another first

yesterday we had our first visit in the two winters we have been here from a pair of roseate spoonbills.

this was very exciting because they usually do not feed in fresh water areas and of course also because they are so amazingly colorful

and the mottled ducks showed some beautiful blue under their wings that I hadn't seen before when they were in the water.

this one shows his spoon shaped bill which is of course how they spoonbills get their name (LOL)

in flight - a bit blurry but they sure are beautiful aren't they?

and look at the beautiful blue these guys have been hiding when swimming by...

the anhinga drying - you can see pretty much every feather!

now he is a regular visitor - our little gator...

so another interesting day on the river - so full of life- that we frequently would miss in our day to day rush of activities... what a gift it has been to slow down enough to enjoy getting to see and know something about these "friends" in nature...

a rare treasure

is what my bird book said about sighting the endangered wood stork...

they have lost their food supplies and therefore are not breeding in enough numbers to keep the population supported.  these birds- the only storks in north america- fish by wading through shallow water and stirring up the mud so fish swim around their bills.  when a fish touches the bill they immediately (fastest movement in the animal kingdom per the info in the book) grab it and swallow.

so imagine my surprise when over the weekend we had a visit from a wood stork... no mistaking this guy... I had gone out to take a photo of the anhinga drying near the dock and then spied a great blue heron in mating feathers and a couple of turtles hanging out when I turned around and there he was- Mr. Rare Treasure wading around fishing...

never a dull moment here at River Cottage

our mating heron-

the anhinga drying his feathers

turtle catching a breath and then with a buddy--

 

a mottled duck-

and here he is the star of the show!