Tag Archives: Tri-colored Heron

Gatorland update, 5/11/13

May 11, 2013Gatorland, INSIDE FLORIDA, OrlandoAnhinga, Cattle Egret, Cormorant, Tri-colored HeronEd Rosack

Keith H. and I took advantage of our annual photo passes and stopped by Gatorland yesterday morning. If you’ve planned to see the wild bird rookery there, don’t wait too long. There’s a lot going on now and it won’t last forever.

Cattle Egrets and Cormorants are still incubating eggs and should start hatching soon. Great Egrets, Tri-colored Herons, Anhingas, and Woodstorks have hatched and you can get great photos of parenting activity including feeding, nest maintenance, displays, and flight to / from nests. All of the birds are in peak breeding colors.

Tri-colored Heron in flight

Gatorland is a great place to practice flight photography. Observe the bird behavior for a while, pick a likely place with a good background (hopefully in the shade) and wait. Opportunities will occur!

Cattle Egret

Most of the Cattle Egrets were back in the bushes, in bad light and obscured by twigs. Be observant and patient you’ll find one out in the open and maybe even in front of a dark background.

Here’s a couple more photos from yesterday:

Anhinga in flight – they’re very different (and attractive) in breeding season.

Double Crested Cormorant – very pretty eyes if you can catch them in the right light

We also saw several other birds types including a Swallow-tailed Kite.

If you go during the week, take advantage of the early entry option. We got there at 7:30 and there were only a few other photographers there. As we were leaving about 10:15, there was a huge line waiting to get in. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to photograph in the early morning light and when it’s peaceful.

Another reason to visit Gatorland is to see the new Panther Springs exhibit. These animals are very impressive – I didn’t realize how large they are. These two are a brother and sister pair that were raised in captivity and so can’t be released back to the wild. The Florida Panther population is estimated at only 100 – 160 in south-west Florida. Well worth seeing.

Hello kitty!

You can read other Central Florida Photo Ops blog posts about Gatorland from this link. And this set on Flickr has many other photos I’ve made there

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

St. Augustine Alligator Farm – Bird Rookery Update

June 13, 2010INSIDE FLORIDA, St. Augustine, St. Augustine Alligator Farmbirds, Cattle Egret, Spoonbill, Tri-colored Heron, wildlife, Wood StorkEd Rosack

Lynn and I paid another visit to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm this morning to check on things at the Rookery. Things are hopping!

After a somewhat slow start (cold weather?), the Rookery has had a very active and varied nesting season. If you haven’t visited yet, you need to get over there before you completely miss your chance until next year. You can still see many species in the nest with chicks, although there are also many juveniles that have grown very large and are even flying around.

According to Gen Anderson – who is the Bird & Mammal Curator at the Alligator Farm (~~via the birdrookery@yahoogroups.com mailing list~~ – no longer available), there have been over 250 nests with more than 700 chicks counted in the rookery. That’s a tremendous number of birds in a relatively small area! The following species are resident:

Wood storks:

Mama Woodstork preens one of her chicks

Cattle Egrets:

Cattle Egret nest with chicks

Tri-colored Herons:

Tri-Colored Heron nest with chicks

Roseate Spoonbills:

Mother Spoonbill with eggs

Great egrets, Snowy egrets, Little Blue Herons, and Green Herons are also in residence.

There are four Spoonbill nests in the rookery and since I’ve never seen Spoonbill nests or chicks, these have been very exciting for me. This is the first year that they’ve nested at the Alligator Farm and the farthest north they’ve been recorded nesting. Two of the nests are well hidden at the back of the property, but the other two are easily viewed. All four contain chicks although it is difficult to see them, since they’re still so small. The chicks in the easily viewed nests will only be there for about another 5 weeks before they fledge.

I’ve also posted a video I made this morning of one of the spoonbill nests. In it, you can see Mama feeding one of the two babies. You can also listen to all the noise at the Rookery as the chicks demand food from their parents.

You can see other photos I’ve made in St. Augustine in this set on Flickr.

Comparing Gatorland to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm

February 28, 2010Gatorland, INSIDE FLORIDA, St. Augustine, St. Augustine Alligator Farmbirds, Black Crowned Night Heron, reviews, Tri-colored HeronEd Rosack

Intro

Tri-color heron at Gatorland

A few weeks ago, I promised to compare the St. Augustine Alligator Farm to Gatorland from the point of view of a nature / wildlife photography enthusiast. And in this post, I’ll do it.

