Venice Area Audubon Rookery

An easily-accessible roosting and resting area for a variety of wading birds, this site is great for families and for those who like to sit still and watch closely. Offering a covered pavilion for shade and plenty of pond-side grassy areas for lawn chairs, this small site has become a mecca for bird photography. During nesting months (usually beginning in December and lasting through May), daytime activity includes Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Anhingas, Snowy Egrets, Cattle Egrets, Glossy Ibises, Green Herons, Tricolored Herons and Black-crowned Night-Herons busily building or enhancing nests, courting, incubating eggs, and raising chicks. Scan the pond edges for Purple Gallinules and smaller birds such as Common Yellowthroats. January through April, Venice Area Audubon Society occasionally staffs the Rookery with volunteers who bring extra binoculars, a spotting scope, and bird field guides for anyone to use. A few hours here can be a very sociable and rewarding experience.