Bunche Beach at sunrise

Earlier this week there was an organized walk at Bunche Beach and since I was working I wasn't able to attend, though I had been thinking about Bunche and I was happy to finally be able to visit the area - the sun was about to rise and the tide was still heading out, come along and see what's happening out there nowadays....

It's always a toss up when I arrive at the beach....should I go East or West??...I headed West and periodically checked for the sun - in the meantime the sky provided quite a beautiful palette don't you think?

Some of the birds are already quite busy - this Great Egret showed me its best side.

Now, that's my kind of sunrise!

The Roseate Spoonbill seemed to agree with me.

I have to say the sun looks good on it.

One of my favorite - the Oystercatcher.

Followed by the Black Skimmers, a young one - front and center is sporting a spiffy green band.

The Piping Plover are always fun to watch, like all the other plovers - it is very fast on its feet.

A few Common Tern were discovered - adult and non breeding plumage.

A Marbled Godwit - its honey color gets quite accentuated by the morning sun.

I'm back at my starting point and spent some time admiring this Great Blue Heron, it must be used to human because it stayed put as people went by.

The wind played with its feathers - giving it a 'crest' look.

This is looking West - the Sanibel Causeway is in the far background.

The white morph of the Reddish Egret - sporting a transmitter for the ongoing study by ARCI.

I made my way East and found this pair of Caspian Tern - a juvenile with an adult.

I spotted a Spotted Sandpiper with barely a spot on.

And a cameo appearance of an....

Opposum - kind of cute and very small.

The Spotted watched and waited before resuming its breakfast hunt.

This turned out to be a great morning with some extra time for reflection - I feel blessed.