The Rookery in St. Augustine

It's been almost a year since I first visited the St. Augustine Alligator Farm…I hadn't intended to go back, due to the entry fee plus having to see all those penned gators, but a friend invited me to go with her and a few of her friends, with lunch afterwards, and I couldn't resist. We all went to see the activity at the rookery, not the gators….

I considered it extremely lucky to witness these two roseate spoonbills performing the "mutual pair display" as Stokes Field Guide to Birds puts it. They rub bills and present sticks to one another. These two are under three years old (imm.)

…This is an adult roseate spoonbill…you can see the difference in its coloring.

…Another adult roseate spoonbill, taking a dip and fishing…very brave, considering the base of the rookery is 90% pond and crawling with gators.

There were only a few hatchlings in nests, all of them great egrets…the chicks sure look prehistoric, don't they?!

This great egret was busy displaying…

A snowy egret enjoying "alone" time…as much as possible in a small area covered in nesting shore birds…the call of the snowy egret sounds like Daffy Duck trying to blow bubbles!

Another pensive snowy egret, this one with the red breeding facial skin.

Last year, I only saw one cattle egret and couldn't get a decent photo. This year, there was a small handful of cattle egrets in one tree, but still hard to get a decent shot.

There were a few tri-colored herons…I can't help but wonder if some or most of these birds nest in the same spot each year...

The wood storks all nest in one large tree in the rookery…the tree is covered in birds, but I managed to single out this one stork. Last year, I didn't get any decent shots of them.

A Rumble in the Rookery

A few days ago, while visiting a mini rookery that hubby had come across in the Flagler Beach area, near the Intracoastal Waterway, things started out innocently enough…

"Because we always eat in order of hatching, Harold, and I pierced the shell first….now Back Off!"

Hun-gree! Hun-gree! Hun-gree! Hun-gree! Hun-gree! Hun-gree!

"What fat juicy bug Maude? Heeeeeeyyyyy!"

"Okay, nex..." Sweet mother of God. Seriously?!

"Aack!! Holy craaa….."

"Right. I'm outie."

"Ma? Hello? Maude what's an obnoxious, ungrateful brat?"

Nearby, child-free Mildred sat quietly, alone on a branchless palm tree, relishing the solitude.

Another grateful rookery resident, this lone immature tri-colored heron. Managed to not get any sharp shots of it. Sigh.

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Meanwhile, back at the child-free cottage...

My only shot of an extremely shy female ruby-throated hummingbird. I've seen her 2-3 times but haven't seen her actually feed.

Big excitement ~ the female downy woodpecker! Have seen her a few times in the past week or so, for the first time. For the past two years, I'd always seen only the male before now.

The Rookery ~ Part 3

As you can see, this post is all about the Great Egret, in all its snow-white glory! To be honest, I'm rather annoyed with myself and my amateur ways with the camera, plus the fact that I arrived at the rookery too late in the day and the light was too harsh. Clearly these photos are lacking in color/light correct-ness…but you get the idea. The birds and hatchlings were impressive…

Preening even in the nursery…Looks like a wedding gown...

…Appears to be several expectant parents…

These nestlings appear to be checking themselves over…"Long neck, check!" "Long legs, check!"…
This was the best shot I got of the great egret babes...

Yep, we're okay…so, Mum! Hungry!

None of the hatchlings would cooperate for a photo shoot, but still…
Gotta love the fluff 'n fuzz!

…Lots of parents in the egret department...

Birding Bonanza

The past few days I've been seeing more "new" birds at the feeders, or under them…! Friday I dropped hubby at the park and went here and there in the general area of Flagler and Ormond Beaches, my first real birding outing since moving to NE Florida, away from the Atlantic shoreline. Not far away, but…

First, let's see what I've found close to home…starting with the most exciting visitor(s)! 

Imagine my shock and excitement to see an indigo bunting, a lifer!!

It puttered around the ground below the feeders for quite awhile…I saw the lone bunting two days in a row, then nothing for a few days, and then...

A trio of indigo buntings! After this sighting, a few days ago, there's been nothing since, but they are a summer resident of Florida…

At least one No. mockingbird has become brave enough to check out the feeders…this is a first…I think he really wants suet but seems awkward at the suet feeder...

I took photos of this small dove because it was clearly so much smaller than the mourning dove…turns out it's the common ground-dove, a lifer! It isn't so common in the US actually (see your bird guide)...

Here's a comparison shot of a mourning dove (top) and the ground-dove (bottom)…

I spent some time outside hoping I could catch a brave bird or two w/o the glass window between us…and got two iffy shots of what turns out to be the palm warbler…the birds and squirrels love the bottle brush flowers (boo-boo)! The palm warbler only winters in FL so I'm no doubt only getting a fleeting look at them…they summer much further north in Canada...

I was lucky to catch a brown thrasher at a feeder a few days ago! This is my 2nd sighting of them...

A Carolina wren was bold enough to climb up the screening on our back porch, perching briefly on the light under the awning...

A couple pale Amer. goldfinches visited recently…they've been pretty scarce this year...

Here's a squirrel caught in the act of ravaging my lovely bottle brush tree…they like to snap the entire blossom off; there's dozens on the ground, grrrr!

So, Friday about 8:00 am I began my birding outing…this is a view of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway from Gamble Rogers State Park…as lovely as this is….

The only bird I saw was this No. cardinal….humph!

So, I moved on south to No. Peninsula Salt Marsh...

Since I wasn't supposed to walk out towards the marsh, I had to take distant photos, starting with this one of a killdeer...

…And an immature bald eagle…

…And a great blue heron…

….A lesser yellowlegs…(or greater? both winter here)…

…Hmm, a black-bellied plover? Feel free to correct me...

After the salt marsh, I headed back north a bit…while passing the N Peninsula, on the W side of A1A, I spotted a Florida scrub jay (!!!) way up on the power line! A lifer! They are known to inhabit that area so I will have to make an effort to find one closer up...

I proceeded to a really nice boardwalk that leads over the Intracoastal marshes and oyster beds towards the open waterway…

And found this tri-colored heron (1st for 2014) fishing….

…and another one…

…As well as this snowy egret, that kept flapping its wings but didn't take off...

Walking back towards the parking lot, I scared a pileated woodpecker from a dead tree by the boardwalk…scared myself too! Had to take a long-distance shot once it landed again…

While walking on a dirt path under the hammock, I looked up through the foliage in time to see an osprey flying over, with a fish in its talons…I grumbled about missing that shot…a bit later I looked up as I walked under a dead tree... 

Directly above me, 30 feet max., I discovered the same osprey having its brunch...

Ah yea, sushi! Mmmm….

…For some reason, the fish needed to be given the stink eye…

The light was too harsh to get a great shot but it was a pretty cool experience…except for when a mature gentleman came along walking his dog and I pointed the osprey out to him…and he replied, "But isn't that a bald eagle?" Uh….no. It's not the first time someone tried to tell me that maybe an osprey was an eagle. Wishful thinking!

I then moved on to a town park with a nice foot path, partly along the west side of the Intracoastal...

I took a short walk to see what was about…a great egret was perched on a bare tree on the opposite side….

On my way back, an osprey flew over….

And joined the egret, giving it a visual lesson about hierarchy...

Despite the poor or lack of photos, it has been a pretty nice birding week!