A Different Bird

OK, enough with the egrets. Well, just one more to make a species segue from this week’s earlier posts – an avian wing-off – along with a reflection photo to make a theme segue.

2-photo collage of roseate spoonbillsRoseate spoonbills still amaze me. As one of the park curators said, “They’re a fan favourite.” Well being an American, he likely said “favorite” but my ear doesn’t pick up subtle differences like that.

Anyway, he mentioned their colour (color? likely – see it *is* subtle) and their funny bills as two of their attractions. He did not mention their less-than-attractive heads. To me, that part of them looks a lot like vultures or condors.

Roseate spoonbill, preeningBut it’s their wings – both in flight and merely flared on landing – that keep me coming back for more.

Roseate spoonbill, wings flared and backlit

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9 Responses to A Different Bird

  1. You are right! Can’t have too many pictures of Roseate Spoonbills. Or of egrets, really. Great capture of their wings. Having not actually ever seen a Roseate Spoonbill, I didn’t know the wings were so pink.

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Judith – 🙂 I’ve seen them in airborne flocks but only at a distance: a great wave of pink across the sky. A closer look at that would be on my bucket list . . .

  2. Tom Watson says:

    Beautiful!
    Thanks, Isabel.

  3. Jim Robertson says:

    Nice catches Isabel.

    Must admit I never paid too much attention to their heads – too busy looking at their bodies.

    But I am always staring, and shooting, wood storks heads, which are bare too as you know.

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Jim – I notice their heads more in photos than when just looking – either just watching them or peering through the viewfinder. I also am transfixed by their colour. And why/how not?

  4. barbara says:

    I’m serious about a bird calendar with your wonderful photographs!

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Barbara – Thanks for the support but I fear that they’re not sufficiently high-resolution for printing. Some are super-cropped (not these so much, but many) and that works pretty well on the screen but not on paper, as you know. Someone else suggested an e-book of some sort . . .

  5. Pingback: More Different Birds – Traditional Iconoclast

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