IBIS RELAXING

This restful scene says it all, these shy and gentle little birds love to hang around and relax at P2.

THE GENTLE GIANT

This Blue Egret stands over four feet tall when he is upright. We first spotted him earlier this past summer on a few afternoons, then he disappeared. We thought he left but he switched to night-shift.

We now see this big bird sneaking slowly around the pond at night, he was here this evening at around 9 PM.

He moves very slowly, sometimes he appears to be motion-less for long periods of time, then, he ever-so-slowly begins to move forward again in his hunt for food.

We're not sure what he is eating since we've never seen him actually strike at anything (unlike his cousin the Tri-Color Heron who fishes here everyday and is constantly striking at something in the water).

That's "Hero" the beautiful blue Tri Color Heron, above in the center, upper third, by the pond.

WELCOME TO IBIS BEACH

It may look like a nice sandy beach where the gentle Ibis like to hang out but it's actually Corn Mountain. The Ibis have trampled the corn out so it resembles a larger, sort of, beach, and they delight in sunning there.

This has led to "the ducks" who EAT Corn Mountain, to discover new wiley ways of hanging around with the Ibis in order to be allowed to "eat the beach".

Thanks to Mary and Tractor Supply Co. the beach gets a fresh 50-pound sack of cracked corn, in a new location each week. This keeps the birds engaged trying to find the nom and it keeps their foods from spoiling.

I just looked out the window and shot this picture of these shy little characters hanging around outside. If you zoom in you can see several are balanced on one leg with the unused leg tucked up underneath.

This is also unique and never before, it's a small Great Egret exploring where the Ibis are hanging, it's always changing at P2.

CAPTAIN HOOK SHOWING OFF

Hooky is hitting on some Ibis, if you don't know what we're talking about then it's time to do some Googling about Peafowl.

BABY RACCOONS

These little guys and girls have been coming here since they were born this past Spring and Summer.

There are two main litters and they pretty much keep to themselves but they sometimes hang around together to make it look like an extended family.

Some of the raccoons are not so little but we still love them.

We are hoping our neighbors will stop having problems with the raccoons eating their domestic ducks and breaking their cage now that they're not starving to death.

The average life-span of a wild raccoon is only two years but they can live to be over 20 years old in captivity, like house cats. We are hoping to extend the lives of our wild raccoons and enjoy getting old together.

LITTLE OPOSSUM

This little guy has a cute pink nose and very pink toes. He was here at sun up grabbing a snack before the day-shift of peacocks, egrets, ducks and lizards take their turn at the P2 buffet.

It is amazing how these little creatures survive on their own. Since we feed him well we don't have any problems with them trying to break into the trash or the house foraging for food.

The opossums fur is clean and very light and fluffy, he grooms often and in the same manner as a house cat.

PEACOCK TAIL DEVELOPMENT

This is "Captain Hook" my favorite mature peacock. He pulled out all his display feathers back in June (I ran around after him picking them up).

A couple of months ago he began to grow these new display feathers. They are wet and kind of yucky looking because he's been out foraging for insects in the drainage canal.

His eyeball feathers are the most unusual attribute of this feather-train. At full length we're expecting his train to be over five feet long.

IBIS LOVE P2

The Ibis invasion continues, is this ok? We have not seen any squirrels since the Ibis gang moved in. It's all ok, we love all the critters and they seem to be getting along fine.

IBIS NESTING IN THE CORN

What a place to rest, this tired little Ibis decided to rest on the ducks corn. Not sure why he wants to be in the sun, it probably feels like sand on his little spindly legs (which are folded under him).

HERE WE GO AGAIN

Look at these Ibis resting near the remains of Corn Mountain. They just stretch out their wings and flop on the ground. These hungry little guys are fun and funny to watch.

IBIS RESTING IN THE SHADOWS

There is one Ibis balanced on one foot next to the tree, his head is turned around, his beak is tucked in and he is napping happily.

Over to the right you can see an Ibis sitting on the ground in what we call, a nesting pose.

It seems like the younger Ibis like to flop on the ground while the more mature birds prefer balancing on a single foot to rest.

IBIS RELAXING AND GROOMING

Notice the little brownish colored Ibis holding his wings out. They love to sit in the sun with their wings extended.

TRI COLOR BLUE HERON

That's him right in the middle, he is struting along shore after catching a four inch long fish.

You can't help but notice, we're into our second week of Ibis invasion. These funny little Egrets with long curved beaks are shy and gentle. Our regular flock of ducks has been slowly adjusting to the Ibis and everyone seems to be getting along and sharing the buffet here at P2.

HERO, OUR SUPERSTAR TRI-COLOR BLUE HERON

Hero is a beautiful deep shade of blue and has a creme colored underbelly.

He does these amazing little short flights over the pond, eliminating all the yummy fish (better call Pond Stockers).

