Venice Rookery

Now that we are in the long cold dark days of winter here in Minnesota the birding has gotten a little slow. So in order to keep things on the blog a bit more interesting I have decided to share some of the pictures that I have taken from my travels in the past. I will continue to keep posting whatever wildlife that I can find during the winter, but in order to keep us from going crazy from looking at 60 posts of chickadees or patterns of snowflakes swirling in the icy gusts I will mix in some bird pics from some warmer locales.

This first set of great blue heron pictures were taken back in February of 2006 at the Venice Rookery.The Venice Rookery is a small island in a small lake located in a Sarasota County park within the city of Venice, Florida. The island is covered with trees and bushes which are home to nesting snowy egret, great white egret, anhinga and great blue herons. The lake forms a natural barrier which helps to protect the rookery from many of the ground based predators. If you visit the rookery during the birding season, winter and early spring especially the months of February and March, you will get to see these wading birds in their breeding plumage, mating, building their nests, and caring for their young. You may also see night herons, tricolored herons, palm warblers, pileated woodpeckers and many other types of birds on your visit.The rookery is monitored by the Venice Audubon Society and is one of the must see locations if you visit south Florida during the birding season.