White is not White

After a very wet spring and summer our front and side paddocks are still very wet and muddy, made even worse by the neighbours cattle that we agist. The water birds however, love it, especially a trio of Australian White Ibis who have moved in.

I have trouble calling them 'white' as they are permanently muddy off white from the mud.  I don't find them particularly attractive birds and the noise they make is quite ugly. The dogs hate them and as soon as they (the ibis) take flight from one dam down to the other, honking and screeching, the dogs race the length of the paddock, looking up at the ibis and barking fit to kill. The noise is atrocious.

Here is one of our trio resting in a tree near the dam. Note the "white" feathers!!!  The straw like feathers hanging from the neck indicate that the ibis is breeding, which may also account for the scruffy condition it is in.

Here is a shot I took at the Botanic Gardens where there are green lawns for them to roam on. These are really "white"and look in better condition than the one above - probably better fed by visitors to the Gardens.

These look much more attractive than our friends.

Similar though not related are these Spoonbills taken at a local wetlands. The black-billed birds are Royal Spoonbills while the others are Yellow-billed Spoonbills.

Liz Needle  -  linking with "Wild Bird Wednesday".