Roseate Spoonbills at St Augustine Alligator Farm Rookery

These Roseate Spoonbills were at the Rookery

at St Augustine Alligator Farm, April 2008.

I did not see any Spoonbills at nest that afternoon,

they were just high in the trees.

Spoonbills are one of birds that almost became extinct in the early 1900's

due to the beauty of their feathers.

The pink feathers were used in lady's hats.

I saw my first Spoonbills at Lake Seminole Park in February 2008,

so I was really excited to see them at the alligator farm rookery.

The rookery there consist of birds that come every year to nest,

but are not in captivity.

Wood Stork at Lake Seminole Park and at Rookery

The first 2 photos of the Wood Stork were taken at Lake Seminole Park in February 2008.

This was the first time I saw a Wood Stork,

and had no idea what it was.

The last 2 photos are from the St Augustine Alligator Farm Rookery, taken April 2008.

The Rookery is full of birds that just come there to nest,

they are not in captivity.

Reddish Egret, White Morph

These were all taken at the Rookery in the St Augustine Alligator Farm, April 12, 2008.

I was totally confused by this one. Could not find any reference to the black bill, with the red close to the face.

I have 4 reference books now. The Sibley, National Geographic, Peterson, and the Stokes.

I don't use the Peterson and the Stokes very often anymore. But I was struggling with the id on this bird. Finally found it in the Stokes, then can see it in the Sibley, but I don't think it says enough about it for me to ever have found it in the Sibley.

The rookery is awesome, I will be posting some more photographs from the Rookery after I return from vacation. The birds are not in captivity, they just show up there every year. In addition to these Reddish Egret White Morphs I photographed Wood Storks, Roseate Spoonbills, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, and Great Egrets (if I didn't forget something). The Great Egrets already had babies.

UPDATE: Hap from New Hope has gotten me again. Not a Reddish Egret, White Morph. A breeding Snowy Egret. Hap I need your email so I can use you as a consultant before blundering right in on these hard ones.

Owl in captivity

These owl photos were taken at the headquarters of the Birding FotoFest in St Augustine, Florida this past April. (See April Events post). I know we prefer photos from the 'wild', but I still thought these were worth posting. Hope you enjoy them.