LaurenVH

Sunday, 18 March 2012 Our first Great Egret chicks look like small adults now but it’ll still be a few weeks until they’re ready to fledge. Dozens of nests have eggs and/or chicks and there are still some unpaired adults displaying. I also noticed that we have lost a few chicks along the way; payment for the gators security services I guess. One nest at the north end has three large chicks and the parents are building the nest larger. I’m going to watch to see if this is something all pairs do or if they need to expand because all three chicks are large and healthy. The Snowy Egrets are by far the most vocal and active. They chase each other and make all their funny sounds. Many have eggs but no chicks yet. The Tri-colored Herons are doing very well. Many have eggs; [...]

Sunday, 4 March 2012 I spent some extra time in the marsh today. Great Egrets are doing very well with some still displaying and starting to build nests. Our first chicks are almost 4 weeks old now and looking awkward as ever with their big heads flopping around. Snowy Egrets are much more active now. Many are building nests and there’s already a nest with three eggs! The Tri-colored Herons came in full force these last two weeks. Some are paired and building nests. The Snowys and Tri-colors seem to nest inside the bushes instead of on top like the Great Egrets. The Tri-colored Herons seem to be more evenly spread throughout the marsh instead of packing into the north end. We have five female Anhingas on nests along the east edge, their mates hanging close by. Some Cattle Egrets look to be searching for [...]

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 [...]

Sunday, 12 February 2012 I didn’t have much time to spend in the marsh this week but I found time this afternoon to watch and talk to some of our photographers. The Great Egrets, as their name suggests, are doing great. The first two nests that had eggs this season now have our first chicks! The Wood Storks are still doing well. Spoonbills make their usual appearances. The Snowy Egrets are slowly increasing in number. Other species were around but it was close to sunset so hundreds of birds were flying in to roost. I’ve noticed that some of the Cormorants on the South Island are fledging. If you haven’t purchased a Photo Pass, now would be a great time to do so with all the eggs starting to hatch! Adam Hall Join me here in the rookery with your exclusive Gatorland Birding Photo Pass [...]

Sunday, 5 February 2012 It’s been just over a week since my last survey and we’ve doubled the number of Great Egrets lying on nests. There’s 28 lying on nests and when some of them stood up I noticed that many have three eggs. Some of the adults that have eggs are losing their bright green cere. They are now more of an olive with yellow eyes. Still others are displaying and building nests. There’s still two Wood Storks lying on nests but we now have 15 of them including at least six pairs, all on the east edge. I saw six Snowy Egrets hanging out mostly near the tower. I didn’t see any Spoonbills in the morning but one came in the afternoon and we’ve been seeing two or three at times. There doesn’t seem to be any change in our other species. Many [...]