Saturday, 14 February 2015
Welcome to the 2015 nesting season! It’s cold for us 2 leggeds today; 44 deg F! The birds seem fine with it though. There are dozens of Great Egret eggs already. They are in all stages of breeding, displaying, pairing, nest building, laying, and there are even some nests with small chicks already! Anhinga’s are in breeding plumage. The Wood Storks are standing on nests. I can’t tell if they are just what’s left of last year’s nests (I didn’t watch for long in the cold). I’m sure the storks will have no problem finding a Valentine with their ravishing good looks. There were 2 Roseate Spoonbills in their usual spot in the NE corner of the rookery. They were in full breeding colors but flew out by around 9:30. Fingers crossed that they’ll nest this year. Very little activity from our other wading birds at this point but it’s still early in the season. There were a couple Black-crowned Night Herons along the NW patch of the rookery. I’m going to try to find a nest. I may have found a hawk nest but I’ll let you know after further investigation. Our DC Cormorant colony is full of nests on the south island of the main lake. Other sightings this morning were: robins, grackles, catbirds, mockingbirds, white ibis, Great Blue Herons, Pileated Woodpeckers, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers.
Adam Hall
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