Some random waste plant birds

This picture has a female anhinga spreading her wings in the back, two spoonbills, a juvenile white ibis and a few dragonflies on the right.

Two spoonbills. The one on the left looks like a juvenile. It is still pretty pale in color.

Tri colored heron flying by.

The anhinga was showing off.

I stopped by the waste plant ditches one day after work when there wasn't a threat of rain. There weren't too many birds there but the few that were there were all huddled near each other. The bugs and fish must have plentiful in that spot. I pulled off to the side of the road to snap some pictures of the spoonbills but that anhinga just insisted on getting in some of the pictures. The other birds barely looked up from their feeding. Since there wasn't too much going on there I decided to head home. 

Baby spoonbills all grown up

The parent sitting close by in a tree. I think she's wondering "Do I really want to go and get attacked by these hungry birds? Aren't they old enough now to go out on their own?"

"I'm next, I'm next."

"Yum, Mom's regurgitated food."

"I hate being last."

All grown up now.

A video of the babies begging for food. Mom was sitting in a tree nearby.

Four weeks after I saw the first speck of pink fuzz, I headed to the zoo again. When I first got there, the babies were just sitting on the nest.  A few minutes later, they all jumped up and started begging. I looked around and saw that one of the parents had flown into the tree behind me. She sat there for a few minutes and then flew to the nest. I was excited I had arrived when an early lunch was just starting. The mom stayed for a while and then flew off, leaving the babies sitting around again. By then it was hot and my bug spray was wearing off so I headed home.

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Spoonbill at Carillon Park

I'm nominating June to be official spoonbill month. A while ago I was thinking I hadn't seen any spoonbills for a while. Now I'm seeing them everywhere. I took a walk after work at Carillon Park. It's 5 minutes from work and has a small lake that is surrounded by office buildings and a hotel. There wasn't too much there that night. I went to look for a baby bittern that I had seen reported on Pinellasbirds.com. No luck. At least not while I was there. After work a lot of people are jogging on the boardwalk so that might scare some of the birds away. I did find a beautiful spoonbill that I'm sure felt like I was following him around. I was just walking around the boardwalk but he kept flying in front of me instead of behind me. 

Spoony babies update - 3rd week at the zoo.

"Mom, we don't see it."

"Mom, tell Bubba to get off me."

"Everyone, look busy. Here comes another photographer."

"Don't worry, that creepy lady with the black box can't get you."

"But we can if you fall down"

Third trip to Lowry Park zoo since the roseate spoonbill babies were born. I think the lady at the front gate gave me a "You're here again?" look. A week later and they are getting big. Their bills are starting to really look like a spoonbill beak. The pink is just getting a little deeper. They were busy all morning. They kept trying to climb over each other. People were noticing the nest more than before. That big group of pink really sticks out over the alligator exhibit. I think at least 2-3 trips are still in my future. I'd like to see them taking those first flights but it would be shear luck if that happened on the weekend. There are a lot of baby blue herons that are just growing up flying from tree to tree and there are still a few late couples just laying eggs.

Update on the Spoony babies.

"Where's dad with the food????"

"Turn around and stop showing off your backside."

"Mom, wake up. I'm hungry."

"No rest for a parent."

"All together now, Do Re Me!"

 

Video of what the parents listen too all day long.

Second trip to the zoo to see the baby spoonbills since they were born.  The babies are a little bit bigger. They are already taking up a lot of space on that nest. They didn't sit still for a minute while I was there. The parent kept trying to sleep. When I first got there both parents were on the nest but quickly one of them flew away and didn't come back the entire hour and a half that I was there. I think they had just been fed before I got there. Another update to follow next week.

My first spoony babies!

"Listen Mom, I have to tell you something."

"I can't get comfortable."

"Who's your favorite, Mom?"

"Look at my pink wings!"

"Three's a crowd."

"Don't poop on us Mom."

I stopped by Lowry Park zoo for a quick visit to check on the spoonbill nest. What a nice surprise to find 3 babies on the nest. They were so cute! I spent about an hour taking pictures. If I had my camera pointed at the nest, people would stop and notice the nest above the alligator pond. If I wasn't taking pictures, most walked by without even noticing the nest. People where noticing the big alligators laying below. They were mesmerized by how big the alligators were. The babies were my first spoonbill babies. They were light pink and fuzzy. I hope they don't outgrow that nest too fast. I'm going to try and stop by each weekend to keep track of their progress.

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More wild birds at the zoo

Roseate spoonbill scratching.

Spoonbill sitting on the nest.

She's crying "It's your turn to sit on these hard sticks."

Carolina wren. I don't see these too often here.

Great egret flying by.

Just a few more pictures from my last recent trip to Lowry Park zoo.  I'm really keeping my fingers crossed on seeing spoonbill babies. I'm going to stop by there every weekend to check on them. It's only 10-12 minutes away and I have a membership so I may just stop in and run back to the rookery to see if any babies are present. Although, I sometimes get distracted by other cute animals.

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Things I found at the zoo

Beautiful hibiscus at the zoo. My dad used to grow award winning hibiscus in his backyard here in Florida. Sadly, when we sold my parents house I didn't take any of the bushes with me. I was living in a condo in Atlanta at the time.

The african penguins are so cute. I always want to jump in the pool with them.

Cool caterpillar.

A roseate spoonbill couple are nesting over the alligator exhibit. I have to keep checking back to see if they have babies. I've never seen spoonbill babies before.

Waste Plant birds

Black neck stilt watching me.

A pair!

Young roseate spoonbill hanging out in the mangroves.

Cattle egret panting with a great egret behind him ignoring me.

Yes, across the street from where I work is a great big waste plant. Birds hang out where there's lots of trash. There are ditches that run along the side of the waste plant that occasionally attract interesting things. There's always alligators, turtles, moorhens, osprey and lots of different water birds. Recently, while I was out getting lunch, I noticed some black neck stilts around the ditches. The next day I brought my camera and went looking for them after work. I pulled off the side of the road and was able to get a few pictures of a couple that were staying close together. The stilts are very skittish and didn't stay close very long.  While I was there I noticed a few spoonbills and egrets hanging out in a small mangrove island in the middle of the pond. It looks like they were hunkering down to sleep there for the night. Most days I drive by there and don't see anything at all so it's a hit or miss kind of place. At least it's close by.

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Kayaking in the backyard

Royal tern preening and a caspian tern watching.

There's always laughing gulls around. 

I thought all of the wintering kingfishers were gone but this guy was hanging out in the mangroves. He was far away and wouldn't let me close in my kayak.

Two spoonbills fly overhead. All I saw was a flash of pink high in the sky.

There were lots of willets and marbled godwits on people's docks.

The usual osprey.

I finally got around to a kayaking trip in the channels in our neighborhood in mid April.  I always go out not expecting to see much but I am usually pleasantly surprised. As I was paddling out into the open bay in upper Tampa Bay, several dolphins went whizzing by me. I didn't get the chance to get my camera out. They went by and were gone so fast. There's always a lot of shorebirds, gulls and terns hanging around the docks of the houses that sit out on the open bay. A few docks have fake owls to keep the birds off but I think the birds know they are fake. I've seen osprey sitting on top of the fake owl before.

All of the above were taken with my old Fuji point and shoot camera. I haven't tried to take my new Nikon D7000 on the kayak. It's so much to pack and stick in my small kayak. I'd rather travel light when I'm paddling.

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