Rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park: Part 2

Although none of the nesting birds seemed affected by the people at the gator farm, one bird was especially nonchalant. She was a juvenile tricolored heron that was perched on a post only a couple of feet away from the main boardwalk.

Juvenile tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor) preens on a post at the rookery at the St. Augustine alligator farm in St. Augustine, FL

If I may speak frankly, you humans all look like ugly monsters.

The wood storks were starting to perk up and get a little more active. A few of them flew short distances to land and loaf on different trees.

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) flaps wings at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

The roseate spoonbills were still mostly hanging out.

Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Although I don’t like birds being obscured by branches, I really like the different patterns of shadows.

This next spoonbill was clamping down on branches and shaking them furiously. I’m not sure whether he was trying to gather nesting material or if he were shaking the branches as a mating display.

Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

I’M. TOO SEXY FOR THIS BRANCH. TOO SEXY FOR THIS TREE. SO SEXY, YOU SEE.

Some egrets had their nests in a good-enough condition that the “on-duty” incubating bird could relax and lay on their eggs.

Great egret (Ardea alba) sits on a nest at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Other egrets were actively working on their nests, even though the females had already started to lay eggs.

A pair of mated great egrets (Ardea alba) work together on a nest at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

A pair of great egrets together at their nest at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

The male snowy egret was still perching on the tree where he had run off the female he mated with.

Male snowy egret (Egretta thula) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

SNOWY IS TOO YOUNG TO THINK OF SETTLING DOWN AND BUILDING A NEST. SNOWY IS FUN-LOVING AND CAREFREE!

Another great egret had a beautiful green lore.

Great egret (Ardea alba) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Great egret (Ardea alba) begins to shake itself in a rouse at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Great egret (Ardea alba) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

HELLO, LADIES. MY ASTROLOGICAL SIGN IS THE SEXY BIRD. WHAT IS YOUR SIGN?

Other great egrets displayed, hung out on their nests, and looked for nesting material.

Great egret (Ardea alba) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Great egret (Ardea alba) scratches an itch at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. AUgustine, FL

Great egret (Ardea alba) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

The bills of the wood storks were fascinating to see up close. I remember a project in a ceramics class in which we burnished our pieces while the clay was still moist and later fired the pieces in a pit fire. The colors and the way the light hits the stork’s beak remind me of that burnished clay after it was fired.

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

The juvenile tricolored heron fluttered down to the banks and stepped into the water to hunt. At one point she walked right by a gator. The gator didn’t care.

Juvenile tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor) hunts for fish at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Juvenile tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor) hunts for fish at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

She was able to catch a few small fish, but I didn’t get any pics.

Juvenile tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor) hunts for fish at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

The spoonbill that had been shaking branches gave up.

Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) sleeps at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

I’M. TOO SLEEPY TO BE SEXY. POOR ME.

The other adult spoonbill that I’d been watching also went to sleep.

Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) sleeps at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

A different spoonbill was awake, although she was just lounging around while a pair of nearby snowy egrets were bleating and working on a nest.

Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Some of the wood storks started gaping again.

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) flaps wings at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL
Wood stork (Mycteria americana) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

DO YOU LIKE MY HALLOWEEN COSTUME, HUMAN? I’M GOING AS A TREE.

At that point, Q and I had been at the rookery for about two hours, so we decided to go check out the other exhibits at the gator farm.

Alligator (alligator mississippiensis) lounging in water, covered in bird droppings, at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

This rookery gator cracked me up because of all the bird shit on its back. It must have been hanging out in that position for a long time.

They had an African exhibit that I really liked. There was a red ruffed lemur that was dozing.

Red ruffed lemur (Varecia rubra) sleeps at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

There was also a pair of marabou storks. They were awesome! I loved their long, dangling throat sacs. One of the storks preened the other for a few minutes. The preener then briefly preened herself before wandering off to get a drink of water.

Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) preens at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Profile of a marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

What a striking bird.

 

Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) takes a sip of water at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

There were also cape griffon vultures and a hooded vulture. I thought that the hooded vulture was especially beautiful.

Cape griffon vultures (Gyps coprotheres) at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

We also walked by a couple of Galapagos tortoises.

