When you've got an itch...

Sometimes there is nothing like a good scratch!

I had to post a limpkin today because we saw so many of them. Hubs and I drove south (away from the gloomy skies and drizzle here in St. Pete) to Sarasota, where the sun was shining. We went in search of scrub jays and we totally bombed out on that with nary a sign of the elusive blue birds. So, we decided to stop at another place I'd read about, the Celery Fields. It was a bonanza of wading birds and raptors. We saw osprey, cooper's hawk and what may have been a red shouldered hawk. Plus a spoonbill chasing a glossy ibis. Very cool. And many good blip options.

So why the limpkin? Well, Hubs and I had walked out a long boardwalk to an observation deck and when we turned around to walk back, realized that this limpkin had flown in and perched on one of the railings on the boardwalk...right where we needed to pass to get out. We waiting for awhile but the limpkin showed no signs of leaving. So I we started very slowly walking towards it, hoping not to scare it into flight. Hubs followed my lead and walked slowly and softly. We were next to it (the boardwalk being about 5 feet wide) and it suddenly lifted it's butt up ... and let fly! Quite a sizable amount of bird poo exited the limpkin and hubs and I were trying not to scare it by howling with laughter. We eventually got past it (no, we didn't get splattered) and were on our way. I took this image just before the poo-ing incident. Taken at 360mm with NO crop - that's how close we were.

So, whenever I look at this shot, I'll laugh remembering our total shock when the limpkin let fly.

I posted 3 other pics on Flickr starting HERE with the ibis-chasing spoonie Worth a quick look.

I'm off to NYC tomorrow (weather willing) where I am meeting up with Peggy and Kura. Peg's got a double room at the Westin so I'll be bunking in with her. I'm planning to just take my little Coolpix and just grab some quick street shots. Hey, maybe I'll try five days of mono...

Speaking of mono - thanks to everyone who provided suggestions and comments about my mono shot on FLickr yesterday - very much appreciated!

Cheers.

Debbi