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| Cattle Egrets rookery at Half Acre |
While passing through
the parish of St. Lucy this afternoon, I could not resist the opportunity to visit
the Cattle Egrets (Bubulcus ibis) rookery at Half Acre.
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| five juvenile Black-crowned Night-Herons |
The
rookery is mainly a Cattle Egret one but I saw five juvenile Black-crowned Night-Herons (Nycticorax nycticorax), suggesting that
this nocturnal heron also nested there this year. A Little
Egret (Egretta garzetta) in breeding
plumage, two Snowy Egrets (Egretta thula) were wading in the pond just below the nesting trees and three Black-bellied
Whistling-Ducks (Dendrocygna
autumnalis) on the bank. Egret
rookeries are noisy and smelly but it presents the best odds of seeing what I consider
the prettiest Egret/Heron species on the island, the Cattle Egret in full breeding plumage and I was happy to find many
examples there. As I approached the
primary nesting area I startled a mongoose. Mongooses normally prey on anything
that falls from nest such as eggs, chicks, even an unsuspecting parent. The birds were collecting nest-building
materials and a few were sitting on nests, but I did not see any chicks.
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| Cattle Egret in breeding plumage |
In prime breeding plumage, everything on the egret that is
yellow turns a shade of pinkish red to purple. The normally yellow facial skin at the base of the bill, becomes a rich purplish color, the bill from base to about
¾ of its length turns a bright red, the yellow
iris of the eye, a blood red and the legs pinkish.
Golden plumage on head, breast and back.
I am sure you would agree with me that these are beautiful birds.
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| Egret collecting nest-building material |
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| Full breeding plumage |
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| Breeding plumage |
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| Egrets nesting tree |
