Roseate Spoonbills

Thinking Pink – Birds, Sky and Flowers

By Mia McPherson, on April 8th, 2013%

Pink Lotus in Auckland, New Zealand

I’m not sure why I wanted to do a post using images with pinks but here they are, a flower, a bird and pink kissed clouds.

I photographed this Pink Lotus in Auckland, New Zealand before flying back to the United States, I loved the combination of the soft pinks, the greens and the bright lemony yellow center of the flowers. It was a breezy day so I felt lucky to catch the Lotus while it wasn’t moving.

Roseate Spoonbill in flight

And here is a pink colored wading bird, a Roseate Spoonbill in flight over a lagoon at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida, one of my favorite locations.

Pink Clouds at Fort De Soto before a storm

And last; a photo I took at Fort De Soto County Park not long after the sun had risen above the horizon as storm clouds moved in. The only thing I photographed that morning was the clouds because I had to dash back to my vehicle before the rain started pouring down.

Just thinking pink.

Mia

Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork size comparison

By Mia McPherson, on February 15th, 2013%

Roseate Spoonbill in a lagoon – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/750, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light

Roseate Spoonbills are large wading birds with distinctive pink plumage, long spoon-shaped bills, bald heads and brilliant red eyes. Their length is about 32 inches, wing span 50 inches and they weigh about 3.3 pounds. When you are up close to them; as I was when I photographed the Spoonbill above, they seem rather large.

Wood Stork walking near a lagoon - Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light

Wood Storks are about 40 inches in length, have a wingspan of 61 inches and weigh in at 5.3 pounds. Wood Storks are also distinctive with white plumage, bald heads and long bills that look like wood. The Stork above has not yet acquired full adult plumage, when it does its neck will be featherless, dark and have a scaly appearance. When they are close you get the impression of their large size.

Wood Stork and Roseate Spoonbill size comparison - Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/750, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 360mm, natural light

This photo shows a Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork on the shoreline of a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida and it shows how the Wood Stork can dwarf the Roseate Spoonbill in height.

I find both species fascinating, prehistoric looking and unique.

Mia

More Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork images

Roseate Spoonbills in a sea fog

By Mia McPherson, on January 9th, 2013%

Roseate Spoonbills in a sea fog – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/180, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 250mm, natural light

One very foggy May morning I came across a small flock of Roseate Spoonbills in a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto’s north beach and photograph them for about 15 minutes before they flew off to find food. The fog muffled the sounds of the waves of the Gulf of Mexico rushing onto the shore just beyond the sand dunes you can see behind these two birds and the fog felt great on my skin that very warm morning. The adult Roseates were mostly resting but the juvenile pictured above began to preen while I laid in the tidal mud observing and photographing these large, pink wading birds.

Photographing in fog presents challenges in determining exposure, aperture, shutter speed and ISO, for this image I used a lower ISO because I wanted as much detail as I could achieve and while that gave me a low shutter speed the juvenile Roseate wasn’t moving quickly and that helped to get sharp images. This image did have a small amount of Noise Reduction applied to everything except the preening juvenile Roseate Spoonbill to smooth out some of the noise I could detect prior to post processing.

Mia

More Roseate Spoonbill images

Images of Christmas Past – Happy Holidays

By Mia McPherson, on December 25th, 2012%

The port of Burnie, Tasmania – Christmas Eve day 2007

Yesterday I took a stroll down memory lane, actually I looked for images I have taken either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day in my files but in a way that is taking a stroll down memory lane.

In 2007 I was onboard a cruise ship crossing Bass Straight from Melbourne Australia to dock in Burnie, Tasmania. Even though it is summer during Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere Tasmania is far enough south for it to be cool. The water was such a deep royal blue that I wanted to jump ship just to feel it on my skin. I went inland from Burnie on Christmas Eve to visit a rehab facility for animals and birds, many of them were native but a few exotics stuck out, like Water Buffalo, Camels and different types of deer.

