Gatorland Breeding Marsh and Bird Sanctuary - Orlando, FL
Posted by: 
DopeyDuck
N 28° 21.275 W 081° 24.157
17R E 460543 N 3136548
The 10-acre Breeding Marsh & Bird Sanctuary is home to numerous species of native Florida birds including Egrets, Herons, Ibis, Cormorants, Anhingas, and even endangered Wood Storks. The Bird Rookery is the largest and most accessible in Florida.
Waymark Code: WM4Y6Z
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 10/12/2008
Views: 43
Theme park admission is required to visit this waymark.
Established in 1991 as a natural breeding marsh for alligators, the 10-acre Breeding Marsh & Bird Sanctuary quickly became home to numerous species of native Florida birds. Egrets, Herons, Ibis, Cormorants, Anhingas, and even endangered Wood Storks breed or rest in the branches above the alligators.
In November 2000, the Gatorland Rookery was recognized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as a prominent site of special interest to birdwatchers, and was one of the few areas within Central Florida to be featured in the Great Florida Birding Trail.
In June 2007, a pair of wild Roseatte Spoonbills, rare to this area, had nested at the theme park producing two delicate offsprings covered in downy pink feathers. The nesting, first of its kind in the theme park’s history, is even more special since one of the two parents, the female bird, is a spoonbill being monitored as part of the Audubon of Florida’s Roseatte Spoonbill Monitoring and Banding Project. “This is the first documented record of one of the Audubon’s banded Spoonbill’s reaching reproductive maturity, breeding, and raising young.”
(Info from
http://gatorland.com/blogs/media/2007/06/)
Check out some excellent photos from the Bird Rookery http://www.gatorland.com/blogs/rookery
According to The Other Orlando
http://www.theotherorlando.com/contents/chapters/6/breeding.html
"Today there are over 1,000 bird nests in active use at Gatorland. Here you will find the magnificent, bright white great egret with its majestic plumage alongside the more dowdy green and blue herons. There are also snowy egrets, cattle egrets, and tricolor egrets. With a bit of luck you might also spot an osprey perched high in a pine tree, surveying the alligator pool below and weighing his chances for a fish dinner.
The Observation Tower is a three-story affair located in the center of the walkway. It is accessible from the walkway, of course, but you can also reach the second level via a bridge directly from the park’s central spine. An elaborate zigzag ramp next to the bridge makes the tower’s middle level accessible to wheelchairs."