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...

new year's eve wildlife

I know you have all been waiting patiently to see some new bird photos so I have a selection of things we have seen in the last 24 hours to get you started- I won't make you do the identification since we have a book here to look these up and I can tell you what they are (HA HA- urban dwellers that we are- we would be lost without the book)
the blue heron:

a gallinule (no, it is not a duck- LOL) it is a member of the coot family--- so of course feels quite at,l, home here- LOL

Phil's personal favorite the Anhinga (a member of the Cormorant family - a species we also have here on the river)

an osprey- looks from the distance like a bald eagle but has the white under body - in the hawk family - they eat fish and catch them in their taloned feet - which have a two two configuration on the talons rather than the usual one three combo (yes read one book and now I am an expert!- LOL)

and I included this less than stellar (technically) photo because I loved the composition of the bird in flight and his reflection on the river- if only I had been faster at setting up the shot I could have had this in focus...alas- that would apparently be the life of a nature photographer.

I love how you can see his feet dragging in the water as he gets his lift going--- magnificent birds--