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The Venice
Rookery
Text and Photographs by Donald Mammoser
 A small, nondescript oval pond with an island. On a summer or early fall
visit, those words might be the simplest description for this
Audubonmonitored property south of Venice. But visit just once from
November through May, especially during the peak wading bird breeding season
in January and February, and it is doubtful that any wildlife lover or
outdoors person would be able to find enough superlatives to convey the
awesome experience.
Florida has numerous bird rookeries. Some are much larger and others have
more birds, but for accessibility, ease of viewing and action photography,
no place that I know of beats the Venice rookery.
A rookery is defined in John Terres' Encyclopedia of Birds as "the nesting
colony of gregarious birds such as herons and egrets." Upon seeing the
Venice rookery every spring, I am overwhelmed by the tremendous amount of
combative activity. Gregarious is one descriptive word for a rookery, but
one meaning of gregarious is "seeking and enjoying another's company." What
I see each February doesn't look like enjoyment to me. With quick neck
thrusts and horrendous squawking directed at any bird that inches into
another's territory, "dueling" would be a replacement adjective for
"gregarious" in my rookery definition.
On my last visit, the liveliness was such that as a photographer, I had
tremendous difficulty deciding where to point my camera. As soon as I looked
one way at, say, two herons feeding their young, then from the other way a
great egret would take flight amidst a great ruckus. Any time a bird would
take flight or come in for a landing it had to watch for and avoid the neck
jabs of others. Birds were constantly coming and going and each time a bird
returned to its mate it brought back a stick or small twig as a sort of
olive branch offering. Mated pairs of great blue herons, great egrets, night
herons, snowy egrets, little blue herons and anhingas share in the duties of
nest building and chick rearing. It seems that adding materials to the nest
is an important part of their behavior and continues even after the young
hatch.
The egg laying and chick hatching and rearing at the Venice rookery is
staggered enough between and even within species that a visit any time from
November through May will prove rewarding. The Audubon rookery isn't large
(about 10 acres) but its great accessibility makes it worth a visit, no
matter where you live. There is ample free parking just to the south of the
side road where the rookery is located. Walk across the street and you'll
see the pond directly in front of you. The lone island in the pond is the
site of all the nests, and the entire surrounding area is where a flurry of
activity takes place. You'll see birds fishing, building nests, feeding
young, displaying for their mates and fighting with their neighbors.
To take photos of the rookery birds, morning hours are best. The sun will
rise from behind you so that you can take advantage of overtheshoulder
front lighting. Another plus of morning visits is that the herons and egrets
will likely be moving about as they fish for morning meals and search for
additional nesting materials. There probably won't be a day during the
breeding season when you¹ll have the place to yourself, but not to worry.
The birds are habituated to people and certainly seem able to ignore us
wingless creatures. I've seen serious birdwatchers and/or researchers even
set up lawn chairs on the pond¹s shoreline and watch and take notes for
entire days at a time. Boredom is not something that occurs while watching
this rookery.
One year in early March I counted 11 blue heron nests with chicks, six great
egret nests with eggs, a handful of anhinga chicks, five night heron nests
and a scattering of at least four other species raising young on this one
island in the center of a small pond. Currently, Audubon officials estimate
that there are 50 to 60 total nests. The total number of birds is down
slightly, possibly due to recent housing and shopping center developments
that have destroyed areas where adult birds used to teach their young how to
feed.
The rookery is monitored by the Venice area chapter of the Audubon Society
as part of their "colonywatch" program. The property itself is owned by
Sarasota County. To visit, take I75 to Jacaranda (exit #35). Go right
(north) on US 41, then immediately left just past the highway patrol
station. The rookery is less than a mile away on the right.
Like the splendor of a new Florida day, the Venice rookery jumps to life
each year and displays its gathering of life with joyful animation. There
are bickering herons, fighting egrets and a few of the cutest baby
fuzzballs that Florida has to offer. It all adds up to a scene that no
wildlife lover should miss.
Donald Mammoser is a professional wildlife photographer now living in
Littleton, Colorado.
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