Looking through my photo collection this morning looking for something a little different than my usual posts, and I came across this shot taken in Custer State Park, South Dakota.

While hiking a short trail, I found this UFO growing between a couple of moss-covered boulders in a stream bed. It may appear that I was looking straight down for this shot. But it was growing from the side, just a few inches from the ground. So I was lying flat with elbows acting as bi-pod.

I suspect this plant won't be unidentified for long after some of my Flickr friends weigh in.

Tags:   flora nature conservation Custer State Park plants protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife

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It will take a lot of the tiny fish like the one in this heron's bill to make a decent meal. South Padre Island, Texas.

This shot will wrap up my series of birds in wet habitats.

Tags:   tricolored heron Egretta tricolor cornell lab audubon birds south padre island birding texas birding tiny fish nature conservation protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife

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Another bird in wet habitat.

When we head to Arizona, I'm planning to find and photograph some of the "typical" desert birds, mammals and reptiles. But there are plenty of ponds, lakes and creeks with waterfowl, shorebirds, egrets and herons.

This Nothern Shoveler was hanging out on a lake in an urban Tucson park.

Tags:   northern shoveler Spatula clypeata waterfowl duck tucson birding Arizona birding nature conservation dabbler protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife cornell lab audubon birds

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Another installment in my birds in wet settings, this one with a little more color.

We found this American Avocet in Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado.

Tags:   American Avocet Recurvirostra americana shore bird Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge get your goose on breeding plumage cornell lab audubon birds nature conservation protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife

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Last of white birds in wet habitats. I'll continue with wet habitats tomorrow but will add some color.

Actually, close observers will notice that this White Ibis isn't pure white. It has some subtle pink in its plumage. I haven't observed that in this species before.

Some birds with pink plumage, Roseate Spoonbills and Flamingos for example, get their pink coloration from the foods they eat. Crustaceans and other aquatic invertebrates contain pigments called carotenoids that help turn their feathers pink. I wonder if this ibis had been dining on some of those carotenoid containing invertebrates...

Photographed in Everglades National Park, Florida.

Tags:   White Ibis Eudocimus albus pinkish plumage cornell lab audubon birds nature conservation everglades birds everglades national park florida birding wading birds protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife

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