Ecologist Susan Harrison is back with some bird photos from California featuring rookeries (there are some lovely shots of chicks and juveniles). Susan’s notes and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge her photos by clicking on them.
Rookery Scenes
Recently I visited two local rookeries where colonies of large wading birds breed in early- to midsummer. It was fun to watch the nest building, egg tending, and varied interactions among adults and young birds of mixed ages. In some cases (like the Cattle Egrets), it appeared that young birds were competing with each other to be at the head of the feeding line.
Western Cattle Egrets (Ardea ibis), Black-crowned Night Herons (Nycticorax nycticorax), and Snowy Egrets (Egretta thula) were breeding at Sacramento’s North Natomas Regional Park.
White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi) were rearing their young at the Woodland-Davis water treatment ponds, which in spite of their unprepossessing title, are our county’s top eBird hotspot and the subject of much ecological enhancement for migratory birds and other wildlife.
Cattle Egrets:
White-faced Ibis:
Black-crowned Night Herons:
Snowy Egrets:
