LaurenVH

Saturday, 21 March 2015 The Tri-colored Herons have arrived! In the past week, many have flown in. A few already have eggs so they must have come in earlier. There are only a couple Cattle Egrets here so far, many to follow I’m sure. I also saw 6 Little Blue Herons in the same palm tree in the southern half of the rookery. They appeared to be in pairs. The Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Tri-colored Herons, Wood Storks, Anhinga’s and Cormorants all have eggs. There will be a lot of hatching happening in the next two months. Now is the time to come photograph the beautiful breeding plumage of our birds. Adam Hall Join me here in the rookery with your exclusive Gatorland Birding Photo Pass

Saturday, 7 March 2015 The Snowy Egrets are here. A few are paired up already. The Wood Storks are building nests. The DC Cormorant colony is full and cormorants are now starting to display in the cypress trees of the rookery. The Great Egrets are still in all stages of breeding. Anhinga’s are pairing up and in breeding plumage. Yesterday, I saw my first Swallow-tailed Kite of the season and today, a pair was circling over the south end swamp. Other sightings of the day included: a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron, Red-shouldered Hawk and Limpkin. Adam Hall Join me here in the rookery with your exclusive Gatorland Birding Photo Pass

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 [...]

Friday, 14 February 2014 Happy Valentine’s Day! I Love BIRDS! Welcome back to another exciting year at the Gatorland rookery. We’ve had some interesting turns of events so far this year. Great Egrets are displaying and pairing up; some had eggs the first week of January! Unfortunately, none of them made it to hatching, predators and the cold snaps were too much. A second round of eggs are cooking now though. I expect to see some chicks in the next couple weeks. The Anhingas are nesting on the east edge already. Males and females are easily distinguished by their breast color. The Snowy Egrets are gearing up for spring, no nests yet. The Roseate Spoonbills are teasing us as usual by hanging out with us in the northeast corner of the marsh for the afternoon. I’ve seen Barred Owls in the early mornings and on [...]

Saturday, 27 April 2013 A lot has happened in the past month. The alligators are bellowing every morning now and sometimes even throughout the day. Most of the Great Egrets have grown up chicks by now, though some have eggs or small chicks still. Two males were even displaying late in the day. The Snowy Egrets seem to be split into two waves: some have large chicks while some are on eggs. Many of the Tri-colored Herons are on eggs but a few are still nest building and a couple nests do have chicks already. There are many Cattle Egrets on eggs and so far, I haven’t seen any hatched out. Some of them still have great color on their face. The three large Cypress trees in the northern part of the marsh each have a couple Double-crested Cormorant nests. One of these nests is [...]

Tuesday, 5 March 2013 The Great Egrets are still in all stages of nesting. Some of the first chicks that hatched are now into the awkward stage of development of stumbling around the nest squawking for food with their big heads and flappy wings. The Snowy Egrets are starting to nest. Many are in peak breeding plumage with red lores and orange feet. I saw a nest with three eggs already. Both Anhingas and Wood Storks appear to be on eggs but it’s difficult to see into their nests. The Tri-colored Herons are becoming more active. Some are coming into breeding plumage and appear to be looking for nest sites. I did see one carrying a stick also. There seems to be more Black-crowned Night Herons hanging around. We’ll see if they nest in the open somewhere. There’s nothing new to report from any other [...]

Monday, 11 February 2013 Here we are in another exciting year at Gatorland’s wading bird rookery. This year we’ve added Thursday mornings and kept Saturday nights in the schedule. The program will run through June 16th. We’ve also added two areas of the park to the Photographer’s Pass: the main walkway along the South Lake and one of my favorites, the Swamp Walk! The Great Egrets have started a month earlier than last year with our first eggs showing up in three nests during the first week of January. Now in early February, these eggs have hatched and we have more eggs in other nests! Don’t worry, you haven’t missed anything; there are many egrets in every stage of nesting. Wood Storks are pairing up and I saw a pair of Anhinga’s building a nest too. Other species are just hanging out for now. We [...]

Wednesday, 30 May 2012 It’s quite a sight on the marsh these days. Branching chicks are all over the railings. Hundreds of Snowy Egret and Tri-colored Heron chicks are hopping around, patiently waiting for mom and dad to come back with food. There are a few nests of Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets that have small chicks but most are almost as big as their parents. The Wood Storks and Anhinga’s are overflowing their nests. Most of the Cattle Egrets have small chicks now. The visible Little Blue Heron nest is now vacant but there are probably some nests hidden away somewhere in the underbrush. Lastly, daily promises of Swallow-tailed Kites are always a pleasant sight for me. Adam Join me here in the rookery with your exclusive Gatorland Birding Photo Pass

Sunday, 22 April 2012 There’s a lot going on in the rookery. Everyone has chicks except for the Cattle Egrets. Some of the Cattle Egrets have eggs while some aren’t quite there yet but they nest further from the boardwalk so it may be difficult to tell when our first chicks arrive. The Tri-colored Herons seemed to nest all at the same time with most of the chicks hatching within a short window. They are very well mannered; the adults make no more than a beak clap and I’ve only heard the chicks make a quiet, raspy call. Many of the Snowy Egrets have chicks as well. Some are already venturing out on branches. An interesting observation: there is a surprising amount of variation in beak and leg color (yellow to black) both between and even within the nests. The Great Egrets are doing well. [...]

Sunday, 25 March 2012 Great Egrets are doing great! One nest with a large chick now has another egg! The egrets that were expanding their nest last week now only have two chicks but today I saw another adult expanding its nest with two large chicks. There are many Tri-colored Herons, Snowy and Cattle Egrets building nests and lying on eggs. There are three Tri-colored Heron nests with four eggs and one that I saw with five eggs! The Wood Storks have chicks that are a few weeks old. Anhinga’s are still incubating and I didn’t see any chicks. There’s another Boat-tailed Grackle nest just an arm’s length away from the boardwalk under the covered area; she has 2 eggs. Lastly, a Pileated Woodpecker landed on the east edge for a few minutes. Adam Hall Join me here in the rookery with your exclusive Gatorland [...]