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Saturday, April 30, 2011

Storks!

When we went to Florida in Feb./March
we saw lots of fun tropical birds.

I had never seen a real stork up close
and a friend of mine knew of a little pond to take me to
in a subdivision that has storks that visit there
all the time, along with ibis and egrets.
I was all for that, so off we went with my camera in hand!!

My first impression was that they had a face
only a mother could love.

They have a turkey buzzard type of face:






But as I stayed near them a while, they began to fascinate me:






They had these neat black feathers under all that white...but they walked and didn't fly, so I never did get a shot of their beautiful black and white wings.






Their faces looked more reptilian next to their white, soft feathers...like it was a mis-match of parts that The Force put together:






He used his long beak like chinese chopsticks:






Pretty brown eyes though:








I LOVED the fluffy chin tuft of feathers under his face:








Oh MY! He spoke!:







Wow...the texture in his face!:








All those ibis and only two storks! They are royalty in the neigborhood and they feed them:






"I should be GETTING royalties for all the pictures you are taking, lady!":








"You probably can't tell (because my eyes point to the side), but I AM staring at you right now!":








Okay--I admit it now...I think he has his own unique beauty.






"I always win over the ladies, once they get to know me!":







"Look at this handsome profile!":









 That's it....keep posing for me, pretty bird!






An action shot!:






Preening!:








When we went to Homosassa Springs Nature State Park, there was a whole BUNCH of them!:
I wonder if they were looking at US...
and
saying how ugly they thought WE were....
but maybe we convinced them that we have our own kind of beauty, too....
*********************************************************************

Ok now..you are OUT of time! (almost)

You only have until midnight TONIGHT
to get me your montly photo for the FREE PHOTO CONTEST!
The theme is:

REFLECTIONS

Just follow THESE RULES..but hurry!!

16 comments:

Brian Miller said...

nice. great shots...hey we each have our own beauty right...it just takes an artist to appreciate it...smiles.

MadSnapper said...

i love love love love love the storks. i have several photos but none up close like these, they are common sight here but most of the time they are to far away to get this much detail and since you did the up close i can see they are not as ugly as i first thought. the first time i saw one in bray park, I was shrieking at diane, what is that???? when she said wood stork I said Like the ones that bring babies? YEP was the answer. great post.

Bossy Betty said...

Amazing! Just tell him we are done with deliveries at this house. Thanks!

Ruth Hiebert said...

That face could use some beauty cream,but there is a certain charm to them.Great pictures.Too bad you didn't get a flight shot.

Pat said...

Wow! I have NEVER seen a stork before! You are right. They ARE kind of strange looking.....their odd faces against their beautiful bodies.

Funny....my husband NEVER says that he loves my "fluffy chin tuft of feathers" under MY face!

Unknown said...

They are an unusual looking bird. The feathers do seem so fluffy!

Tracy said...

Okay Joan; if those are storks, where are the babies?

actually, they aren't as pretty as the vision I had in my head, are they?

I hope you are having a fabulous day!

Emma Springfield said...

Lovely pictures. They are soooo white and clean looking.

faye said...

Great shots of the wood stork.
You should see their babies...
so ugly they are cute.

RNSANE said...

Your bird pictures are always so special. I wonder if, when we are splattered by birds overhead, is it because someone has sent a message saying, "Get that lady in the white blouse - she's been bugging me with her darn camera!"

SquirrelQueen said...

I have never seen a stork either, except in cartoons. They are strange looking birds but the more I looked at your photos the more I liked them. Gorgeous photos Joan.

diane b said...

Fabulous shots. I didn't realise how ugly they were but from a distance they are lovely.

Joanie said...

I didn't realize the stork was so ugly!

Kate said...

Just started reading your blog- funny stuff! Hooked already, lol!

Hilary said...

Wow.. those closeups are just wonderful. Such detail.

Ann said...

I missed the deadline, probably next time. You got some really neat entries this month. Unusual I must say.

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REMINDER: All photographs on this blog are COPYRIGHTED.
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I retired in June 2008 and started my blog in November 2008. I worked at several jobs as a Registered Nurse prior to retirement. I LOVE being retired! Blogging has offered me a whole new venue to start writing again and to share new hobbies such as gardening, birdwatching and sharing my nature photography. If you like my blog, PLEASE click on "follow this blog". Having a lot of followers reading my blog gives me incentive to continue to do photography and to continue to write. I also LOVE comments, so I encourage you to leave me a comment after you read my posts. Thanks everyone, for taking the time to read me!!

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