Rookery at Ocean City Welcome Center

25 Saturday May 2024

Posted by neihtn2012 in Ocean City Welcome Center, Photography

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great egret, Ocean City Welcome Center, postaday, rookery, white ibis

This past Tuesday, after a long series of rainy days, I finally went to the rookery right next to the Welcome Center in Ocean City, NJ. There were hundreds of egrets, ibises, night herons, and smaller birds. Within a few minutes, I saw a Great Egret standing and preening itself over four eggs!

Great Egret preening while standing over its eggs.

A few minutes later it was back down and incubating again. The incubation lasts from 23 to 27 days.

Meanwhile, a White Ibis was much further along, with at least three hatchlings visible next to it.

White Ibis with hatchlings. The hatchlings are not yet white and their bills are still straight, not curved.

There was a small pond filled with rain water and various birds and ducks were there drinking or swimming around.

Meanwhile some birds were flying over the bay to look for food for their growing and hungry families.

Scenes from the Refuge

19 Saturday Aug 2023

Posted by neihtn2012 in EBF Refuge, Photography

≈ 34 Comments

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Black-crowned Night Heron, common white tail, dragonfly, Forster's Tern, monarch butterfly, postaday, rookery

After almost two months, I went back to take some pictures at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. The sand flies are still there but in smaller numbers, and I could chase them out of the car as soon as they flew in. Here are some colorful scenes that I photographed.

An Osprey couple. He is holding a fish from which he had eaten the head, and he will eventually give the rest of the fish to her.

The rookery with white egrets perched on its branches. Last year, this tree used to have only night herons.

Monarch butterfly dining on orange milkweed.

Rookery at Ocean City Welcome Center Part 2

20 Sunday Jun 2021

Posted by neihtn2012 in Ocean City Welcome Center, Photography

≈ 25 Comments

Tags

glossy ibis, great egret, little blue heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, rookery, white ibis

With bright sunshine, white clouds on blue sky, bearable temperatures, and a cool breeze from time to time, it was a perfect day for photography. There were already about a dozen photographers with their massive long lenses pointed at various points of the rookery.

Except for the sleepy night herons, the birds were very active, flying in and out of the trees every minute or so. I ended up taking many more pictures of birds in flight than I had planned.

Little Blue Heron, the first time I have seen one. In the background is the smokestack of a now-decommissioned power plant, the B.L. England Generating Station, also called Beesley’s Point Generating Station.

Rookery at Ocean City 3

11 Wednesday Jul 2018

Posted by neihtn2012 in Ocean City Welcome Center, Photography

≈ 24 Comments

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Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, red-winged blackbird, rookery

Black-crowned Night Herons are a major presence at the rookery next to the Welcome Center at Ocean City, NJ. These birds hunt for their food starting at dusk, and their eyes are one of their most noticeable features.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

Immature Black-crowned Night Heron.

Despite their size these Herons are easily intimidated by the Red-winged Blackbird, a fierce defender of its territory. I saw a Blackbird chase a Heron into a tree.

Red-winged Blackbird and Black-crowned Night Heron.

Pursued by the Blackbird, the Heron tried to hide among the branches. Unfortunately, too many leaves shielded the small Blackbird from the camera.

Black-crowned Night Heron very wary of Red-winged Blackbird.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

Rookery at Ocean City

09 Monday Jul 2018

Posted by neihtn2012 in Ocean City Welcome Center, Photography

≈ 26 Comments

Tags

ocean city, photography, postaday, rookery, yellow-crowned night heron

Ocean City, NJ is a resort town in South Jersey on an island which can be reached via a causeway. Driving on the causeway, before arriving in Ocean City, there is a turn-off for a Welcome Center. From a sidewalk right next to the center, every Spring and Summer it is quite easy to take pictures of Herons, Ibises, Egrets, and many other birds that fly in from the South to breed and raise their chicks. The sidewalk is almost as tall as the rookery trees, so one can look down on their nests and watch activities from breeding to incubating and finally fledging just before the birds migrate South. The birds seemed unperturbed by all the human lookers and photographers.

I missed going there last year, and this year I only managed to get to the rookery this past weekend. It is late in the season, but I still saw a Yellow-crowned Night Heron nest with unhatched eggs. The tired-looking mother had just stood up to scratch herself.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

After some more preening, she tidied up the nest.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Then she sat down and resumed incubating. The eggs should be hatching in a few more days.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Rookery Scenes

26 Sunday Jun 2016

Posted by neihtn2012 in Ocean City Welcome Center, Photography

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, rookery, yellow-crowned night heron

Yesterday the rookery next to Ocean City Welcome Center was very busy, with photographers and birds. The former brought their long lenses firmly anchored to bulky tripods, or to study arms. The latter, especially the younger ones, were up to their natural feistiness.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

I tried to shoot a few bird-in-flight pictures, but ended up discarding most of them. Below is one of the better images.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron in flight.

Two juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron did not let up on their play acting, and I saw that other young ones in nearby nests were behaving likewise. Perhaps it’s a part of their growing up, preparing themselves for an independent life in a few more weeks,

Young Yellow-crowned Night Herons. I don’t know why the one on the right was showing his throat.

The one on the left promptly responded.

Young Yellow-crowned Night Heron on left: “Keep it closed, capice?”

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

23 Saturday Apr 2016

Posted by neihtn2012 in Ocean City Welcome Center, Photography

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, rookery, yellow-crowned night heron

The Welcome Center in Ocean City, NJ is right next to a rookery with many kinds of birds, including Yellow-crowned Night Herons. These herons are active during daylight hours, in contrast to the Black-crowned Night Heron that are nocturnal. The herons arrived a little over two weeks ago, but within a week they had been busy courting, choosing their partners, and building nests. I took the following photos last Sunday.