Roseate Spoonbills at Dawn

[Whyone?]

A nice mixed (adult and juvenile) group of Roseate Spoonbills in the first light of day on Tigertail Lagoon, SW Florida.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and one on the shoreline a little later...

 

[Ginny]

Lovely photos.  Where is Tigertail Lagoon? I have spent a lot of time on Sanibel Island and

have seen them there.

[Tom Kellie]

~ @Whyone?:

 

Thank you so much for posting these lovely images.

 

Your photography has captured the beauty of this species.

 

For those of us who've never observed them in the wild, these photos are especially appreciated.

 

         Tom K.

[Treepol]

Thanks for posting these wonderful photos of such a beautiful bird, one of my favourites.

[TonyQ]

Beautiful birds, beautiful photos!

[Whyone?]

@Ginny@Tom Kellie@Treepol @TonyQthank you all for your kind comments, that are much appreciated.

 

@Ginny- Tigertail Lagoon is at the northern end of Marco Island, so ~65 miles south of Sanibel.

 

A little bit of the back story behind these photos - I arrived at the lagoon before sunrise and could see the spoonbills in the pre-dawn light in what I knew would be a good place for photos - in the shallows which would receive the first sunlight, with the mangroves as a backdrop.  However I also knew from experience that as soon as the sun rises, they tend to fly to the northern tip of the lagoon which is rather less photogenic.  

 

I waded into the lagoon and stood up to my waist in water, kept company by a good many mosquitos, and waited ~20 mins for the sun to rise.  They were kind enough to stay put and engage in lots of interesting behaviour - including the head bobbing and bill waving shown in some of the photo's above - something I havenet seen before.  Spoonbills have a lot in common with lions (yes really!!!)...in that they spend a good part of their day asleep, standing on one leg with their heads tucked under a wing (OK, granted, I haven't yet seen lions do the one leg/wing thing yet, but I live in hope!!) 

 

This is a big crop of one of the photos posted above, but  I quite like the shadow of the front bird on the one behind (also showing in the reflection).

 

 

...and one more (somewhat sheepish looking individua)l on the shoreline...

 

Edited August 2, 2022 by Whyone?

[Whyone?]

 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2022 by Whyone?

[Ginny]

Thank you @Whyone? I love the cropped photo with the shadow. Somehow I also landed on your Smugmug site and enjoyed the Florida set there…especially the reddish egret. 

[Peter Connan]

Beautiful!

[Whyone?]

28 minutes ago, Ginny said:

Thank you @Whyone? I love the cropped photo with the shadow. Somehow I also landed on your Smugmug site and enjoyed the Florida set there…especially the reddish egret. 

Hi @Ginny

 

Thank you for your kind comments. 

 

Reddish Egrets ar such great birds - endless fun whatching them charge about the shadows like mad things!

 

I am currently experimenting with Snugmug to host my photos - the Florida set is my first upload.  So far, so good....I am quite impressed and may well pay for the service once my free trail ends!