Galapagos tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra) ambling around at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Galapagos tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra) ambling around at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

There were lots of other birds in other exhibits, although I didn’t take pics of them. I’ve never been particularly interested in alligators or crocodiles, but I was amazed by the diversity of the species they had at the gator farm.

One post remains.

Rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park: Part 1

Before Q and I left for Florida, I researched possible birding sites online at the Great Florida Birding Trail. I decided that Q and I should try to visit Gatorland, as it boasted a large rookery in a section of its park. My mother mentioned this to a patient of hers who was a photographer and a birder. He said, “Gatorland is the second best rookery to visit in this part of the state. The best is in St. Augustine.”

So Q and I found ourselves driving up to St. Augustine to visit the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park.

A few days before we left for the gator farm, we went to their web site to buy tickets and noticed that there was a hotline number that provided updates about the rookery. Q called the number, and a week-old message began to play. Roseate spoonbills were nesting! Wood storks were arriving and pairing up! That was very exciting to me, because I had really hoped to see wood storks. Roseate spoonbills were even better; I hadn’t even considered we would get to see them.

The night before we left, Q and I went down to the lake to watch the Atlas V rocket launch. In the past, when the wind has been just right, we’ve been able to hear the take-off, although that didn’t happen this time. I wondered if the rocket would burn as brightly as the shuttle. No worries there!

Atlas V rocket launch from Cape Canaveral on March 12

The Atlas V goes up from Cape Canaveral, just as bright as the shuttle.

Atlas V rocket launch from Cape Canaveral on March 12

If you click on the pic and zoom in, you can see the two boosters, which look like small red triangles, falling from the rocket.

When Q and I got to the gator farm the next day, we eagerly followed the signs to the rookery. We ended up on a wooden boardwalk that stretched over a small stream. Gators lounged in the water and on the shores. Around the boardwalk were trees covered in great egrets, snowy egrets, wood storks, and roseate spoonbills.

I sought out the spoonbills first. Most of the birds were standing behind foliage or sleeping or lounging near their nests. The pink of their feathers was brilliant in the sunlight.

Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

This spoonbill was working on a nest with a mate.

Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) works on building a nest at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

The great egrets were ready for mating; their lores were bright green. I joked to Q, “Hey, we came over a thousand miles to see a bird we could have seen at the UT Southwestern rookery!”

Great egret (Ardea alba) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

We might be able to see the next bird down east of Corsicana, but we certainly wouldn’t be able to see it as closely as we could in St. Augustine.

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) gaping at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Some younger-looking roseate spoonbills were at the rookery. Like flamingos, the vibrant pink color of the spoonbill’s plumage comes from the food they eat. More mature spoonbills have feathers that are colored a much deeper, brighter pink.

Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) investigates locations for a nest at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Oh! I am so young and lonely! I wish I could find a mate!

Two roseate spoonbills (Platalea ajaja) investigate locations for a nest at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

HI! Will you be my mate?

Great egret (Ardea alba) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Now that pelican season is over, this great egret is vying to get on the cover of Wow! Waterbirds! magazine.

Not many of the wood storks seemed to have paired up. I saw only a few on nests, and a few more standing together. Most of the other storks were either hanging out by themselves or in small groups.

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

The next wood stork stood on this tree with her beak agape for a few minutes. She wasn’t panting like I’ve seen hot egrets and black-crowned night herons do, and the gape didn’t seem directed toward any other bird. From what I’ve read, female wood storks are the sex that typically engages in this kind of multi-minute gaping.

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) gaping at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

The male great egrets were out gathering sticks to bring back to their mates. That was my favorite part of watching the birds at the UT Southwestern rookery last year.

Great egret (Ardea alba) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Male great egret (Ardea alba) gathers nesting material at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Great egret (Ardea alba) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

The birds gave zero shits about the people nearby. The males frequently flew over the boardwalk as they went in search of their nesting material.

Male great egret (Ardea alba) flies to a nest with nesting material at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Coming through, coming through, gotta get this home to the missus.

Male great egret (Ardea alba) flies to a nest with nesting material at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Maybe she’ll let me mount her if she really likes the stick.

The male that was flying landed on a nearby nest and presented his stick to his mate. I watched him leave, scout out sticks, and bring them back several times. Sometimes the female was still busy weaving a stick into the nest when her mate would reappear with more material.

