On the Indian River Lagoon there are thousands of different birds. One of the birds that I encounter a lot are the White Ibis.
These birds are easy to identify from their white plumage and slender long curved bill they use to probe for mostly crabs. The ones that I usually run in to are foraging mainly for Hermit Crabs in the small holes they retreat to for protection.
The Ibis isn’t a protected species. There have been breeding colonies of them found that have up to 300,000 birds. They have taken a beating from one of our favorite pollutants we like to put in water, methylmercury. Not only is it a wonderful neurotoxin, but it also screws up the birds hormones, thus playing games with their nesting and breeding habits.
A territorial Ibis tries to scare off others from it's territory.
For now, they are fairly safe and easy to get photos of. Just show up anywhere in Florida in the Spring, Summer or early Fall, look for a place that has a shallow sand bar and they will show up. In the Winter, from what I understand. . . They move inland and change from eating Crabs to eating Crayfish.
Depending on the Ibis, they can range from ugly to graceful and elegant for photography.
This shot was taken when I was in Florida last August, 2011 waiting to see if Hurricane Irene was going to hit. The birds were getting in huge colonies and very aggressive in their feeding. I was at a place in Edgewater, Florida called Veterans Memorial Park and the Ibis were starting to all land on the Boat Slip across from me. There was a lot of activity and movement with the birds and one in particular was trying to run off the rest of the Ibis. It seemed to be very territorial.
I got my camera and took about 10 shots of the scene as it unfolded. This shot was picked because of the nice profiles of the birds against the light background.