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. 

Black neck stilt family

I found this family of black necked stilts in the ditches around the waste plant close to where I work. There were 2 parents and 2 babies walking around. I recently had been seeing the stilts there on my drive to lunch.  One day I brought my camera to work and stopped off along the ditches after work looking for the adults. I had taken pictures of them a couple of months ago and had wondered if they nested there but never imagined I would stumble upon babies. The babies seemed curious and wandered around away from the parents. I took a few pictures from my car and then got out. As soon as I opened the car door the parents started screaming and flew over to the babies. I ended up staying in the car and taking the pictures. I didn't want the parents flying off without the babies. I didn't stay long.  I was hungry anyway and it was time for dinner.

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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Pinellas county waste plant

Cattle egrets taking a break.

Lots of different birds at the ponds by the waste plant. Notice the turtle on the left.

Kestrel sitting on a power line. I've seen him several times there now.

Sad looking cattle egret.  Do immature cattle egret have gray feathers? I've never seen one with gray feathers before. 

It looks like he's got some problems with his beak as well.

Cormorants and cattle egrets sunning themselves.

I can usually find water birds around the ponds and ditches that are across from the Pinellas county waste plant. I see them when I'm out getting lunch since my office is close by. I stopped by there recently on a Saturday to see what was hanging around. Most of the time I see a few spoonbills but not on this trip. The highlight was an American kestrel sitting on a power line. The county has torn down all of the trees and digging up the dirt across from the waste plant. I'm not sure what they are doing there but it's brought in a lot of cattle egret. I guess they are stirring up a lot of bugs. Yum!

Waste plant birds

A group of great egrets looking at their reflection.

Four baby moorhens across the ditch. The parents were close by.

The duck snuck up on the spoony and spooked him.

Several families hanging out in the ditches at the waste plant.

Spoonbill watching me take pictures.

One day last week I stopped by the ditches that run along the Pinellas County waste plant. It was a rare day with no rain on the way home. The ditches were full from all of the recent rain and the birds seemed to be enjoying the sun and water. There was one spoonbill hanging out with a lot of other birds and ducks. At first he seemed interested in what I was doing but after a few minutes he went back to looking for food in the water.