Once, just a little over a year ago, they were in the process of moving in. The rookery swamp has a complete and separate area nearby that was perfect for the smaller wading birds.
This guy, and a few others, were flying around there. It was a fascinating place not that long ago, maybe 100 of these birds with their young.
Last year after decades of nesting none came back.
No one can come up with a reason.
Too sad they didn’t come back. About the same happens here, where we used to have many wading birds, the last two years there were hardly any. And no one has an explanation for this.
It’s a mystery. We still have thousands, just not nesting where they had in the past. Makes my job a little harder LOL.