Tuesday, May 28, 2013

The Wood Stork

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For this week's wild bird  I am posting about the Wood Storks we saw while vacationing in Florida. They were mostly seen in the Everglades National Park and some in the Corkscrew Sanctuary. I have mentioned before it is one of my lifers from Florida.


The Florida Wood Stork a long legged wading bird and is listed as an endangered species.

They are about 45 inches tall and their wing span is about 60-65 inches. Their head and neck area are missing the feathers. They are mostly white except for the lack on the primaries


Wood Stork rookery in the Everglades National Park.


Love this shot of their large wings stretched out..  Due to adverse water management practices in Florida the nesting Wood Storks have shifted their nesting colonies. The Everglades restoration project includes the needs of the Wood Stork and their nesting success



The Wood Stork is a highly colonial species nesting in large rookeries and feeding in flocks. We saw a lot of Wood Stork babies.They can lay eggs as early as October and fledge by February or March.

I hope you enjoyed my Wild Bird post. Thanks for stopping by and for leaving your nice comments.
Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday and thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes.
I wish everyone a happy week ahead and Happy Birding!



54 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

i love the glint of green in those wing feathers! i cannot believe i had the fortune of seeing one stop here a few years ago one winter. i was in awe of its prehistoric self!

DIMI said...

Hallo Eileen!!Great post!!Wonderful pictures!I have'nt seen a stork in my life!And i realy like these beautiful birds!Thank you for sharing!Have a lovely week!
Dimi..

NatureFootstep said...

the woodstork is a charming bird in it´s own way. Love to see your shots as I did see this one in CR.

CabinGirl said...

How neat to see them in a rookery setting, Eileen! There are some in Crystal River, Fla., where my mom lives, but I've never seen their rookery. Really neat to see here on your blog.

Anonymous said...

Great shots of the storks. Love the last one showing the contrast on the wings. Glad you got to see them all on your trip.

Lynne said...

Great photos, liked seeing the huge wingspan . . .

Montanagirl said...

I didn't realize they were that big - - Nice shots!

Jenn Jilks said...

Wow! I love them!

Elizabeth Edwards said...

love the wide spread wing shot. nice!! ( :

MyMaracas said...

These are wonderful shots, and I enjoyed reading about these beautiful birds. I've never seen a stork, and it's always fun to see photos of new birds.

Marcia said...

Those are magnificent birds. Great shots you got of them too.

Debbie said...

You got some great images Eileen, it has a dinosaur like feel and an awesome wing span!!

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

HI Eileen Great shopts of the Storks; I like seeing them all at the Rookery.

Margaret

Carole M. said...

lots of them; great place to visit Eileen; you got some wonderful snapshots

Carver said...

Great shots of this spectacular bird. I enjoyed them very much.

Karen said...

Wow, big beautiful birds!

Reena said...

They are such a strange looking bird. Great captures!

HappyK said...

Love that first picture of the stork. What a fabulous photo!!

George said...

Thank you sharing these wonderful photos of the wood stork. It is an amazing bird.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Beautiful bird, the Wood Stork. I especially love the last picture showing their wing spread and colors.... Beautiful GREEN color.

Hugs,
Betsy

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

The wing span in the last photo is so wide.

I need to remove word verification,. came to your right wing, but I can't click it to open.

Kusum said...

Nice series on Wood Stork! Me too saw few of them in Shark Valley area of Everglades!

mick said...

A great series of photos and an interesting bird.

Anonymous said...

Great photos, Eileen. Wood Storks are so neat, I hope I get the chance to see them one day.

Maria said...

Great behavioural shots; I also shot it in FL but it was too far away.

Irma said...

Great photos of the Storks, Eileen.
The first picture is totally awesome.
Regards, Irma

Mia McPherson said...

I love this post Eileen, I am very fond of these storks! I love how in the last image you caught the subtle iridescence in the black wing feathers.

Stewart M said...

Good to see a nest colony of these birds - even if they wont win any beauty prizes!

Cheers and thanks for linking to WBW

Stewart M - Melbourne

i stora drag said...

What a nice place to visit! Love to see this wood storks, we don't have them here in Sweden.
Good photos too, Eileen! /Pia

Faye said...

Amazing how graceful the stork can look in flight--this one especially with its dramatic wing span. And what good luck that you got this exciting closeup of the rookery.

My Little Home and Garden said...

I've not seen this fine creature! It has quite a dramatic look to it and I really like the last photo.

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

Wow - fabulous photos. It is a treat to see photos of birds we might never see in person.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

I love our wood storks! I'm glad you got to see them and of course your pictures are wonderful.

Dave said...

Congrats on the Lifer

grammie g said...

HI Eileen...I total missed out on WBW...those holidays mess me up every time!! : )
Amazing shots such a big bird..love the rookery shot with all those little ones!!
That last shot is great!!
Grace

Our Neck of the Woods said...

Those wing feathers are just gorgeous! What a large wingspan. Love the photos!

vivi ka said...

Its a very interesting post! I learnt a lot of things for the wood storks!!
Thanks for sharing!!

Carletta said...

To see that many in one spot and yet know they are on the endangered list is disheartening. Hoping the restoration project of the Everglades helps to change that.
Love that last shot of the feather detail!

DeniseinVA said...

Wonderful photos of the wood stork Eileen. Years ago when we were in Florida near Sebastian I think it was, we saw a fishing boat had just docked and they were throwing away surplus fish, which of course weren't wasted because they attracted the local birds. One of them was a wood stork and I have never forgotten it because it was my lifer. Thank you for these brilliant photographs, and enjoy the rest of your week.

Jill Kristin Ø.Remme said...

It`s amazing how much beautiful birds there is in you area:))

Just love it:))

Cheryl @ TFD said...

Very interesting post and I love the photos. The storks are pretty and, wow, what a wing span!

Anonymous said...

That is an impressive wingspan. So that IS where babies come from! Baby storks, anyway...;)

Phil Slade said...

You visited another great place Eileen. Not content with the lifer you go and photgraph a whole rookery of the storks. Great pictures which capture the life of the colony and the behaviour of the birds.

Unknown said...

Beautiful shots! I love the last one.

rainfield61 said...

You have introduced to us your feathered friends.

Thank youu.

Kenneth Cole Schneider said...

Just had a Wood Stork visit our back yard, the first in a long time. Good to see that they are nesting in the Everglades. Thousands formerly bred in Corkscrew Swamp and there have not been any at all the past few years. As you point out, disturbance of the water cycle is responsible.

Rambling Woods said...

I always enjoy your birding posts Eileen.... Michelle

Rohrerbot said...

I had no idea we have Storks here. This would be an exciting find for me. Great shots of them moving in and around. Looks like Florida is full of fun. Although to be honest....mosquitoes and humidity may be a little too much:)

Jill Harrison said...

we have birds that look a bit like this that roost in the trees at the back of my parents place.
Have a wonderful weekend - and thanks for stoppping by my blog this week.

Anonymous said...

Hi Eileen, These birds are on my must-see list. Have not found one yet but likely will in coming months. Have a super good Sat. tomorrow!

Jen said...

I love the rookery photo. Baby birds are my favorite.

Suzan said...

Love your photos of the rookery!! so much excitement all the time in a rookery!

Unknown said...

Wow! The shots are amazing.

eden said...

Beautiful photos and my favourite is the moon shot.

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a ha ppy new week! Thank you to all Veterans who serve, for protecting our country and our freedoms.  "...