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 potential nest sites. I was watching a female Boat-tailed Grackle for a few minutes. She had some nesting material and hopped down into some Taro plants where her nest is. A male seemed to be guarding the area and I could see the nest well enough to tell that there aren’t any eggs yet. Robins and Catbirds were eating the berries of the Brazilian Pepper trees at the north end. The Swallow-tailed Kites were soaring around. Wood Storks are doing well with a few more on nests. Lastly, one of our photographers showed me some pictures he took of a female American Redstart in the trees at the north end.
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