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.

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Heartbreak

It is very possible this egret is the mate of the dead one and was trying to confirm that its partner is indeed dead. This would not be a food situation because great egrets swallow their meals whole and obviously any birds they would eat, would be much smaller. I ran this photo by some bird experts and they agree, this is probably the dead bird's mate. Heartbreak in the rookery.
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 SMC rookery coupled up mates paired up pair of great egrets death mourning dead great egret sad