Generally, most wading birds do their hunting or feeding either alone or in small groups of their own kind, but once in a while you’ll find a group of one or more species all together. These are usually places where there is ample prey and plenty of space. On this afternoon, I discovered several roseate spoonbills (Platalea ajaja), who are filter feeders, in a fairly small pond with several species of egrets and herons, who are active hunters of fish. It’s always interesting when there are groups of birds together, same species or not, because you never know what might happen. This group, that included the two spoonbills, a snowy egret (Egretta thula), and an immature little blue heron (Egretta caerulea) all seemed to get along pretty well. The group moved apart and then back together several times, and all the birds appeared to ignore the others. It was also interesting to watch the difference in feeding style between the birds. The spoonbills wandered calmly around, sweeping their bills through the water, whereas the other two raced around in quick bursts of speed, chasing their fish prey. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed watching them and their various behaviors as they went about procuring an evening meal.