Wood Stork Fledglings

This post marks the conclusion of what I call the Season of the Wood Storks!! I’ve been visiting the rookery at Wakodahatchee for five years now and every season brings something new. Occasionally a new species I had not encountered previously will appear in my viewfinder, but more often it is the repositioning of nests within the wetland which gives me better, closer access of a particular species for photography. My first year it was the Great Blue Heron chicks which I thought looked like little rock stars in their nests, another year it was the Louisiana Heron aka Tri-color Heron which took over with their rambunctious young scampering up and down the pond apple island like monkeys, another season it was the White Egrets with their mating rituals and glorious poses,  and more recently it was the little skin-head anhinga chicks which captured my interest. But, the season of 2015 brought the first ever Wood Stork nests on the front pond apple tree island so perfect for getting a great view. Usually, they are around but located too far for my 300mm lens to adequately record the detail I like. So what a great year!!

Wood Storks take 4 years to mature and can live as long as 30 years, so they are a long lived species. I’ve always thought the appearance of the adults was so interesting and as I followed my favourite nest this season I did wonder when the chicks would lose their juvenile feathered neck for the flinty neck texture for which they are known or when they would develop the frontal forehead plate and bald head. I do not have an answer to that by my own observation as they fledge with brown neck feathers and just a small remnant of their nestling white head feathers on the center of the upper forehead. Although, by the 12 week mark the hairline has receded quite a bit and the beginnings of a flattened dark area where the forehead plate will be are evident.   But, from the first couple of weeks the nestlings already exhibit a rather stately carriage. I will say that Wood Stork chicks for all their elegance are truly the messiest birds while they are growing up and with the pounds of fish they consume, it is understandable. Even now they could use a bath!!

I have enjoyed watching these birds nest and fledge and have loved sharing some of the images with you as they have grown!! The first three pictures are of the chicks at about 9 weeks. The latter three of the fledglings learning to fish out in the shallows are at about age 12 weeks.

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 The nest I have been following had all of its chicks survive to fledge. In the Wood Stork world this is a very good outcome!! The youngster on the upper left appears to have fought the good fight somewhere along the line as its bill is damaged as you can see; that is not just fish stuck to the bill.

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 Wood Storks have a short black tail. This chick looks rather cute trying to tilt its tail to preen!

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I had intended to return to visit much sooner to see the birds fledge, but after a delay of one month, I found the empty nest. I wandered until nearly sunset but the fledglings did not return during that time. As you can see below, I found them fishing off in the distant shallows.

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Wood Stork Fledgling at about 12 weeks old. Already it was performing the foot swish technique to stir up a meal.

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 These two fledglings are trying out their tacto-location skills but look more like they are playing with the turtle making its way past them.

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Well, it has been fun watching these creatures grow up and go off on their own. I did see that there were adults not too far from the juveniles–maybe monitoring their fishing lessons!! I am sure I will see them around again.

Judy

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~ by Judy on July 4, 2015.