confines of the Rookery. Once the park opens at 9:00am, you are free to explore… we have a wonderful, long boardwalk through a native Cypress Swamp (whatever you see is wild, we don’t put anything out there), a flamingo island, parrots & macaws, a whole island of nesting cormorants and anhingas, and of course… a ton of gators and crocs. Sometimes, you don’t even have to leave the parking lot! Yesterday morning, I was just closing the early entry gate when a red-shouldered hawk flew over and landed on the back of my truck. It was terribly overcast with a slight drizzle, but I followed him out to the picket fence along HWY 441 and he seemed to enjoy posing for the camera.

As I was shooting the hawk (figuratively speaking of course!) three swallow-tailed kites flew overhead, but it was far too dark to get any decent images of them. Point is, don’t get locked into just the Rookery, there are lots of photo opportunities throughout Gatorland… sometimes in the darndest places! Of course, the Rookery is the prime spot, and with the warmer weather things are just now beginning to heat up. The Snowy Egrets have become increasingly active, and are now nesting and courting throughout the Rookery. Their lore color is almost at full breeding red, in another week and they should be strikingly beautiful!

Momma Limpkin has been sitting on her nest for several weeks, at last count she had 5 eggs, but the nest is unfortunately not photographable. Poppa Limpkin is always close by, and they constantly call to each other throughout the day. Another pair of Limpkins arrived recently, and have been very active around the Flamingo Island looking for a nesting spot. Right now you are almost sure to spot a Limpkin upclose and personal around Flamingo Island or the Observation Tower.

The Spoonbills have been arriving daily in the morning and late afternoon, with one pair courting and hopefully picking a nesting spot. The area they have been concentrating on is along the east bank almost directly across from the North Cormorant Shelter. If they settle on this site, it should be very photographer friendly, but you’ll need some big glass to get the best shot. I’d say minimum 400mm focal length will be necessary to shoot the nest. We are currently averaging 3 - 5 Spoonies a day in the Rookery.

A few more Tricolored Herons have been arriving, but still no sign of nesting or courtship. Little Blue Herons have been increasing in the evening, while White Ibis numbers have been decreasing somewhat at roost as they head out to their nesting areas. The Grackals are in full nesting mode, with constant courtship and nest building activity throughout the Rookery. The Grackal is completely without fear during nesting time, and will attack anything around their nest… even alligators!

For those folks who have visited recently, you may have images of our closest and most visible Great Egret nest with the three chicks. Last week we lost one of the chicks, and this week we lost another, leaving just one in the nest. The one remaining youngster seems to be very active and healthy, and as luck would have it, the nest directly behind this one has two new babies for your viewing pleasure.

Just a reminder that Daylight Savings time begins this Sunday, March 14, so while early entry will be at 7:30am, it will actually be a whole hour earlier “light wise”. This also means that dusk access is now a whole hour later, with sunset about 7:15pm. Boy howdee… I really hate losing an hours sleep!

The weather has been, well… just plain cold. As a result of this rather unusual cold Florida winter, the nesting season has been delayed for many of the birds within the Rookery. The Snowy Egret, Tricolored, Little Blue & Green Herons, and Cattle Egrets haven’t started nesting, nor have they gotten their breeding colors yet. The Wood Storks just began nesting last week, and the past few days the Spoonbills have been coming in to check out some potential nesting sites. I would say things are running about 3 weeks behind normal, but that’s not to say we don’t have nesting birds! The Great Egrets have been fairly constant since January, and we do have several nests with Great Egret chicks throughout the Rookery.

The Wood Storks have returned this year, and have recently begun nesting in their usual location along the northern east bank. Now is a great time to watch the Woodies courting, mating, nest building, and just plain flying around. At this point we have several sitting nests, with many more under construction. It’s great to have the Wood Storks back nesting again after their hiatus last year!

The Spoonbills have been arriving daily in the morning and late afternoon, and appear to be scoping out potential nesting sites. No sign yet of our original banded female M5, as all of the Spoonbills observed recently have no ID bands. The Spoonies are in great color, and love to pose for the camera. Flight shot opportunities are there daily, and are better in the late afternoon hours!

