Spoonbills!!
Here are some flight shots of our pink visitors, the roseate spoonbills! The first four are from yesterday evening and the last four were taken this morning. We continue to be thrilled to have these amazing birds spending time in our marsh area and hope they stay all summer, and if we are very fortunate they may have some friends stop by in the coming weeks!
Phil Lanoue Photography 
Super, Phil. I hope you don’t mind the comma…I do think very highly of you too. 🙂 But this is about the images. 🙂
I have no idea why that posted, but here’s the rest….
I am very envious that you have, not only these wonderful Spoonies, but so many waders to shoot. We have a very nice swamp here by our rail trail but lately there have been very few wading birds. I’m not there every day but often enough to notice the lack.
I will be looking forward to more of these, Phil.
thanks very much Steve I’m happy you enjoy seeing our local wildlife. I like the big waders the best and those along with anhingas and skimmers are my favorite birds to photograph. Of course I’m partial to our resident alligators as well. 🙂
They are gorgeous; what makes their plumage that colour, Phil
They are colorful and interesting birds for sure. I’ve heard that shrimp helps make them a brighter pink and they do eat a lot of shrimp but they would be naturally colored pink top a large extent anyway.
Of course my mind immediately went to “are they related to flamingos”. I do love the bill! Beautiful coloring, and shots.
I think they would be more closely related to wood storks and ibis, not in terms of color but more how they feed and behave.
They are amazing birds though and you gotta love the pink! 🙂
What fabulous birds, Phil. Love all your amazing shots of them in flight. You’ve done them proud. 🙂 It must be so thrilling to actually be there to see them in person.
It is a thrill for us to see them and people literally drive for hours and come from all over when word gets out that that the spoonies have arrived, and I think we all know who gets the word out. 🙂
So many great shots! A perfect sighting.
Thanks very much I was glad to have some halfway decent photo ops the past two days. When they first came in they were never really in all that close.
How great that you have them visiting you! And the shots are all fantastic.They will be coming my way in a couple of months so I guess it’s about time for me to dust off my cameras.
We were excited when one arrived but are totally pumped now that five are here and seem to be staying in the general area. They are often far out in the marsh where we can’t see them but when the wood storks come in I figure the spoonies will not be far behind.
You lucky man! What a glorious sight and what great flight shots! The Spoonies stand out so beautifully again any background, don’t they?
We do feel fortunate to be able to see these colorful birds even if it’s only occasionally. I’m glad you noticed the background Maggie, I purposely try to capture them flying against green trees or marsh grass because I feel they stand out so well against those colors!
Just gorgeous. I like how you managed to get them flying toward you. Did you wave something pink?
They are cool birds! I usually wave a bag of shrimp at them which almost always works. 😉
Seriously though I have spent a lot of time observing them and trying to learn their behavior and body language. So if I think they are going to fly a certain direction I try to be in a position (along with lighting and all that stuff) to possibly get the best angle on them for flights. I would say that 3 or 4 times out of five I predict their takeoff time and direction accurately.
Beautiful birds. Maybe they will become annual visitors if they like the habitat. You should look out for banded ones. We get quite a few here.
They are fantastic birds indeed Andrew. I have never seen a banded one here but I’m sure there must be many in Florida perhaps. Pelicans I see banded all the time.
That’s just ART!!!
Great job as usual!
Bye,
Andrea
Well thanks very much I appreciate the kind words!
The 5th and 6th shots make me think of a jet landing for some reason, but seeing that bill head on is pretty weird. It looks like it could be used for a paddle. 🙂
I can see why you are so excited about these visitors. They sure make for some great shots.
Their bill is sort of spatula shaped at the end and they are fun to watch as they feed because they sweep that bill back and forth through the water rapidly hoping to pick up small fish, shrimp, and other marine crustaceans.
Glad you enjoyed these flight photos Gunta I had fun getting them.
Gorgeous, love the photos and this Spoonbill.
Well I’m very happy you enjoyed the photos of our pink friends!
Beautiful BIF’s Phil.
Thanks a lot Jan I appreciate it.
Beautiful. They look a bit as though someone left a red sock in the whites wash to me.. Such an amazing colour! 🙂
They do look like somebody ‘pinked’ the white wash Adrian, good description I’m going to remember that!
Thanks for looking and I’m happy you liked these flight shots.
Hello Phil,
amazing pictures of an amazing colored bird!
Wish you a nice day
moni
Thanks very much moni I’m so happy you enjoyed the spoonie pics!
Those are really lovely photos, Phil, of strangely beautiful birds. Their color and their beak shape make them so unusual.
Their look is unusual enough but add the fact that they are pink birds and you get some wild combination that’s for sure! 🙂
Beautiful!
Thanks so much!
Love how you changed your font color to match the pink spoonbills. they are funny and super cool looking. How fortunate you are to be graced with their presence.
That font color change is all my wife’s doing. 😀 Yes we are thrilled they have once again decided to visit our area.
But I have only seen three since yesterday, hope we didn’t lose two already.
Oh, so lovely!
Super shots, Phil!
I’m very happy you enjoyed these, thanks!