Thanks again to John Cecil for quick notification about the Roseate Spoonbill at Saylorville Lake (Jester Park area). I estimates that there were about 45 persons, that I know of, who saw the bird today. This includes 10-12 people who happened to see us scoping and were treated to views through someone scopes. All four corners of the state were represented. The bird was extremely easy to find in the PM after giving us fits in the AM with much flying and landing behind vegetation. The light was excellent and visibility greatly improved toward evening as the heat rise lessened.
The bird looked to be quite comfortable being in the area. At times it would hang out with Great Egrets, or Great Blue Herons, but maybe spent more time with American White Pelicans. When with the pelicans it seemed to always in front the pelicans giving a great white backdrop to the pink bird. The bird, being a subadult/immature, is not as deep pink as adults and has not red on the shoulder area. Truly a wonderful bird to see in Iowa. Glad the Roseate Spoonbill chose to come and experience Iowa hospitality. Hope you all get to see it before it leaves. Some photos at: http://www.iowabirds.org/Birds/RareBirdPhotos.aspx Distance and heat rise created some issues but the photos should be helpful to ID and age the bird. God Bless, Paul Roisen Sioux City, IA Woodbury County 712-276-0371(H) 712-301-2817(C) --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
