Roseate Spoonbill

 Here's a blast from the very recent past. One of our coolest - and pinkest! - waders, the Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja). I traveled to the Houston, Texas area back in mid-January to speak at the annual Sadie Gwin Environmental Seminar, sponsored by the River Oaks Garden Club of Houston.

As an aside, my topic for the meeting was caterpillars. Yes, seemingly inconsequential bags of goo that few people notice. But make the natural world go 'round, to the point that we'd all likely be doomed if caterpillars - and the native flora that hosts them - disappeared. I have noticed a much-expanded interest in biodiversity among garden clubs over the decades, and this event was a good case in point.

Anyway, we factored in plenty of time prior to the conference to spend time along the Texas Gulf Coast. There are scores of birds in that region, and we spent quality time with many of them. One species that never gets old, at least to me, is the spectacular Roseate Spoonbill.

A flock of spoonbills in a marsh at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Their vocalizations - ock-ock-ock! - don't quite live up to the spoonbills' vibrant coloration.

A well-named bird, the Roseate Spoonbill indeed sports a massive spoonlike appendage. The spathulate-shaped bill tip is heavily beset with fine-tuned nerve endings that enable a feeding bird to feel when prey enters the bill, which ii then promptly clamps down on and consumes.

Keep your eyes peeled for spoonbills no matter where you are. They can appear well beyond their normal range, and there are records from most Midwestern states. There have been about a dozen Ohio records to date, and there'll be more to come. Most extralimital reports come from late summer/fall.