Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) - High Island, TX

It was so cool going to the Smith Oaks Rookery for the first time. I had never seen anything like it. I had seen my first Roseate Spoonbill a day before in South Padre Island but never up close like this. It was funny watching these clumsy birds try to balance on top of these tiny branches as they collected nest material. What interesting and strangely beautiful, charismatic birds they are! I have always wanted to see one. They were nesting beside other birds, such as Tricolored Herons, Great, Cattle and Snowy Egrets and Neotropic Cormorants. There were hungry alligators waiting for any young bird that unfortunately dropped from the nest. Purple and Common Gallinules, Anhinga, White Ibis and Little Blues were also present. This park was really birdy and I was able to see some beautiful Prothonotary and Cape May Warblers and Yellow-billed Cuckoos. Too much for the senses to handle! I really didn't know where to look! All the birds in the rookery were in gorgeous breeding plumage and the sounds the Snowy Egrets made were the strangest I'd ever heard. The best moment was watching two Spoonbills clap their bills together affectionately. I got a few photos of that magical encounter.

 

Thanks to Houston Audubon for running and preserving this great place.

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