What a perfect afternoon to hang out in the Breeding Marsh at Gatorland.  As I look around I am amazed by the crowd of onlookers anxiously awaiting the arrival of the baby bird a few short feet away.

This is nothing new for all of us who work and visit the theme park regularly but for the guests visiting today it is a miracle taking place right before their eyes and they can only see it at Gatorland!

If you haven’t visited lately grab your camera and head on over.  Dozens of nests are packed full of eggs!

While the weather has been rather chilly lately, it hasn’t stopped a few pairs of Great Egrets from making nests. At this point we have 4 sitting pairs along the Northwestern boardwalk and several more pairs building along the east bank across from the North Gazebo. Hundreds of White Ibis are arriving nightly to roost within the Breeding Marsh along with smaller numbers of Little Blue & Tricolored Herons, Snowy & Cattle Egrets, as well as Anhingas and Cormorants. The Great Blue Herons are plentiful but have shown no interest in nesting. Several Woodstorks are within the Breeding Marsh, but there is no sign of any nest construction. The Limpkin is very active throughout the day, fishing for freshwater mollusks and calling for its mate. The Spoonbills are around, but do not spend any consistent time in the Marsh, preferring to hang around the South Lake just south of the flamingos. Night Herons have been active throughout the day, and can be found around the North Lake as well as in the Breeding Marsh.

Gatorland’s “Dawn to Dusk” extended hours program will begin Wednesday, February 3, 2010 with Breeding Marsh only access 7:30am - Dusk every Wednesday through Sunday. The “Dawn to Dusk” extended hours will run through Saturday, July 31, 2010. (Dusk exit times vary depending upon time of year).

May is a great time to come and visit the Gatorland Rookery as we have all sizes and shapes of baby birds everywhere, from fledging birds to nests still being constructed… there is lots of activity everywhere! We do have a lot of nests very close to the boardwalk, so you won’t need a big fancy lens or camera to get a picture like the one of the Great Egrets feeding above!!!

Many of the early nesters have already fledged or have abandoned the nests and are “branch hopping” like the Tricolored Heron juvenile above. As soon as a nest is abandoned, the other birds will either take it over or steal the sticks to construct their own. Sometimes, they won’t even wait for a nest to be abandoned, and will occassionally push out unguarded chicks and take over the nest!

The Green Heron chicks have finally started to emerge from the Papyrus reeds located at the South Lake area next to the Early Entry Gate. The Green Herons are rather reclusive, so you may need to hang out a bit and wait for them to appear. They are not as close as many of the nests along the Rookery boardwalk, I would suggest a 300mm lens for the best photo opps.

The Osprey have been quite active lately fishing within the Rookery. It’s not an easy task, not only do they have to dive into alligator infested water, they have to contend with the constant harrasment from the Grackles who constantly strafe them during their fly-overs. However, despite the challenges presented by the Gators and Grackles, they do a superb job of fishing, and as you can see from the shot above, sometimes they are doubly rewarded!

The Baby Barred Owl has left the vicinity of the nest, and is now a fully fledged young owl. The picture above is the last one I was able to take of it, sitting upon the Macaw perch which was one of his favorite hangouts. I don’t see “Baby” anymore during the day, but I did see the little bugger a few nights back during a Night Shine tour. I can tell you the youngster is doing great, and the parents have done a fine job raising their baby. It was another great “first” for the Gatorland Rookery, and does help alleviate a little disapointment in the Spoonbill and Wood Stork nesting, or should I say… lack of nesting this year.

Unfortunately it looks like we will not have any nesting Spoonbills or Wood Storks this year, as the last pair of Spoonies have abandoned their nest and the Wood Storks never really got started. The East bank of the Rookery doesn’t quite seem the same without them, and I don’t have an answer as to why, after several years of successful nesting, they suddenly stopped. But, there is always next year, and we do have Wood Storks and Spoonies around, just not sitting on nests!

Just a reminder to everyone that the Rookery is only open for extended hours every Wednesday through Sunday, with early entry at 7:30am and dusk access until 8:00pm. Early entry is located at the far south end of the park, which is also where we exit at dusk. The Rookery will not be open for extended hours on Memorial Day, but will be open during normal park hours. Park hours will change beginning May 23 from a 5:00pm to a 6:00pm closing time. So come on over and have some fun in the Rookery!