Who Likes Pink Birds? Lots of Photos - Not Flamingos!

[zackiedawg]

You say 'pink bird' and most people's minds go to flamingos. But in Florida, we have other regular residents who happen to be pink - some say more vibrantly colored and pretty than flamingos usually are, and they don't need to eat krill to get that way! These are our native roseated spoonbills. These beautiful birds are quite a spectacle, especially when flying as you see that flash of pink in the sky coming at you. Since I haven't bothered posting any wildlife and non-Disney shots in here in a while, I thought it was time to bring some back. And since the roseated spoonbills have been very populous this year, and putting on a nice show, they were the perfect bird to kick it off with! The following shots were taken with my Sony A6000 mirrorless and FE70-200mm F4 OSS lens:

But wait...there's more! Here are a few more shots taken with my Sony DSLR-A580 and Tamron 150-600mm combo:

 

[RedOctober25]

Awesome shots!

 

[Joanie Eddis-Koch]

That's a beak made for fishing! Nice shots indeed! I liked getting to really see these birds up close. The lines and the curves on these creatures are so appealing. There is something so artistic about their functional forms and your shots really showcase that nicely.

~Joanie

 

[zackiedawg]

Thank you Jeff & Joanie. I agree Joanie - they are at times almost ugly when you see the face and head up close - but even then, their featherless heads are blueish in color and they have piercing red eyes, so they're quite picturesque birds...and with all that pink and red in the feathers, that just puts icing on the cake.

 

[Craig]

that's awesome Justin! I haven't seen one on this coast in a long time, so either I'm missing them or they are not as plentiful over here?

 

[zackiedawg]

Funny thing there Craig - they used to me more known as west coast birds in FL - we had to go to Sanibel to get any reliable chance to see them - 5-8 years ago, we were thrilled to see 1 or 2. Over the past 3-4 years, they've become regular and year-round in our areas...and in big numbers. I was just at a park yesterday (same one where I took some of the photos above) and there were at least 50 of them hanging around...and they stay through the summer now, where they used to only show up in winter.

I don't know if they're just growing in number and spreading to our coast and are still on your side, or if they're moving more eastwards and abandoning the west - maybe someone over there can pop into Ding Darling or Corkscrew and report if they're still seeing them!