For several days in mid-August 2015 I noticed a juvenile Roseate Spoonbill in the area. First time I ever saw one outside of a zoo or the Everglades. It was solo as was a pinker version I saw three weeks later in September. The last image is one which was passing through in 2023.

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This bird definitely has a spoon-shaped bill!
[Large wading bird standing at the water's edge with its head turned back toward the camera so the entire bill is visible from the top. The bill is grey with pink tinges at the end. The head and top of body are white. The legs and lower feathers are pink.]

Impressive clappers!
[Same bird has turned its head twoard the water and has its bill opened highlighting the long bill with the wide round shape at the end.]

Must be a challenge to scratch an itch with that round bill.
[Bird stands in the water with its head bent back so its bill is touching some feathers just behind its legs.]

Can really see the pink wing feathers in this image.
[Bird stands in the water with its head bent back to the side of its body opposite the camera and thus is not seen. The wing on that side is streched forward from its body making very pink feathers visible.]

The bill works well as a scooper.
[Bird stands in the water with its head forward and the edge of its bill in the water.]

The roseate spoonbill was more focused on obtaining food than on what was in front of it.
The mallard kept moving out of the spoonbill's way.
[Bird is walking through the water with the outermost part of its bill completely submerged. Just a foot in front of it is a mallard paddling out of the spoonbill's way.]

This is the napping or resting position.
I've seen many bird species tuck their bill into their feathers and or stand on one leg while snoozing.
[Bird stands at the water's edge with one leg tucked under its body so one foot dangles in the air. Its bill is nearly completely hidden in its back feathers.]

A Sunday morning get-together in September. From left to right are a mallard, a spoonbill and a wood stork.
[Three birds stand in the wood chips at the edge of a parking lot. From left to right are a male mallard in eclipse plumage, a roseate spoonbill with its bill tucked in its feather and its eye open watching me, and a wood stork preening its feathers.]

Another Sunday morning bird, but this one came through in May 2023
[The spoonbill stands in shallow water with leafy greens hiding most of its legs. The bird faces left with its bill slightly open and its head bent towards the water. Its head, neck, and upper body are mostly white with the rest, including the legs a pale pink.]

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All photos © S. M. Garver