Friday, April 6, 2018

Stork nests

Ed Gaillard: birds &emdash; Wood Stork on nest, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Florida
watch your fingers

We made our annual trip to Florida to visit friends in Palm Beach County at the beginning of March. This is the latest in winter we've gone, and the differences in what birds were around were interesting.

Ed Gaillard: birds &emdash; Wood Storks at nest, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Florida
domestic bliss

At Wakodahatchee Wetlands park, the Wood Storks were nesting. Some of them were in trees right next to the boardwalk, practically close enough to touch if you didn't mind losing a couple of fingers. In January and February of past years, the dominant nesters were Great Blue Herons; this time it was the storks and smaller shorebirds like Tricolored Heron and Cattle Egret.

Ed Gaillard: birds &emdash; Shorebird condos, Wakodahatchee Watlands, Florida
shorebird condo

All the little hammocks had nests in them. They were like shorebird condos. They generally had Great Blue Herons at the top.

Ed Gaillard: birds &emdash; Great Blue Herons and Wood Storks at nest, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Florida
"I just adore a penthouse view..."

Stork nests were below the Great Blues, and then Anhinga nests farther down.

Ed Gaillard: birds &emdash; Wood Storks at nest, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Florida
nice neighbors

Cattle Egret and Tricolored Herons tucked their nests into cozy little crannies throughout the trees. Double-Crested Cormorants mostly had their own hammocks.

Ed Gaillard: birds &emdash; Cattle Egret on nest, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Florida
cozy

There wasn't much nesting at nearby Green Cay, though there were a nice pair of Screech Owl. The Spoonbills seem to have abandoned it this year, though. I'll post more Florida photos soon, in the meantime, one more Stork nest:

Ed Gaillard: birds &emdash; Wood Storks at nest, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Florida