The American Crocodiles have been courting almost daily, with most of the courtship and mating behavior taking place on the north end of the Rookery north east of our North Gazebo. Despite the cold weather our crocs have done well, and nothing seems to be stopping their mating drive. Serious, our male crocodile can frequently be seen chasing alligators when he’s not out soaking up the sun. He’s the one with the big smile on his face in the picture below!

While the Tricolored Herons have not yet begun nesting, we do have several that are quite active fishing throughout the Rookery. They can be found along the East bank of the Rookery diving for minnows, as well as on the south end of the South Lake section where we come in for early entry.

The Black-crowned Night Herons have been very active, and you are almost guarenteed to see several in the early morning or late afternoon hours. They can be found on either end of the Rookery, as well as out in the main park, especially on the North Alligator Island.

The Swallow Tailed Kites arrived late February, and can be seen soaring in the sky above their usual haunt along the south Cypress Swamp. No sign yet of our Barred Owls, and there has been no noticeable activity at their old nest from last year. Lots of little birds in the mornings, including some Catbirds, Robins, Cedar Waxwings, Wrens, Warblers and even a parakeet!

Gatorland’s “Dawn to Dusk” extended hours program is now underway with the Rookery open every Wednesday - Sunday 7:30am to dusk now through July 31, 2010. Mondays and Tuesdays the Rookery will only be available during normal park hours (9-5). If arriving for early entry please park at the far south parking lot (look for the cream colored tent top) as we will be entering through that area. Please remember to be punctual, as we cannot keep the gate open past 7:45am. If arriving for dusk access, please plan on being at the park no later than 30 minutes before closing time (currently 5:00pm).

This past weekend (2/6 - 2/7) was our first under extended hours and despite the rather cool and breezy weather, the birds did not disappoint! At this point we have somewhere around 40 Great Egret nests, and they can be found displaying, courting, and nesting throughout the Rookery. Several Anhinga have also made nests directly across from the North Gazebo on the east bank, and Anhinga courtship activity is just now beginning to pick up. A pair of Limpkin are quite active throughout the day feeding on mollusks and calling back and forth. It looks like they have decided on using their same nest from the past few years, although they have been seen exploring some old nests from other birds. Small amounts of Snowies, Tricoloreds, Little Blues, and Cattles are available, and their numbers are increasing at dusk. While the Snowies are just beginning some limited courtship behavior, none of the other species have begun nesting. Of course, I’m not counting the Cormorants, as they nest all year-round, and while there are no Cormorant nests currently within the Rookery, they can be found in abundance over the South Alligator Island across from the Flamingos.

Flocks of White Ibis are still arriving by the hundreds at dusk, and at times the air is simply alive with activity as they fly around settling into their roosting spots. The Osprey are around and have been actively feeding, as well as a pair of Night Herons (a juvenile and an adult) flying about in the morning and late afternoon. We have had one young spoonbill posing along the East Bank and several fly-overs of more, but not much consistent Spoonie activity at this point. A couple of Glossy Ibis are also flying in at dusk normally roosting along the East Bank across from the North Gazebo.

Activity in the morning is pretty much limited to Great Egrets, Wood Storks, Anhinga, Limpkin, Great Blues and assorted songbirds as most of the roosting birds head out to their respective feeding areas. Late afternoon has the most activity as the roosting birds arrive, but regardless of when you choose to come, there is always something to see!

Mike Godwin
Gatorland

On Wednesday, February 3, 2010 Gatorland officially kicked off the 2010 Birding Season with the start of our extended hours “Dawn to Dusk” program. The Gatorland Rookery is now available for early entry at 7:30am every Wednesday - Sunday from now through July 31, 2010. Parking for early entry is at our far south parking lot where we will enter through the South Event Gate closest to the Rookery. We do ask that you please be prompt, as the gates do not remain open past 7:45am. Dusk access is also available every Wednesday - Sunday through July 31, 2010. We will exit the park through the south Event Gate (same place we enter for early entry), so if you are arriving for the afternoon you might want to park at the south parking lot.

Right now we have 3 species of birds nesting, Great Egrets, Cormorants, and Anhingas. The Cormorants are nesting on the South Alligator Island outside of the Rookery (across from the Flamingo Island). The Anhingas are nesting on the East bank directly across from the North Gazebo, while the Great Egrets can be found throughout the entire Rookery.

