Santa Rosa’s Rookery

It would be an understatement to say that I wasn’t prepared for what I saw at the Santa Rosa nesting area. I was expecting to see one species of birds nesting, not four different species. I was especially surprised to get a shot of this Cattle Egret in my first photo,

the only shot I got of a Cattle Egret in the hour I was there. In retrospect, I wondered if there was more than one but I got distracted by the very active Snowy Egrets.

I did expect to see Night Herons since they were mentioned in the original article, and I wasn’t disappointed.

There were also several Great Ibis in the tree,

though I wasn’t always able to distinguish them from the Snowy Egrets in the tree.

I got way more shots of Snowy Egrets

than any other bird, though I’m not sure if that was because they have always struck me as more photogenic than the other egrets or because there was actually a lot more of them

I’ve seen several rookeries, but they’ve always contained a single species, like all Great Blue Heron or all Night Heron. I didn’t realize how close I’d be to the tree and how hard it would be to move further away and still get decent shots until I got there. I should have taken a 100-400mm zoom lens so I could frame individual shots — though zooming in an out is always hit and miss on a flying bird. Finally, I should have had at least three or four hours available to get the best shots possible. When I go back in the future I’ll be better prepared, though I couldn’t possibly be more thrilled than I was on this visit.