photo © 2004 Bill Hill

6/7/2004: Once again the rookery is alive with the sound of egrets, herons, and cormorants. Egrets lay their eggs singly, a few days apart, and the eggs hatch one at a time. The older chicks are larger and compete more successfully for parental food than the younger chicks, which gives them an even greater size advantage – such a size differential among the three chicks is evident in this photo. Special thanks to Bill Hill, whose mighty telephoto lens captured this outstanding image.