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.

421 / 445

Finding Just The Right Stick

When the great egrets show up at the rookery in all their breeding finery, the first step is for the males to build the platform of a nest before they find a mate. On my first trip to the Dallas rookery, most nests were in the process of being built. I ran into this egret which had just selected a stick to carry to its nest.
Great Egret (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 courtship behaviors nesting SMC rookery breeding plumage nesting stick nest building