Venice Rookery

 Venice Rookery is a favorite spot of ours and many photographers to get great photos of the nesting Great Blue Herons, Anhingas and Great Egrets.

The tiny island is filled with nests, we have visited it four times and it seemed each time there were more nests.

Rookery Island at left

Great Blue Heron pair

 On our first visit in Jan. we watched the Great Blues and Egrets build their nests.

Great Egrets

Feeding time for Great Blue's

 In Jan. there were already several Great Blue Heron chicks it was fun to watch the parents feed them.

 In the pond there are two alligators, they keep predator numbers down and probably catch a few falling babes but mostly keep the turtles and raccoon's at bay.

 Here's a family of Great Egrets with their fuzzy chicks, taken in March.

 The cute chicks.

 This is just a small section of the island and you can see how close the birds are, this egret is right next to a couple of Anhinga nests and babies.

We haven't counted the nests but there has to be over 50.

There are other birds present to photograph too, Night Herons, Green Herons, Snowy Egrets, Whistling Ducks, Glossy Ibis, warblers and Moorhens.

This is a little Great Blue Heron can't but be a couple of days old, picture was taken in late March.

So we have juveniles that have left the nest learning to fish in the near by ponds and this cute tiny babe all gathered in this small very special place in Venice, Fl.

Just a great place to spend a few hours and learn the behavior of these beautiful birds.