Coastal Georgia – Page 8 – Wandering Dawgs

One of the greatest joys as a grandparent is seeing our grand children’s excitement as they experience new adventures.

Our daughter is visiting us this week with her two children. At 12 and 10, they are our two oldest grandchildren. They live 400 miles away, surrounded by the Appalachian mountains, so coming to visit Nana and Papa near the beach is always an adventure for them.

On Memorial Day, we beached our boat on a deserted barrier island after a boat ride through rivers and narrow winding creeks surrounded by salt marsh. The adventure brought back fond memories for our daughter and made new memories for the grandkids. It is a ride we took on many weekends when our daughter was growing up and we are so happy we could share the experience with her children.

This is my contribution to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Adventure

Coastal Georgia is home to many wetlands birds. Herons, Egrets, Wood Storks and Ibis are regularly seen in and around the salt marsh, creeks and rivers here.

One July afternoon this summer I was surprised to see a large pink bird flying over the marsh. It was too far away and flew by too fast for me to to tell for sure but I thought it must be a Roseate Spoonbill. Spoonbills nest along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana and in south Florida but they are considered uncommon this far north.

A neighbor confirmed that yes, I did see a Spoonbill. In fact, she saw a pair feeding in the creek at low tide. I continued to see the brilliant pink of the pair as they flew by our house almost every afternoon for about 3 weeks. One day I finally saw where one landed so I grabbed my camera and ran out to capture a few pictures.

Roseate Spoonbill with 2 young juvenile little blue herons in Georgia

Other Roseate Spoonbills have been spotted in other coastal Georgia locations in recent years. I know from now on I will always be on the lookout for pink birds among the flocks of Herons and Egrets I see in the salt marsh.