When I moved from the beach to the swamp, I was afraid I wouldn’t regularly spot one of my favorite Florida birds, the roseate spoonbill, but they followed me here:
Dooby-dooby-do!
Here it is hanging out with a snowy egret friend:
I’m not sure if the light color saturation is due to its age or diet or what. I’ve seen some birds that are as pink as a yard flamingo. Maybe it’s trying to blend in with the egrets?
Anyhoo, open thread!
Major Major Major Major
I’d assume diet, since that’s how flamingos get their color. Great pics!
arrieve
That is a gorgeous bird.
trollhattan
@Major Major Major Major:
IIRC the color comes from some types of zooplankton & crustaceans.
Scotland-Argentina–mindboggling finish.
chris
Light pink and not balding? A youngster according to the birders at Cornell.
ETA First I heard of a bird going bald!
NotMax
If music be the food of love
Then laughter is it’s queen
And likewise if behind is in front
Then dirt in truth is clean
My mouth by then like cardboard
Seemed to slip straight through my head
So we crash-dived straightway quickly
And attacked the ocean bed
And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face, at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale
zhena gogolia
I love those spoonbills!
Paul W.
@trollhattan: What an altogether horrible end to a great game. For fuck sake, there’s no way a keeper can not come forward an inch or two when anticipating a PK. That was a clean stop, and honestly I don’t agree with the call against Scotland in the first place, the defender was not intent on striking the Argentinian player but was aiming for the ball.
Betsy
Fantastic. The natural world gives us hope.
Wonder if inland birds don’t get as much of the krill-type food that gives rosies their color? Be interesting to watch this birdie mature, based on the fact pointed out by chris, above.
Betty Cracker
@Betsy: That’s what I was thinking — if it hangs out by a river, it may find plenty to eat, but it won’t find shrimp. But I have no idea how far they typically range; the Gulf of Mexico isn’t far away.
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
Or could be it’s orthodox.
;)
Keith P.
From the headline, I thought a GOP operative was found impaled to death on a drilldo or suffocated by a ball gag.
trollhattan
@Paul W.:
ONLY VAR could have caught that teeny hop past the line and it’s not the first we’ve seen that in the tourny. Not a fan. Poor keeper acted mired in concrete for the second kick. Understandably.
Mel
Just received photos of my new niece, Lucy, born this afternoon!! Mom, Dad, and Lucy all are well, and Lucy’s two sibs are so excited that their baby sister has arrived.
trollhattan
@NotMax:
Could be. It’s documented they also don’t use elevators or appliances Friday nights.
trollhattan
@Mel:
Aww, congrats. Some good news for once.
Another Scott
House appropriations bill passed today repeals the 2001 AUMF.
https://twitter.com/MEPFuller/status/1141429630727065605
Good, good. (And long overdue.)
(via LOLGOP)
Cheers,
Scott.
cope
Nice pictures. The first group of spoonbills I ever saw were all up in a cypress tree in Ding Darling. I’ve never seen them perched like that since. I know that pictures of them are on my old computer if I can get it back from my daughter.
I’ve stated here before that they are my favorite Florida bird after a long time of favoring ospreys.
Baud
@Another Scott:
Nice.
Betty Cracker
@cope: If I had to pick a fave, it would be spoonbills, probably. But don’t tell my limpkins, Sandhills, blue herons, egrets, etc.! Also kingfishers — I love those fierce little buggers! And cormorants! And anhingas! I love them all, really, even the ugly old vultures.
Rob
Those are nice photos of the spoonbill! There were two immature spoonbills in my state (Maryland) a year ago that I got to see. They are quite rare up here.
trollhattan
@Rob:
With climate change everybody get spoonbill!
trollhattan
Ted Lieu hews an interesting path here.
TenguPhule
@trollhattan:
Why is this an either/or choice? The answer is obviously both.
debbie
@Another Scott:
And not a moment too soon, considering Trump’s promise to wipe out Iran and Pompeo’s 12-point plan.
rikyrah
The bird is beautiful, B.C.???
Mohagan
What great pictures!! Thanks so much for posting them. Here in N CA, we have egrets and herons, but no spoonbills. I love your limpkin pictures too.
Kathleen
Those pictures are exquisite, Betty. My daughter, who lives in Tampa, lives in a subdivision which borders a nature preserve, so I always see birds near the pond next to her back yard or even in the cul de sac. I don’t know what kind of birds they are, but they have very long legs.
Albatrossity
Sweet! What a great yard bird!
oldster
Egrets?
I’ve had a few.
But, then again, too few to mention….
SlackerSF
Beautiful birdies!