Link to more Rookery Photos...

I have posted 23 of my favorites from Friday's outing to the native bird rookery at the Saint Augustine Alligator Farm (note to the uninitiated... these are not captive birds, they arrive at this natural rookery every spring. The alligator population keeps the birds natural predators away).

The photos are on my website here.

St. Augustine Native Bird Rookery -- 2010 Visit 1

Took a friend from Ormond Beach, Florida on his first visit to the native bird rookery at the Saint Augustine Alligator Farm this morning. Dan is a major bird guy and budding photographer. I love the jaw-drop reaction of folks who have never walked into this amazing slice of nature before... already there are hundreds of birds pairing off and building nests...

...like the great American Egret above, and the wood stork below... though so far there is only one hatchling (that I could find) -- a tiny egret.

The photographers were nearly a numerous as the roseate spoonbills (below), that I have never seen in such numbers in one place. I take this as a good sign for the north Florida ecology. Tourists were easily identifiable today by comments like: "I didn't know flamingos could fly..." when they saw the beautiful pink spoonies for the first time...

These are three quickly processed shots of more than 400 shot today. More to come plus a link to my website where the "good" ones will be posted... stand by.............

Local Focus July 1: Gators and Birds...

The Saint Augustine Alligator Farm might strike you at first as being one of those trite, old, U.S. Highway 1 roadside Florida attractions from the 1960s, designed to trap unwary tourists and separate them from their vanishing financial resources.

Not so!

In addition to being quite the cool little, well run, professionally staffed zoological park (yes, inhabited by hundreds of Florida Alligators -- among many other rare and exotic creatures), Nature's perfect processes have conspired to create an absolutely amazing, unplanned (by the park) environmental phenomenon. A large section of the park's wetland areas are inhabited by (hungry) free-ranging gators. A wooden causeway built into the heart of the area allows visitors to view the reptiles in their native habitat, and, yes, put a quarter into the little machine and toss a handful of treats into the snapping jaws below. The primitive area is dotted with a wide variety of north Florida regional flora, including majestic live oak, and tall palms. The combination of trees and gators created a perfect rookery habitat for the Florida native birds...

Every spring, hundreds and hundreds of great white egrets, snowy egrets (like the one above), cattle egrets, little blue herons, great blue herons, tricolor herons (like the one below with eggs), and wood storks fly in to build their nests, lay, incubate and hatch their eggs and raise their young above the watchful protection of the alligators that keep the bird's natural predators away.

In return, the gators get the occasional egg and feather breakfast (survival of the fittest in action), and hundreds of photographers flock in to observe and photograph every bit of it. The birds a so unintimidated by the stream of humanity gawking at their courtship rituals that some nests are built with a few yards of the causeway.

We made two visits this year, the most recent was last Saturday -- and it produced the photos posted here. Nature in action.... simple!

More photos from the 2009 rookery season can be found on my website here: RiverRoadPhoto

Wind Dancers

Wind Dance I, originally uploaded by Paul-G.

Kay and I took a couple of days to join family in St. Augustine late this week for a stay at the Old Powder House Bed and Breakfast. St. Augustine is one of our favorite quick getaways (about 30 miles south of us), and our lodgings were in the heart of the historic district. We ate too well, drank some fine wine, walked for miles, and generally had a desperately needed break from the day-to-day stress of our busy lives.

Friday morning we headed out to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. Because the massive population of Florida alligators are natural enemies of the natural predators of our native water birds, the farm has turned into a very busy rookery during the late winter to mid-summer months. Herons and egrets of all descriptions, roseate spoonbills, and wood storks fly in to find their mates, build nests, lay eggs and raise their young in relative safety.

While a bit early in the season, (only the great egrets, a few little egrets, night herons and woods storks are in and starting to nest), I was able to snare a number of decent images of these amazing birds in flight, and displaying their breeding plumage. The one above is a great egret. pulling to a stop to do a bit of nest building. You can find an additional dozen or so photos from this trip to the rookery on my website, HERE. Enjoy!