I loved seeing Tasmanian Devils, Quolls, Black Swans, Wallaby, Wombat, Kangaroos and Emus. Ok, maybe not the Emus so much but that was because when I was taking a photo of a Wallaby an Emu snuck up and pecked the UV filter on my lens and scared the snot out of me. Imagine all of a sudden seeing a huge beak and two big eyes through your viewfinder as the beak crashes into the glass! I am just glad I had the UV filter attached otherwise it would have been expensive glass that got beaked.

After getting back on board ship we headed out to make the crossing to the South Island of New Zealand across the Tasman Sea and spent Christmas Day on the open water.

A foggy Christmas Day 2008 – Roseate Spoonbill

Christmas Day of 2007 started off very foggy at Fort De Soto County Park’s north beach. Fort De Soto is open on Christmas day which I adored because quite often I would have the north beach to myself. It was a time to soak in the beauty, to relax and reflect on the year that was coming to a close. The friends I had made. The sights I had seen. And the birds of Florida that enchanted me.

The light wasn’t the best when I photographed this Roseate Spoonbill foraging in the tidal lagoon north of the foot bridge but I kept the file any way as a reminder of Christmas all by myself sitting in the waters of the lagoon surrounded by Wood Storks and Roseates.

Snow (sand) Man – Florida Style 2008

Floridians don’t let the lack of snow stop them from creating the Florida Snowman out of the white sugary sand found at Fort De Soto. This one is decorated with a Sea Urchin on its head, a Mangrove seed pod as a staff and a Leopard Crab as pet. Ingenuity, yes, that is what it is.

Six months after Christmas I made my mind up to leave Florida and move back out west, the west had called to me softly for years while I lived in Florida. The mountains, the big sky, four seasons, snow, fall colors and wide open spaces. After Christmas the western U.S. wasn’t calling to me softly, it was talking long and loud.

A Regal Bald Eagle – Christmas Day 2009

Christmas of 2009 found me in the state of Utah. I had mountains, 4 seasons, plenty of birds, big skies, deserts, plains, gorges, marshes, lakes, rivers, valleys and plenty of Red Rocks. AND I had the Great Salt Lake close by!

I made new friends and felt a wonderful peace wash over me. I was back where I belong. In the west. Because of my photography I have met the most fascinating people in real life and those who have become friends over the internet that share my interests in nature, birds and photography.

Christmas Day 2009 started foggy at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Davis County, Utah. The sun wouldn’t give up though and it broke through the fog to allow me to get close up images of a majestic 4-year-old Bald Eagle perched on an old post.

Spending time with a best friend in nature is the best Christmas present to me.

Common Merganser – Christmas day 2010

Christmas Day of 2010 came and it was spent again at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area photographing Pied-billed Grebes, Ruddy Ducks and this Common Merganser. The water looked golden because the dried stalks of Phragmites were reflected on it. We pretty much had the place to ourselves for the first few hours. Yes, that is Peace on Earth to me.

Male Northern Harrier in flight – Christmas Eve day 2011

Christmas Eve day of 2011 was spent on Antelope Island State Park and while the island wasn’t all that birdy or critter the causeway had some Northern Harrier action going on as we went to leave. The “Gray Ghost” was hunting near the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake with the snow-covered Wasatch Mountain Range in the background.

What will Christmas Day 2012 bring? I don’t know for sure but it is going to be a white one and I’ll be spending time in nature enjoying the companionship of a best friend. I can’t ask for a better gift. So while other people are just starting their day and opening their presents I’ll already be enjoying mine.

Mia

Roseate Spoonbill in evening light

By Mia McPherson, on December 22nd, 2012%

Roseate Spoonbill in evening light – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/750, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light

Early morning is my favorite time of the day to photograph partly because of the soft light but also because I feel marvelous when I am immersed in nature as the day begins. Evening can have marvelous light too though as shown in the Roseate Spoonbill image above that I photographed in Florida as it hunted for prey in a tidal lagoon.

There was a Roseate Spoonbill here in Utah this year well to the south of where I live, I hope that the pink adding bird moved on and found bird of its own kind because it was well out of its normal range.

Mia

More Roseate Spoonbill images