A leap of faith

Picture it...you're a big pink bird who just hatched a bit earlier this year. Mom and dad have been feeding you a yummy diet of regurgitated fish and things, life has been good. And then...things changed. Your incessant begging didn't yield the same results. Mom and dad left you on your limb, over the alligator pond for long period of time. Your soft pink down became itchy pink feathers. You flapped and flapped...and one day caught some breeze. You flew!

I watched this hatch-year spoonie testing his wings on a limb high over the gator pond. He hopped, he flailed, and then he took a short flight. I found my heart in my throat for the briefest of moments before I realized that he was going to be just fine. If you look closely, you can see lots of new pin-feathers on his pink underwings. And a look of slight panic on his face...

I was at the rookery at 8 this morning and stayed for 4 hours. A trip to the beach yielded no birds, but some butterflies. Back to my hotel for a power nap then back to the rookery for a couple of hours before sunset. Meeting Sefferdog at the rookery tomorrow morning - gonna be some serious camera workouts tomorrow!

Hubs was in charge of taking Phoebe to get her teeth cleaned today - first time in 10 years. She had to have a fang removed due to a cavity, but Hubs is taking excellent care of her. And I plan to give her lots of love when I get home Sunda.

Thanks for joining me on my jaunt to Florida. I'm putting some shots in Extra that I hope you'll enjoy. They are also on Flickr.

Xo
Debbi