The Great Egrets have really started heavy this year, and already we have close to 40 nests within the Rookery. Courtship behaviors can be observed throughout the day, and the nest building activity is constant with the males bringing in sticks. Many nests have eggs, with a few already having 3 -4 pale blue eggs. The Snowy Egrets are slowly starting to increase in numbers, especially at dusk. I have noticed some courtship activity starting, so the Snowies will soon be joining the list of nesting birds.

The Limpkin have been actively looking around for nesting sites, and appear to have settled back at their old nest just before you reach the South Gazebo. This nest is not very “photo friendly” due to the foliage, or should I say branches. Most of the plants and trees are in winter mode, so the Rookery is looking a little bare in some areas. While there may not be leaves… there are still branches! The Limpkin can be found in the Rookery throughout the day, and if you talk to them nicely, they might even stop and pose for you.

Coming in early definitely has its advantages, as the lighting can be absolutely fantastic. The Great Egrets are in full breeding plumage and colors, and I find the early morning sun best to capture the sheer beauty of this bird.

The great thing about Gatorland is that the birds really don’t mind being watched or having their picture taken. Most of them act as if you aren’t there at all, which allows the bird watcher or photographer a rare opportunity to witness the bird’s behavior up-close and personal. All of the pictures in this post were taken with a 70-200mm lens (no teleconverter).

Dusk is my favorite time at the Rookery, mainly because of all the roosting birds that fly in to sleep over the gators. And I suppose there are a few more things you can do, like maybe take a picture of a sunset! So… what are you waiting for? Come on down and join the fun!!!

Mike Godwin
Gatorland

As January comes to a close, the Great Egret nesting and courtship increases within the Rookery. At last count we have 25 Great Egret nests under construction, as well as fairly constant courtship displays throughout the Rookery. A few other species are also active within the Rookery, such as Woodstorks, Snowy Egrets, Green Herons, Tricolored Herons, Little Blue Herons, Great Blue Herons. Anhinga, Comorants, Night Herons, Osprey, Spoonbills, Ibis, and Limpkin. None of the other species have started courtship, but can be observed feeding or roosting throughout the Rookery. The Limpkin activity has been fairly constant and they can frequently be found fishing for freshwater mollusks around the Observation Tower.

Songbird activity is also picking up along the south and north ends of the Rookery, especially amongst the Brazilian Pepper as they feast upon the plentiful berries. While Gatorland’s Birding Season is just getting underway, there is still plenty to see throughout the day. The late afternoon hours bring in the roosting birds by the hundreds, as they arrive for the safety of their “alligator protected” perches.

The 2010 Gatorland Birding Season is off to a great start, and to celebrate the New Year we figured we would help everyone where it matters the most… in the pocketbook! This year we will be offering a Senior Discount (age 55+) on our Annual Photo Pass as well as introducing a new Rookery Annual Pass, also with a Senior Discount. The new Rookery Pass is an annual pass that allows for a “pay as you go” access to to the Rookery during extended hours, for a nominal upcharge of $5 per visit (early or late). Unlimited access to the Rookery during our “Dawn to Dusk” extended hours program is available with no upcharge through our Annual Photo Pass.

Gatorland Annual Photo Pass $99.99 (unlimited early or late access*)
NEW Senior Rate $79.99

Gatorland Rookery Pass $49.99 ($5 upcharge for early or late access*)
NEW Senior Rate $39.99

(Monday - Tuesday) 9:00am - 5:00pm (NO extended hours)

Mike Godwin
Gatorland

Gatorland is pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 Gatorland Photo Contest. We would like to thank all of this years participants… it was certainly tough going for our judges as they had to choose from many great images submitted from some pretty darn good photographers. Since we had so many great photos, I thought we would add a couple of special “Honorable Mention” slots to each category. So without too much more ado, here’s the results!

