The St. Augustine Alligator Farm has been around for more than 125 years, drawing Floridians and tourists to see its impressive collection of gators, crocs and other animals. But it’s the farm’s rookery that got my attention.
It’s located in a part of the park where the alligators swim and roam beneath cypress trees and sabal palms – providing protection from predators to the nesting birds above.
I had visited the rookery before but I was excited for my mid-April visit since it’s nesting season. There were many Roseate Spoonbills, Great Egrets, Tricolored Herons and Snowy Egrets gathered there.
I’ll focus on some of the little spoonies I saw in this post.
One very cool fact I found out is that some of the nesting Roseates at the rookery were actually born there years ago. They return annually to nest and start their next generation.
How does the park know this? It partners with Audubon Florida to band some of the birds born there to help researchers keep track of them.
