Sometimes life is hard.
Sometimes I make life hard of my own volition.
Thatās not really what this blog is about but the truth is there. It does feel really guilty to even think about participating in fun activitiesā¦ which for one reason or another birding has become a major fun activity for me. At the same time it is also a major form of therapyā¦ being out in nature, observing wildlife and the world around me from a distance, getting to explore beautiful areasā¦ it all just makes it a little easier to breatheā¦ or rather allows the opportunity to forget that you need to remember to breathe. If that make sense.
So anyway Iāve been slacking on birding again- because life is hard and busy. But I still get these daily Rare Bird Alert email blasts and a recent alert has really sent the ācommunityā into a tizzyā¦ a Roseate Spoonbill was observed along the Milford/Stratford shore late last week amongst a group of egrets, and has stuck around.
From the same family, and similar size, as my beloved Glossy Ibis, the Roseate Spoonbill is most commonly native to South America and the Caribbean, with the typical northern boundary of its range situated along the gulf coast of Florida, Louisiana and Texas. I read one description that describes the Roseate Spoonbillās appearance as āstunning from a distance and bizarre up close.ā As you might have guessed... I had to try and see this bird.
A number of the alerts reported great views from the observation tower at Milford Point Audubon Center, which Iāve been to before and knew even if I failed in spotting the spoonbill, Iād at least get some of that good therapy in. So I headed over today for my lunch break. Wasnāt more than ten minutes in before I spotted a new lifer for meā¦ the Black-bellied Plover!
Side note. Any and all pictures today are going to be trash. As a sort of superstition thing, I didnāt bring with me, my gyroscope attachment that allows for halfway decent pictures with my phone through the scope. The black bellied plover is cool because it actually breeds in the northernmost arctic tundra of North America and migrate quite far south outside breeding season anywhere from the New England coast, down to the southern coasts of Chile and Brazil.
ā¦And then out of nowhere a flash of pink caught my peripheral view.
Yes the pictures are trash. But this bird was a thing of beauty! After observing it wading for several minutes it took off, and did a majestic swooping flight out and back, up into a nearby tree. The shots donāt show how bizarre the spoon shaped bill is, nor do they show just how shocking the bright pink splash of color was amongst the gang of white egrets, and dark colored ducks nearby.
The Black-Bellied Plover was my 100th bird on my life list, followed by the Roseate Spoonbill at 101!