Summer still hangs on here in the lowcountry and nothing remind naturalists more of the tropical feel of our hot season than the flamingo-like wading bird, the Roseate Spoonbill.Members of the Threskiornithidae family, the Roseate Spoonbills are cousins of other local favorite wading birds, the Ibises.
These birds spend much time feeding in the shallow waters of Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico on shrimp, small fish, snails, and aquatic insects, which they detect by their sense of touch as they rhythmically sweep their "spoon-shaped" bills from side to side. During the hottest part of our summer, the Roseates occasionally head further north into our coastal areas, exhibiting the same feeding behavior in shallow ponds, impoundments and saltwater flats in the lowcountry area.
We have seen them occasionally on Bull Island and as well on the Edisto River near Willtown Bluff. The most regular sightings, however, have been from Dewees Island, a privately-developed island just north of the Isle of Palms. The naturalists and landscape ecologists of the Deedee Paschal Barrier Island Trust have reported a regular group of the birds feeding and relaxing in the island's secluded impoundments. Contact the Trust with questions about Dewees Island programming and join Coastal Expeditions soon to catch the last fleeting glimpses of the Roseate Spoonbills before they head back south.
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