Female great egret (Egretta thula) receives nesting material from her mate at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FLMale great egret (Egretta thula) presents nesting material to his mate at the nest at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FLFemale great egret (Egretta thula) receives nesting material from her mate at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FLMale great egret (Egretta thula) presents nesting material to his mate at the nest at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

After the male disappeared for several minutes on another stick-gathering expedition, I started looking around again. That’s when I realized that mature roseate spoonbills have orange tails. I’m not sure whether their tails are always orange or if it is only part of their breeding plumage.

Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Hey, I’m still sexy, even if I don’t have an orange tail yet!

I started watching a nearby snowy egret. The first time I heard a snowy at the UT Southwestern rookery, I had a difficult time describing what it sounded like: kind of a high-pitched, goat-like, gobbling, bleating sound. Watching them was much more fun than listening to them because they were so excitable and aggressive.

The snowy I was watching turned out to be a male, because he climbed up to a female who was hanging out on the same tree and mounted her.

Male snowy egret (Egretta thula) mounts a female for mating at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Yay! Bird sex!

Snowy egrets (Egretta thula) mate with each other at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Snowy egrets (Egretta thula) mate with each other at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Snowy egrets (Egretta thula) mate with each other at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Let me whisper sweet nothings into your ear, my darling.

Snowy egrets (Egretta thula) mate with each other at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Snowy egrets (Egretta thula) mate with each other at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

His toes look like gnarled carrots.

What happened after they finished mating shocked me.

Two snowy egrets (Egretta thula) eye each other after mating at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

So, does this mean that I should start gathering sticks for you?

Male snowy egret (Egretta thula) threatens to attack the female he has just mated with at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Or does it mean that you should GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!

Male snowy egret (Egretta thula) threatens to attack the female he has just mated with at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

I mean it! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, NOW!

Male snowy egret (Egretta thula) after driving off a female he had just mated with at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Do not hate the player, human; hate the game.

The males of some bird species, such as pelicans, are initially antagonistic toward a potential mate, running off females who try to cozy up to them. Eventually the female’s persistence wears down the male’s resistance, and they pair up. Running off a potential mate, however, occurs well before the birds mate, and mating occurs after the male has accepted the female. A snowy running off a female directly after mating with her does not seem like normal behavior. I’ll have to look into it.

A different snowy egret was hanging out on a palmetto fan. Unlike the first snowy, this bird wasn’t getting any attention.

Snowy egret (Egretta thula) stands on a palmetto fan at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

I moved away from the snowies to look for other birds.

Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

One of the wood storks was posing nicely in a tree. Then she bent forward.

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

I love watching birds scratch. I think it looks so cute.

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) scratching an itch at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Oooooh, if only my face were closer to my claw!

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) scratching an itch at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Don’t worry, man, I got this: I’m a stork.

Another male great egret seemed to have found the perfect stick for his mate.

Male great egret (Ardea alba) gathers nesting material at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Male great egret (Ardea alba) gathers nesting material at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Male great egret (Ardea alba) gathers nesting material at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

And a different egret streaked over me on his way to his nest.

Great egret (Ardea alba) flies overhead at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Here ends part 1 with a few more wood storks.

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

I am vanquisher of the mighty itch!

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Wood stork (Mycteria americana) at the rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL

Great Egrets Number One and Number Two Safe at Rogers

In mid-May last year, I was at the rookery at UT Southwestern. Lots of eggs had hatched, and wherever I went, I could hear the rhythmic croaking of hungry great egret chicks begging for food.

I rounded a corner and saw a small white fuzzy mass in the grass. It was a baby egret. Once I called Rogers and learned that baby egrets receive no parental help if they get knocked out of the nest, I captured the chick. She was my first-ever bird rescue.

My first rescue this year came earlier than I expected, and it involved an adult. She was lying in some weeds outside the rookery. She looked as though she were lying on a nest, except she was on the ground.

I cautiously walked toward her to see how she reacted. She reared back as though she were about to strike and flapped a wing as if she were trying to get up, but she stayed on the ground. I didn’t have any eye protection with me—I didn’t think I would need to do any rescues so early in the season—so the prospect of trying to retrieve a full-grown egret freaked me out. Luckily, I was able to collect her without incident. The volunteer at Rogers who examined Number One thought that she had hurt her back because she wasn’t able to use her legs but predicted that she should recover.

