gatorland rookery

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 [...]

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 [...]