UTSW Rookery

Spring 2016 I started visiting the bird rookery at UTSW Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. It was my first time to see a rookery. In this gallery I am attempting to document what takes place in a rookery for each species of aquatic bird that comes here. It has been an amazing journey that I am sharing here. There are 8 species that nest here and I will divide them by species in the order that they show up.

Feeding Great Egret Fledglings Is Violent 3 of 14

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Feeding Great Egret Fledglings Is Violent 3 of 14

One of the babies has claimed the parents food by clasping the head. Not in a good position for feeding, they have clasped the top of the head, right over the eyes. This has to be painful and possibly harmful for the parent. I figure the parent has to keep their eyes closed during the entire feeding session. Below you can still see a couple of fledglings, probably not related to this parent, ignoring everything.
Great Egret Fledglings (Ardea alba)
UT Southwest Medical Center Rookery

great egret egret white egret aquatic bird aquatic water fowl waders dallas texas ardea alba Rookery Southwest Medical Center Bird Rookery breeding season SMC rookery chick great egret chick egret chick fledgling egret fledgling great egret fledgling baby fuzz begging parent parent and child