Number One, a hurt adult great egret (Ardea alba), sits in the grass at the UT Southwestern rookery in Dallas, TX

You should never see a great egret on the ground like this.

I am very much pro-intervention for hurt birds. The groundskeeping employees at UT Southwestern are told to “let nature take its course” if they see abandoned chicks wandering around. I disagree with that philosophy. Birds don’t live in an unsullied state of nature. They live in the human world. Birds smash into windows, are struck by cars, get tangled in fishing line, are killed by house cats that people allow outside, and are intentionally hurt by humans. Human commercial activities and political decisions, however, affect birds on a much greater scale. A bird’s access to food, water, loafing sites, and breeding sites is dependent upon humans. Construction can clear valuable habitat. At UT Southwestern, not only has the majority of the rookery been destroyed, but construction interfered with water drainage patterns through the rookery, which means that there is less water available for the nesting birds. Carrollton once obliterated an active rookery during nesting season. And what about the “oopsies” Dallas keeps committing in the Great Trinity Forest, like the draining of a wetland pond? We’re very lucky to have Ben uncovering and publicizing the city’s misdeeds, but it doesn’t stop the city from messing up in the first place.

Digging and Draining Raises Concerns About City’s Care of Great Trinity Forest

Birds have to navigate the human world in order to survive. If an egret or a black-crowned night heron chick is able to defy the odds by managing to get outside the perimeter of the rookery after falling out or being forced out of its nest, I’m going to rescue it.

Like Number Two.

Great egret (Ardea alba) chick rescued at the UT Southwestern rookery in Dallas, TX

I close my eyes. Oh god, I think I’m falling. Out of the sky, I close my eyes . . . HUMAN, HELP ME!

When I first saw Philoctetes the pelican, I really wanted to take her to Rogers so they could see what as wrong with her leg. After talking with a few people, I decided not to try. Throughout the winter, when I saw pelicans that looked as though they were having trouble—such as a pelican that had been shot by a human, a pelican with a horrible-looking infection on her gular pouch, and a pelican with a fishing lure caught near her leg—I tried to keep an eye on them in case they got worse. In a situation where a rescue would be difficult, such as with large and social birds like pelicans, I now think that a bird should be left alone unless an injury starts interfering with her ability to feed or protect herself. Watchful waiting.

Lady Katherine is alive today because people decided not to let nature take its course. So is a Muscovy duck that Ben rescued and literally breathed life into. When I see an adult great egret fishing at the spillway, I sometimes wonder if it is one of the chicks I rescued last year.

And, of course, tons of birds are alive because of the good work done at Rogers.

Fuck letting nature take its course if there’s a chance to help a bird that is distressed.

Juvenile Bird Day! Starring: Ibis! Heron! Egret! And Last But Not Least . . . Vulture!

It was July 6, a Sunday. Q and I were visiting the rookery at UT Southwestern. It was getting near the end of the season, and most of the birds had already left. We first had to check on the Thothlings, our collective name for the three juvenile American white ibises that had hatched that spring.

Juvenile American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) perched in a tree at the UT Southwestern rookery in Dallas

PINK EYE IS PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR!

We loved watching those ibises. I liked them best when they were getting just big enough to squirm out from underneath their parent in the nest, and I liked watching the parent’s desperate attempts to keep them tucked under her/his body. They were so cute, with their black heads and small, black-and-pink–striped, curved beaks. Once the Thothlings were distinctive enough that I could tell them apart, I named them. At first I was worried that I might not be able to keep them straight because their coloration would continue to change, but I realized that they would be long gone from the rookery before that became a problem. Watching them explore their nest tree was always fun. Eventually that exploration changed to short flights to other trees, then flights above the rookery. Then they left.

Juvenile American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) perched in a tree at the UT Southwestern rookery in Dallas

I AM CUDDLE MONSTER, AND I AM HERE ON JULY 6!

Juvenile American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) perched in a tree at the UT Southwestern rookery in Dallas

Pink Eye stands proudly in her nest tree.

We could see Pink Eye and Cuddle Monster, but where was Zebra?