Category #1 Birds

1st Place - “Wing Spread” by Jack Rogers

2nd Place - “Egret Pair” by George Thomas

3rd Place - “Great Egret Mating Dance” by George Wilson

Honorable Mention - “Cormorant Landing” by John Wise
Honorable Mention - “Wood Stork” by Marina Scarr

Category #2 Reptiles

1st Place - “Ready to Sneeze” by John Wise

2nd Place - “Gator Rain” by Paul Hennessy

3rd Place - “Other End” by Jack Rogers

Honorable Mention - “Gator Amore” by Richard Ikerd
Honorable Mention - “Gator Bellowing” by Cecil Ramsey

Category #3 Gatorland

1st Place - “Primrose Willow” by George Wilson

2nd Place - “Breeding Marsh” by RJ Sindelar

3rd Place - “Windmill” by Shane Boyer

Honorable Mention - “Gatorland Train” by Gene Prado
Honorable Mention - “Yikes” by Brianna Beierhart

Special thanks to our 2009 Photo Contest judges for a difficult job well done! And who were these fine folks that judged our contest? The Gatorland 2009 Photo contest was judged by:

Robert Amaruso
Pursuing an appreciation of the outdoors, Robert has been involved in landscape and nature photography for over 30 years translating his vision of the outdoors into artistic images. He has worked in 35mm, medium format and large format using a variety of manufacturer’s equipment. Preferring to maintain control of the total creative process he developed his own film and prints in the darkroom which lead to an adoption of the Zone System for black & white work. After purchasing a digital camera in 2003 he sold all film equipment and made a complete transition to digital imaging. He now uses both Canon EOS-1 Professional cameras and L-series lenses and Nikon’s D300 and 200-400mm VR to create images. Employing Photoshop, Robert produces a final output image suitable for printing or web posting.

Though his primary works have been landscape and nature images, he has always been interested in wildlife photography. A move to bird-rich Florida in 1999 coupled with a life-long appreciation of our avian friends inspired Robert to develop the skills required to create award winning avian images. His first step was to attend workshops at the 2003 Titusville Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival given by Milton Heiberg, Joanne Williams and Arthur Morris.

Building on these initial introductions to bird photography, Robert continued with workshops by Milton Heiberg and Charles Glatzer. However, it was Arthur Morris’ passion and skill in avian photography that captured his attention and subsequently led to Robert studying with Artie on group tours and in semi-private settings. In December 2005, Robert became one of Artie’s Birds as Art Instructional Photo Tour co-leaders. In 2007 he became one of Artie’s approved BIRDS AS ART small-group workshop leaders. He also is one of the owners and a participant in Birdphotographers.net, a website aimed at helping photographers improve their skills through substantive comments and criticism. The site features Arthur Morris and other acclaimed photographers.

Milton Heiberg
Until his recent move to Central Florida, Milton Heiberg was a New York City-based photographer working from his studio in midtown Manhattan. He began both his photographic and naturalist careers at age eight with a love of nature and a Kodak Brownie-Target box camera, and has been a tree hugging shutter-bug ever since.

He was educated at New York University and Cornell University—Graduate School of Biological Sciences, with further studies in ornithology at Rutgers University. Thousands of his photographs have appeared in books and magazines published by HarperCollins, Harcourt-Brace-Jovanovich, Macmillan, McGraw-Hill, Time-Warner, National Audubon Society, and National Geographic Society, among many others. His photographs have also been exhibited at places such as International Center for Photography—New York City, McGraw-Hill Building—New York City, Gray Advertising—New York City, and The Israel Museum-Jerusalem, Israel.

Milton has written seven books and numerous articles on photography. The most recent is The Essentials of Nature Photography, Tern Book Company—a complete handbook of nature photography.

He is the founder of the Photo Committee at the New York City Audubon Society and served for four years on their Board of Directors. He has taught nature photography courses at New York City Audubon Society and various other institutions within New York City from 1980 until he moved to Orlando, Florida, in 1998. He currently works out of his studio in Orlando, and teaches nature photography at the Crealdé School of Art, Winter Park, and at DPA (Digital Photo Academy—Panasonic/Lumix’s national school of photography) as Central Florida’s photo instructor. He is also currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Orange Audubon Society.

Michelle Harris
Michelle is Gatorland’s Director of Sales & Marketing as well as the owner of Professional Marketing Solutions, a full service advertising and public relations company specializing in the tourism industry.

Howdy Folks!