Though his feet drag in the water Hero bends his head down lightening fast and grabs food right out of the water in his beak, he waits until he lands on shore to decide if he is going to swallow his breakfast whole in one quick gulp.

CONFUSED YOUNG FEMALE PEAHEN

This little Peafowl hen is practicing her display techniques on some very confused Ibis, for that matter the whole display thing is very confusing to everyone, isn't this a male Peacock thing to do during mating season?

One thing is for sure, we are going to see some very interesting animal behavior next Spring.

GREAT IBIS SHOW

When they're not busy being cute the Ibis love to stretch and play, they've quickly won our hearts with their amazing intelligence, fun antics and beautiful white feathers.

IBIS SITTING AND STRETCHIN IN THE SUN

See the three little Ibis relaxing in the sun, they love to bathe, then groom and stretch out to dry, so cute.

IBIS SITTING COMFY IN FEEDING FRENZY

Just as all his friends are coming in for a snack this one little guy decides to lay down on the ground and stretch his wings.

ANOTHER LOOK AT "HERO" OUR AMAZING STUNT FLYING TRI COLOR HERON

"Hero" is a beautiful shade of blue with a creme colored under-belly. His usual fishing tactic is to fly in a circle about 10 feet from shore and very close to the water so he can grab fish that are close to the surface. He returns to shore to gulp down his tastey snack (provided he caught something).

BEAUTIFUL TRI COLOR HERON WITH IBIS

Our regular TriColor Heron is named "Hero" for his amazing short range fishing flights over the pond.

Hero is happy among the Ibis, in fact he acts like they're not even there, regularly bumping into them when they get in his way or even dolling out a disciplinery "peck" to let the silly playful Ibis know he's got fishing work to do.

IBIS RESTING

Look carefully and you can see Ibis resting on ground like chickens, they love the peace and quiet of P2.

TODAY ON "PEACOCKS, DUCKS AND IBIS"

We are near the end of our first week with Ibis visiting daily, The ducks and the peafowl are not quite sure how to act around the Ibis. The Ibis seem oblivious to the peafowl and the ducks so it's a strange cultural blending between the spieces.

The Ibis give the peafowl lots of space since the P's are three to four times their weight and size.

The ducks give the Ibis and the peafowl plenty of space so everyone is happy.

Today we have approximately 40 Ibis, 40 ducks and over a dozen peafowl noming at p2. It's a very happy place.

IBIS INVADE "NAPPY BEACH"

Today the Ibis are hanging out with the Florida Mottled ducks on the P2 "Nappy Beach". The ducks seem to be adjusting to the Ibis and everyone is getting along just Ducky :-)

PEACOCKS, IBIS (EGRETS) AND FLORIDA MOTTLED DUCKS

It's another beautiful Florida day here at P2

IBIS IN THE AFTERNOON

They're here, the Ibis have come to P2 for the fourth day in a row, we love watching them and listening to their deep honking voices

Baby ducks and Mel1 (the mallard) grabbing breakfast

IT'S A HAPPY PLACE

Peacocks, Ibis and Ducks,
72-degrees, a beautiful Florida morning

ATTACK OF THE WILD IBIS

We actually love them, the smaller brown one is a juvenile white Ibis.

This morning's count:  50 white ibis, 40 ducks, and 10 peafowl (including the 6 juvenile).  100!  30 of the ibis moved on to another location, and I'm pretty sure the ducks are happy about that.

Mel and Mel, and the Two Juvenile White Ibis

Mark is the photographer, so I won't try to take pictures of these guys... but I did want to log this visit.  In the past couple of days we've had a white ibis visitor, hanging out with the ducks.  Today, along with the tri color heron, Hero, we got two juvenile white ibis guys.  They look like the pic shown here.  Again, they just hang out with the ducks and snack at the edge of the pond.  The ducks love the ibis and heron... no fear or even annoyance.  They're all buds.

Welcome, Ibis visitors!

Oh, Mel and Mel.  We have two summer versions of Mallard males hanging with the mottled ducks...  Mel and Mel.  They are doing their best to be part of the gang....  so far so good!

A GREAT DAY FOR DUCKS

Today set a new record for ducks hanging around P2. It's difficult to count them when you have so many but at approximately 4PM Mary counted at least 55 and estimated a possible grand total of 60 Florida Mottled ducks. We also have one Mallard (named Mel) and a good looking Ibis (named Whitey) fish'n an Chill'n with the gang.

Today was a beautiful day in Melbourne, Florida. low 68, high 79, p e r f e c t !

CUTE IBIS AT P2 BUFFET

She seems to love the meat flavored dog food we put out for the raccoons

PEACOCK, FIRST FALL DISPLAY

This mature Peacock can hardly wait for mating season to begin. This was the first display of the new feathers that come out each year.

Four Raccoons Eating Happily at P2