Juvenile American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) perched in a tree at the UT Southwestern rookery in Dallas

I’M BACK HERE, SILLY HUMANS!

There were still a few large black-crowned night heron juveniles hanging around the rookery.

Juvenile black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) stands in a tree at the UT Southwestern rookery in Dallas

Juvenile black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) stands in a tree at the UT Southwestern rookery in Dallas

Juvenile black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) stands in a tree at the UT Southwestern rookery in Dallas

And some not-so-large black-crowned night heron juveniles.

Two baby black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) sit in a nest at the UT Southwestern rookery in Dallas

They look like tiny dinosaurs.

Throughout the spring several tricolored heron couples tried to nest at the rookery, but only three couples were able to make it to egg hatching. The most successful couple made a nest that, while visible, was far back in the foliage. The female in that couple was the first to lay eggs, and all three of the chicks survived to adolescence. The second couple had a much more visible nest near the ibis nest. The female laid at least two eggs. A few days after the first chick hatched and was able to move, I stopped seeing movement in the nest. By that time the second chick should have hatched. I hoped the babies were just asleep. The next day the heron couple had vanished, and a cattle egret was steadily pilfering sticks from the abandoned nest.

One day the adolescent tricolored birds disappeared. It happened right after a storm. I was sure they were dead, and although I never saw a corpse, I always kept watch for one. Q thought that the birds had simply grown too old for the nest and dispersed to other locations.

Q was right.

Juvenile tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor) stands in a tree at the UT Southwestern rookery in Dallas

I’M ALIVE!

After the reappearance, I only saw the tricolored juveniles when I was with Q. Maybe that was because we visited the rookery at different times when we were together than when I was alone. Or maybe they liked him better than they liked me. Once we even saw two of the juveniles flying to their old nest. That was nice.

As we were finishing our circuit around the rookery, Q and I saw a great egret juvenile wandering around near the Memorial Garden. Rescue time! The first time I rescued a great egret juvenile, I was concerned about the baby I saw staggering on the lawn in the hot sun, but I knew some types of juvenile birds would explore on the ground while their parent watched from a safe distance away. I didn’t want to interfere with that. I called up Rogers and explained my worry. “Do great egrets do that?” I asked.

“No. If a great egret is on the ground, the parents have forgotten it. It needs help.”

After that day, I started carrying a cardboard box in my car and plenty of towels in case I needed to make a rescue at the rookery.

Great egrets are shitty-ass parents. Really awful. If a bird falls out or is pushed out of the nest and can’t make its way back, it’s fucked. No one will help it. To make matters worse, like baby American white pelicans, baby great egrets often commit siblicide. Smaller/younger siblings who aren’t outright killed but who are still harassed may end up falling out of or intentionally leaving the nest to escape from their murder-inclined siblings.

By this time I had started carrying not only towels with me but a large bag I dubbed the “Birdie Bag.” If I found a bird too young to be on the ground outside the rookery, I would catch it, wrap it up in a large towel, and place it in the Birdie Bag to keep it secure until I got to Rogers. Using the Birdie Bag worked better than just holding a wrapped-up baby to my chest, and I hoped it made the experience less traumatic for the bird.

Abandoned juvenile great egret (Ardea alba) rescued and put in a bag for transport to Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

The wandering egret juvenile secured in the Birdie Bag, awaiting transport to Rogers.

When Q and I got to Rogers, we went to look at their birds after dropping off the egret. A few great blue herons live there and have the run of the place. The first time I saw them, I was very nervous. They were so close! I felt strange walking by them: “Uh, excuse me? Wild bird that is just standing there? Don’t you need to move? Run away? May I please get by?”

I almost always get a kick out of seeing a “wild” bird chilling next to human-made objects. This was no exception.

Great blue heron (Ardea herodias) lounges next to an air conditioning unit at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center south of Dallas

The heron looks like she’s just skipped class to go smoke near the back of the high school.

One of the baby vultures was hanging out by herself in the shade.

Juvenile black vulture (Coragyps atratus) lounges in the grass at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center south of Dallas

Greetings, humans!

THE STORY OF THE ROGERS VULTURES

Kathy Rogers told Q and me the story of the vulture family when we were at Rogers at the end of May. I’ve forgotten some of the details, but hopefully I can remember enough to do justice to the story.

