Hello Birders,
I visited the pond at 620 Blackwater rd in Chesapeake this evening hoping
to locate an Anhinga nest. In late June Keith Roberts noted that he
believed there was a nest at the pond. He sent me a picture that he took
back in June that seemed to confirm that. When I arrived this evening it
didn't take long to find one nest near the end of a long branch out over
the pond. A female was on the nest and a second female was feeding in the
pond. Pretty quickly a very tiny head popped up next to the incubating
female. For about 20 minutes she regurgitated food and fed the small chick
from her lower mandible. On two occasions she did the same behavior on her
opposite side from me, which led me to believe there could have been a
second chick she was feeding. Given her tight position on the nest I
suspect there could be more young or perhaps unhatched eggs in the nest.
Near the end of my visit there was a quick burst of noise and a third
female popped out of the vegetation behind the visible nest. I have a
hunch that it's possible there is another nest at this location. It could
explain why during some other visits people have counted up to 6 adults.
On my visit today I did not see any males.
I managed a few iffy pictures of the nest which are imbedded in my ebird
list below. In two of the poorer pictures you can see the raised head of
the chick and it reaching into the parents throat to feed.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19189693
Good birding,
Ellison
Ellison Orcutt
Birder/Naturalist
Richmond, Va
Cell: (804) 339-6976
Mr.EllyO@xxxxxxxxx