Roseate Spoonbill in a lagoon with a young Mangrove – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
There are days in Utah when the gray clouds hanging overhead for days on end get to me because I’d rather be out photographing birds and animals with decent light so I dig into my archives of the birds I photographed in Florida and that brightens my morning right up regardless of what it looks like outside my window.
Roseate Spoonbills were some of the brightest colored birds I photographed in Florida especially when they were in breeding plumage. Of the world’s six species of Spoonbills the only ones that are pink are are the roseate spoonbills and it also the only spoonbill native to North America.
I can recall vividly the morning I photographed this Roseate Spoonbill in a lagoon with a young mangrove by its legs at Fort De Soto County Park. I had been the only photographer at the beach and had been sitting on my knees in the warm lagoon waiting patiently for birds to get closer to me on their own. The Roseate Spoonbills came closer and closer to me and I was able to take a nice series of this spoonbill and several others before two very noisy photographers came over the dunes and scared them off by talking loudly and banging their tripods around. I was very glad they came after I had spent time alone with the spoonbills.
But life is good. Always good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Roseate Spoonbill photos plus facts and information.
Wow.
I bet your photos were better than anything the noisy tripod-bangers achieved. By a long shot.
Nice image. Well the snow is finally falling and the temperature has warmed up.
Although I lived in South Miami, as did my grandparents and uncle, George Merrick, I never saw these birds in the wild, except in my father’s photos and illustrations. He was lucky enough to canoe the Everglades with Marjorie Stoneman Douglas when he was researching for a book she had written and had asked him to illustrate, “THE EVERGLADES, RIVER OF GRASS”….i think The cover had a spoonbill on it. My stepmother took my signed copy but I found an old, beat up copy at a book sale, but the cover is missing. The illustrations are all pen and ink.
Patty, I found a jpg of the original cover of the book for you, it had two Roseate Spoonbills on it: Here
As a bird lover and a book lover I enjoyed Patty’s story. Good work finding the jpg Mia!
Brightened up my day. Thanks so much for the wonderful picture
Beautiful picture, Mia.