Black vultures nest on the ground, in places with lots of cover. Ms. Rogers had noticed a pair of black vultures hanging around Rogers, and one day discovered that they had made a nest in a large cage that had been empty. Ms. Rogers said she was extremely excited to see the nest—because the birds nest on the ground, one cannot easily observe adult breeding behavior and juvenile behavior. She was looking forward to learning more about the vultures. She kept the cage empty for the vultures to continue using and observed them.

The black vulture couple laid two eggs. While they were incubating the eggs, Ms. Rogers received two abandoned black vulture eggs. She wondered if she could get the black vulture couple to care for the abandoned eggs/chicks along with the couple’s own offspring. Unlike great egrets, black vultures are excellent parents.

All four of the eggs hatched within the same week. Ms. Rogers introduced the extra chicks to the parents and supplied the parents with supplemental food to feed the new additions. The strategy worked: the parents accepted all four babies as their own and cared for them. Ms. Rogers said this news was especially excellent because the birds from the abandoned nest will have a pretty good chance of surviving in the wild due to the socialization and teaching they will learn from their adopted parents—black vultures are highly social and gregarious birds. For a while the babies had open access, but after they wound up in the woods, Ms. Rogers put them in a large pen with access outside to a “porch” where the parents could hop in and check on them. Once the babies got older, they had more access to the grounds. The last time I was at Rogers, they were old enough and strong enough to roost in trees and on roofs. They are heart-meltingly ADORABLE.

Juvenile black vulture (Coragyps atratus) stands in shade at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, south of Dallas

You can still see little threads of yellow down around her neck.

We left that juvenile and saw another hanging out by herself under a bench, although four more juveniles were lounging under another bench near her.

Juvenile black vulture (Coragyps atratus) lies in the shade at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, south of Dallas

Four juvenile black vulture (Coragyps atratus) lies in the shade at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, south of Dallas

An adult had been sitting near the foursome, but she got up and walked out into the sunlight.

A black vulture (Coragyps atratus) walks on the grounds at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, south of Dallas

Walter M. Miller, Jr was right: I do lovingly feed my young.

A black vulture (Coragyps atratus) walks on the grounds at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, south of Dallas

She is walking past a cage that has a black vulture in it. I always wondered how the caged black vultures felt about the vulture family. Glad to see conspecifics? Sad that they couldn’t move freely, while the other birds could?

A black vulture (Coragyps atratus) stands in the sun at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, south of Dallas

The juvenile who had been lying by herself near the foursome got up and looked adorable.

Juvenile black vulture (Coragyps atratus) standing in the shade at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, south of Dallas

Then I realized something. The vulture family had four juveniles. When Q and I had first arrived, we’d seen a juvenile vulture. Then we saw the juvenile who had been lying down by herself. Next to her were the four juveniles resting together. The adult had joined another adult elsewhere on the property. That’s six juveniles and two adults.

I returned to all of the locations to see if any of the birds had moved—maybe I had mistakenly counted the same bird twice. Nope. Six juveniles. Four of them were obviously the Rogers birds, but who were the other two? Perhaps the count was four Rogers juveniles, one Rogers adult, and a different adult with its two juveniles who had come to visit the Rogers vultures. Do vultures even do that?! The next time I went to Rogers, there were only the four juveniles there.

UPDATE: I ran into a woman who works at Rogers (she was the person who taught me, after I had a near-miss experience, that egrets go for the eyes and I should wear safety glasses), and when I asked about the vulture family, she was able to make sense of what I’d seen. Not only had the vulture parents taken in the two newly hatched birds along with their own chicks, but later on in the season two more vulture chicks that had been abandoned were brought to Rogers, and the vulture parents adopted those birds as well. So there were six juveniles, total. The next time I was at Rogers and had only seen four, the two others might have been somewhere else on the property.

She also said that the vulture couple has been spotted visiting Rogers again with a couple of their offspring. She suspects that the parents might be looking to scope out the area for a possible nesting site. She said this year, they are only making one specific cage available to the parents to use, not the one the birds chose last year. It would be adorable if the vulture pair chose to raise young there again this coming year!