Just a reminder that the deadline for entries into the Gatorland 2009 Photo Contest is Monday, November 2, 2009. Please see the Photo Contest pages for more information about the contest rules and regulations. Don’t forget, all Annual Photo Pass Holders get two entries for free!

We would like to thank all of you that have already sent in their photos, and will be posting the entries into our photo gallery pages soon!

Mike Godwin
Gatorland

The ” Dawn to Dusk” extended hours program for the Gatorland Rookery is now over for this year. We would like to thank all of you that participated in the 2009 Gatorland Birding & Photo Pass program, and we look forward to having you out next year for another great Birding Season. While the extended hours may be over for 2009, the Rookery is always available during normal business hours (currently 9:00am - 6:00pm) and there are still quite a few birds and babies within the Gatorland Rookery. Don’t forget about our 2009 Photo Contest… there is plenty of time left to go through this years photos or come out and take some more! Deadline for all entries is Monday November 2, 2009.

In 2010 we anticipate starting the “Dawn to Dusk” program in February and ending late June, stay tuned for more details!

Mike Godwin
Gatorland

Howdy Folks!

There is still a lot of activity within the Gatorland Rookery, with fledging birds everywhere and some still sitting on eggs. A few nests are actually still under construction, so we will have activity for quite some time. The major players are Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Tricolored Herons, Little Blue Herons, Cattle Egrets, and Anhingas, all still sitting on nests. Of course, there are lots of other birds to photograph, like Osprey, Ibis, Woodpeckers, Woodstorks and many more.

Extended hours for the Rookery officially ended June 28, however, we will be offering a reduced access plan for July, with early access at 7:30am on Friday, Saturday, and Sundays. Late access (until 8:00pm) wll be on Friday and Saturdays only through July.

There are lots of great photo opportunities to still be had at Gatorland this year, and with the new Gatorland Photo Contest in full swing we want to give everyone a chance to enjoy the wonderful display of nature still going on. So if you want to brave the warmer temps come on out and have some fun… there are still lots of opportunities available for some great birding!

It’s summer in Florida, which means the temperatures are hot, the air is humid, and the rains come almost daily. But, for those that wish to brave the elements, there are still plenty of birds to see within the Gatorland Rookery. The Little Blue Herons (such as the one pictured above) have been increasing in numbers, with many new nests being constructed along the southern end of the Rookery. The Great Egrets are also building a few new nests, with two new nests under construction directly across from the North Gazebo on the East bank. Several more Great Egrets have nests underway along the Western edge of the boardwalk north of the Observation Tower. A pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers have also taken up residence high atop a dead palm tree next to the wheelchair ramp at the Observation Tower. The Woodpeckers can be seen throughout the day and have occupied the lower hole as you can see in the photo below.

While there is still some new nest building happening within the Rookery, most of the activity at this time is fledging, with many different species of birds training their youngsters to fly or hop around the branches. Flights of a parent bird followed by its offspring are fairly constant throughout the Rookery, as well as feeding time for those big babies not quite ready to leave the nest.

Of course, we still have lots of baby birds, especially Cattle Egrets, and while the vegetation has grown up around the nests, there are still opportunities to get a fairly clear shot of nesting behaviors such as the frequent feeding of the chicks. It’s amazing to see the smorgasborg of items the parents bring in for their young, and looking at the picture below, it makes me thankful I wasn’t born as a Cattle Egret!

During a recent Night Shine tour I ran across Baby, the young Barred Owl that was born at Gatorland. It followed me around the park; and, after the tour, I was able to spend some time with the youngster who
flew over to its old nesting area by the Wrestling Stadium. Baby has lost its downy feathers, and is fast becoming a beautiful young owl. I was able to get one fairly clear picture of Baby, (it’s really difficult to manually focus on a dark bird at night with no lights) which you can see below.

Extended hours for the Rookery are scheduled to end on June 28, however, as we still have a fair amount of activity and new nests being made, Gatorland will be offering a scaled back version of extended hours for July. During July we will keep the Rookery open early and late on Friday and Saturday, with early entry only available on Sunday. With the announcement of our new 2009 Photo Contest, this will give some of you more chances to grab some great pictures within the Rookery. Deadline for all entries will be November 2, 2009 and you can learn more about the contest by clicking on the Photo Contest tab above. Good Luck, and Happy Birding!