I am still working on moving older images to my new galleries and most recently I have been reprocessing some of my Roseate Spoonbill images that I took while I lived in Florida. I do miss seeing these large, pink wading birds but there have been two confirmed sightings in Utah so maybe one day I will find another one here. You never know.
Juvenile Roseate Spoonbill at the edge of a lagoon – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
Juvenile Roseate Spoonbills are a softer, lighter pink than the adults, lack the carmine wing coverts and orange tail and they have feathers on their heads whereas the adult are bald headed.
I photographed this juvenile Roseate Spoonbill in May of 2008 from inside a lagoon at Fort De Soto’s north while the immature spoonbill and a few adults preened and rested on the shoreline. The spoonbills pretty much ignored me because I was sitting still in the water.
Resting juvenile Roseate Spoonbill – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/1000, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
They were so relaxed with my presence some of them even went to sleep while I photographed them.
Some nicknames for the roseate spoonbill are Flame Bird, Banjo-bill, Pink Curlew, Pink and Pinkie but the one I would hear most often is Spoonie because of their spoon shaped bill.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to view more of my Roseate Spoonbill photos plus facts and information about this species.
I especially like that first image and the whole shadow included.
Lovely images Mia, hopefully I will at FDS by mid Dec..
A charmer. Thank you.
Beautiful bird! My father illustrated a book on the Everglades and the Spoonbills were one of his favorite birds…those other names, except for “spoonies” , werecall new to me…
Beautiful images, Mia. A treat each morning to see and read your posts.