Juvenile black vulture (Coragyps atratus) standing at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, south of Dallas

All right you humans, listen up. My name is Fluffy, and I’m here to instruct you in the fine art of being a vulture.

Back where the majority of the juveniles were hanging out, the vulture who had stood up decided to hop onto the bench.

Juvenile black vulture (Coragyps atratus) standing on a bench at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, south of Dallas

Juvenile black vulture (Coragyps atratus) standing on a bench at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, south of Dallas

Juvenile black vulture (Coragyps atratus) standing on a bench at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, south of Dallas

The other vultures were still lounging on the ground.

Two black vultures lying on the ground at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, south of Dallas

The vulture on the bench hopped down and went out to strut her stuff in the sun.

Juvenile black vulture (Coragyps atratus) standing at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, south of Dallas

I WILL BE SO SEXY WHEN I AM A GROWN-UP.

Juvenile black vulture (Coragyps atratus) holds wings out at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, south of Dallas

WHY IS NO ONE PAYING ATTENTION TO ME? NOW I AM ANGRY! GRRRR!

Q and I went back home, where I saw a pretty black bee hanging out on my gaillardia blooms. Does anyone know what kind of bee it might be? It was small, much closer to the size of a honey bee than a carpenter bee.

Black bee on a gaillardia flower in Dallas

One last thing: I hope that anyone reading this will strongly consider donating to Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. They do excellent work rehabilitating and caring for birds.

How Much Is That Egret in the Window?

Great egrets are all over White Rock Lake. Unlike the cattle and snowy egrets, great egrets stay in North Texas all year. Although they are ubiquitous and kind of boring to me, I have a soft spot for them. I spent a lot of time this spring at the rookery at UT Southwestern, which is predominately populated by great egrets, and when I found an egret that was too young to be on the ground, I would take it to Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. That was how I learned that frightened egrets attack mammals by stabbing at their eyes.

Great egret (Ardea alba) at White Rock Lake in Dallas, TX

Don’t fuck with me, fellas. I’LL RIP OUT YOUR EYES.

There’s almost always a great egret hunting near the Boathouse, and lately I’ve noticed that one of them has been spending time inside the actual structure of the Boathouse. When I was there this past Tuesday, I managed to get some pics.

Great egret (Ardea alba) inside a boathouse at White Rock Lake in Dallas, TX

Oh, fuck. The big mammal is back.

She tried walking through the Boathouse to change positions and get rid of me. It didn’t work.

Great egret (Ardea alba) inside a boathouse at White Rock Lake in Dallas, TX

You again?

Eventually she seemed resigned to my presence.

Great egret (Ardea alba) inside a boathouse at White Rock Lake in Dallas, TX

Great egret (Ardea alba) inside a boathouse at White Rock Lake in Dallas, TX

She stands in lonely solitude and surveys the sea which leads back, back to where England lies. But she, an exile, may never—

She continued to move around and even tried hunting in a few places, but her efforts were unsuccessful.

Great egret (Ardea alba) inside a boathouse at White Rock Lake in Dallas, TX

Eventually I got tired of watching the egret. It was late afternoon, and I was hot and tired and thirsty. After I crossed the bridge from the Boathouse to get to my car, I looked back and saw that she had moved to a different area inside the building. I trudged back over the bridge just in case her new position yielded anything interesting.

Great egret (Ardea alba) inside a boathouse at White Rock Lake in Dallas, TX

As I went to leave for the second time, I saw a male red-winged blackbird chilling in some reeds. This one stayed on his perch for quite a while. He might have been there for two whole minutes.

Male red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) perched on a reed at White Rock Lake in Dallas, TX

If you want my body, and you think I’m sexy, come on, birdie, let me know.

One last egret pic: when I first got to the Boathouse and was peering in the windows, I saw the egret standing in a dark portion of the building. She looked like she could be a film noir character, a hulking, indistinct figure barely stepping out of deep shadow in a dark alley, and until she speaks you’re not sure if she’s going to threaten to unzip your guts or if she will inadvertently provide you with a clue for the case you’ve been working on.

Great egret (Ardea alba) inside a boathouse at White Rock Lake in Dallas, TX

Maybe I should try to photoshop a fedora and a trenchcoat onto her.

Humans beware: she’s a loner. A rebel. And she’ll stab your eyes out if you give her the chance.