Spoonbill reflection, Bunche Beach Preserve

The smooth surface of the shallow tidal pools at Bunche Beach Preserve made for some nice reflections all morning. It was surprising to experience how quickly the flooding tide rose across the flat expanses of exposed mudflats. I initially placed myself a few yards from the edge of this pond, but after about 15 minutes of photographing this juvenile roseate spoonbill, the water had reached my location. Thankfully, the bird soon opted to fly off to a different pool, making it a much easier choice to stand up before being completely soaked through.

View more photographs of this juvenile spoonbill and other wading birds.

Roseate spoonbill feeding at Bunche Beach Preserve

It was such an awesome experience to be able to watch this young roseate spoonbill at close range in a tidal pool at Bunche Beach Preserve. This species has such an elegant behavior as they rhythmically sway their bill sideways back and forth through the water.

But in this series of photographs, a sort of goofy expression appeared on the face of this individual while it splashed in the water -- making it all the more endearing to me.

View more photographs of roseate spoonbills and other wading birds.

Juveline roseate spoonbill at Bunche Beach Preserve

I saw a ton of birds during my two mornings at Bunche Beach Preserve in March, but the highlight was having a chance to photograph this young roseate spoonbill at close range. I think these birds are remarkable, and it was awesome to have it land in the pool I was watching. At the time it arrived, the morning was getting late and I was feeling content with the images I had captured while the light was really nice. I had actually already gotten up and was preparing to start my walk back to the parking lot when I heard a birding tour guide behind me excitedly tell his group "this is a real treat, a roseate spoonbill just arrived!"

Many thanks to that helpful guide for alerting me to this amazing opportunity! The spoonie landed on the far side of the tidal pool, so I returned to my spot at the near edge, laid back down, and watched through my lens as it came closer and closer. On my prior trip to Ft Myers in 2012, I had seen a small flock of roseate spoonbills at Ding Darling NWR, but unfortunately they were far away with no possibility to get closer. This experience was quite the opposite, with the bird meandering back and forth across the tidal pool coming closer and closer to me with the rising tide. I took a lot of photos of this lone bird, but how could I resist that amazing bill!

Roseate spoonbills at sunrise, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

During my short trip to Florida in February, I had one morning scheduled to be in Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge for sunrise. Unfortunately, the weather was not on my side as it was overcast with showers likely throughout the day. For a brief moment though, as I watched this group of roseate spoonbills, the rising sun crossed through a break in the clouds and their bright pink plumage was lit up by the golden light.



Spoonbills were one of the species I most wanted to photograph on my trip, and I'm glad that I had the chance to watch them as they went through their morning preening routine. Even in the plain overcast light that dominated the morning, their gorgeous pink colors really stood out. I only wish I would have been able to photograph them at closer range -- but there's always next time!



This post is part of the World Bird Wednesday blog meme -- follow the link to check out this week's posts!