Gatorland, Orlando

This week we took a trip over to Gatorland, Orlando to check out the rookery.  There are approximately 100 nesting pair of Great Egrets as well as Snowy Egrets, Blue Heron and many others.  We found pairs in various stages of romance and nesting.  Many males are still working to attrack a mate while others have mated and are nesting on eggs.  Of course this is Gatorland so had to have at least one gator picture.  I called this one "gator surfing". 

 Great Egret coming in for a landing.  (Note: click on any image to enlarge)

 Resting after putting on a show to attract a mate.

 Snowy Egret strutting his stuff.

 After leaving Gatorland we drove into Orlando where we had heard about an Eagle's nest in Greenwood Cemetery.  We quickly found it in the top of a tall pine.  One adult left as we arrived.  After about 15 min. one of the two eaglets popped up giving the below picture.  I believe they are about 4 to 5 weeks old.  One adult circled high overhead but we needed to leave before it returned to the nest.

I'll be posting additional pictures at www.pbase.com/ddouglas