Flying in to sleep

DSC_1043

I found a killdeer across the pond.

DSC_1179

DSC_1180

DSC_1187

DSC_1213
DSC_1206

DSC_1203

Some of the cattle egrets were sporting their bright “breeding” colors. You can see the difference with the younger cattle egrets that have the drab faces and the ones ready to mate with their bright pink and yellow beaks.  Their legs are also bright pink.

DSC_1216

An ibis doing a balancing act.

Across the street from the Pinellas county waste plant, there’s a small pond with a mangrove island in it. Before dark, a lot of the birds come here to sleep for the night. I stopped by there recently after work and birds were flying in to spend the night on the little island.

More baby black necked stilts

The first family I found back in mid-May was still in the pond by the front entrance to the waste plant. This was taken a few days later. The baby was just a little bit bigger. All of these pictures were taken from the car window. I didn’t want to get out and spook the stilts.

I found a 2nd family across the street. This baby is only a few days old. It was so tiny. These were taken with my 400mm and extremely cropped.

The tiny baby had a sibling that was hiding in the weeds.

The parent was doing the broken wing display even though I was sitting in the car. They fly away from the baby and act hurt to try to distract the predator away from the baby. I did not stay long here at all, only a few minutes.

Another adult was feeding at a different part of the ditch. There seems to be more stilts here this summer than in the past. Maybe, the ones being born here keep coming back.

Camera Critters