Sunday, 19 February 2012
Great day in the breeding marsh! It was mostly overcast but I counted around 50 Great Egrets lying on nests! There are still some who are displaying and nest building but there are probably a dozen or more nests with chicks. The Snowy Egrets, with their red ceres and orange feet, are more common and are displaying in their breeding plumage. I saw 25 Wood Storks and 4 were lying on nests. I first saw the Storks lying on nests on January 27th. The incubation period is 28-32 days so we should have chicks fairly soon. The Anhingas are starting to display by shuffling their wings side-to-side and holding their tails and heads up. Some may be on potential nest sites. Still no Little Blue’s, Tri-colors or Cattle Egrets anywhere to be found. The Great Blue Herons are hanging out and I didn’t see any Cormorants gathering nest materials. We will hopefully have more baby Cormorants coming soon.
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