Yesterday, May 24, the husband drove me about 80 miles southwest to Rip's Rookery in New Iberia. On our last trip, March 29, we observed lots of nest building with egrets, herons and spoonbills flying high overhead with twigs and branches. Now the nests are fully constructed, and some nestlings were observed demanding food. The activity was calmer this time as most of the parents sat on their eggs. I was disappointed that the resident alligator was not present on this trip. Hopefully, he was just in another part of the rookery.

Below is a Roseate Spoonbill, my favorite of the wading birds. They are graceful flyers and display comical behaviors on the nest. The dark pink and light pink wings, orange tail feathers, pink legs, large bill, and red eyes all make for a spectacular bird. I think it's one of the most colorful for our area.

145/366Rosie
400mm | f/6.3 | ISO 400 | 1/1600 sec