This entry is only a top-level summary of what you can expect at each place. For more information, please look at earlier posts I’ve done, which you can find via the blog table of contents or by using the search box at the top of the page.

Black Crowned Night Heron roosting at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm.

Summary table

Both of these parks have rookeries where wild birds come to roost. This concentration of avian visitors is very handy for the bird photographer. Why would you pick one over the other to visit? Both cater to photographers and try to make it easy to capture images of wild birds. This table lists other factors that I think are important when comparing these parks. I’ve listed each along with a comment to explain and a + or – rating to show which place I think comes out ahead on that factor.

Factor:	Gatorland	Alligator Farm
Birds
variety:	Herons, egrets, spoonbills, wood storks, anhinga, limpkins, vultures, others+	Herons, egrets, spoonbills, wood storks, vultures, others+
number of birds:	Many+	Many+
Distance:	Birds can be quite close and are used to humans, with some nesting within feet of the boardwalk. Some species are high in the trees.+	Birds can be quite close and are used to humans, with some nesting within feet of the boardwalk. Some species are high in the trees.+
behavior:	Natural and varied. Courting, brooding, nesting, hatching, fledging, etc.+	Natural and varied. Courting, brooding, nesting, hatching, fledging, etc.+
Other wildlife:	Large variety, with most of the animals easily accessible to photographers.+	Large variety, with most of the animals easily accessible to photographers.+
Information available:	Lots of info available on the Website. There is a Flickr group where you can see the types of photos possible.+	Lots of info available on the Website, There is a Flickr group, where you can see the types of photos possible. ~~A Yahoo group used to post rookery updates, but has~~ now been replaced by an Alligator Farm Blog.
Exhibits and shows:	Several, good for the kids.+	Some, good for the kids.
Price:	$20 – 100 (adults). Some discounts available.	$20 – 70 (adults)
Photo pass available:	Yes: re-instated in 2012. February through July, 7:30am to dusk. $99.99.	Yes, $70 – with early entry at 8:00am+
Proximity	~40 minutes from Winter Springs. Closer to Orlando.+	~1 hour, 50 minutes from Winter Springs. Farther from Orlando.-
Other photo ops in the area:	Gatorland is a little isolated from other photo opportunities in the area.	Historic St. Augustine has a huge number of photo opportunities.+
Other attractions in the area:	Many attractions and parks in the Orlando area within a short drive.+	A few smaller attractions are close by.-

Conclusions

Which one should you go to? For nature and wildlife photography, I would say you probably can’t go wrong with either place. If you haven’t been to either one, choose the whichever is most convenient for you.

If you’re going for more than just photography, then Gatorland is also probably a little more well-rounded, with more to do. On the other hand, the Alligator farm makes for a nice day trip from Orlando when you combine it with a stop in the historical district or the fort.

You can capture stunning images at both places, so pick the one that is most convenient for you.

the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Bird Rookery

May 28, 2007INSIDE FLORIDA, St. Augustine, St. Augustine Alligator Farmbirds, Tri-colored HeronEd Rosack

For my birthday this year, Lynn gave me a photographer’s pass to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. While you can take photos of alligators, the special thing about this park is that they’ve expanded the Alligator Swamp exhibit. The extra area includes a boardwalk where you can stay safely above the monsters in the water and get within feet of nesting birds. These wild birds have learned that the gators keep predators out of the trees, and as a result the park has become one of the largest natural bird rookeries in the state of Florida.

From March 2 – July 18, the annual pass allows you to enter the park early (~8 am) before it opens to general admission. May is the prime time for nesting and breeding. Lynn and I have been back several times.

Since they’re accustomed to people, you can get quite close to a variety of birds, although you’ll still get the best results with a long telephoto lens and a sturdy tripod. I get by with my 70 – 300 zoom, but there are people there with monster glass! Many use flash with a “Better Beamer” magnifier for greater range.

There’s an annual photo contest, with the winners used for a calendar sold at the gift shop.

For more information, visit the St. Augustine Alligator farm website .

My bird rookery photographs are here.