Nesting season has officially begun! Currently four pairs of Roseate spoonbills are nest building. A few things happen before spoonbills get ready raise their families. The first step is a plumage change. They molt out of their old drab feathers into some fancy bright new...
This year was overflowing with Roseate spoonbill nests! We love that they decided in 2010 to finally begin nesting in our rookery. Their dynamic pink plumage is a welcome sight in the sea of egret white. MAX ADULT MAX NEST MAX CHICK Cattle egret 28 28 41 Great egret 174 106 167 Green heron 5 5 8 Little Blue heron 21 17 24 Roseate spoonbill 74 28 52 Snowy egret 143 92 197 Tricolored heron 113 85 151 Wood stork 112 68 170 TOTALS: 670 429 810 Photo by Kay Wells...
Photo by William Pearce After the banner rookery seasons of 2011 and 2012, with 818 and 704 nests respectfully, this year seemed so mellow and quiet. With a maximum of 463 nests counted, the 2013 rookery season still exceeded the rookery's 400 nest average. MAX ADULT MAX NEST MAX CHICK Cattle egret 74 60 128 Great...
Photo by Robert O'Toole The rookery is gearing up for chaos as we move into April! Roseate spoonbills began nesting early this year. Three nests have already fledged out and 4 more pairs are either incubating or have recently hatched chicks. The spoonbills are following the staggered nesting pattern of previous years. The...
Photo by Maxis Gamez The St. Augustine Alligator Farm is pleased to announce Maxis Gamez as our judge for the zoo's 20th Annual Photo Contest! Maxis Gamez is a self-taught professional nature photographer residing in Sarasota, Florida. He started photography as a hobby, but has now decided...
Photo by Ardith Bondi The St. Augustine Alligator Farm is a proud participant of the Wood Stork Monitoring and Research Working Group. This is directly from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Virtual News Room: Wood storks in the Southeastern United States no longer face imminent danger...
Congratulations to all the winners of our 19th Annual Photo Contest! With nearly 350 photos submitted, David Moynahan, this year's judge, faced quite a challenge during the selection process. So much so that he selected eleven winners instead of ten! This year's winning photographs are better than ever and...
How quickly things can change! One of the blog's more recent posts detailed the extreme drought conditions affecting Northeast Florida. Thank you everyone for your prayers and rain dances, but please focus your attention on other drought-stricken regions for awhile. Tropical Storm Debby brought St. Augustine an...
Photo courtesy of the Palm Beach Daily News Memorial Day weekend is usually quite busy at the zoo. Zookeepers spend more time mingling with inquisitive guests than working on animal projects. This year, the holiday weekend was instead spent preparing our collection for Tropical Storm Beryl. ...