A Mother's love

A mother's love - that's what I thought about when I was walking through the Bailey Tract this morning - come along and see what I mean...

In the Ani Pond - which is almost void of water - a family of Black-necked Stilt is busy growing up, one of the chick is seen here.

As I was watching, the parent came over and started to crouch down and soon after....

the chicks headed for the warmth and safety that the parent provides.

Shortly after the third chick came while the fourth stayed away.

A Killdeer was across the way.

Another pair of Black-necked Stilt is getting ready for its family along the Red mangrove pond.

Across the way I spotted a pair of Black Skimmers - they tend to visit the Bailey Tract during the late spring and into the summer time - always a nice sighting.

What's not to love with a family of ducklings - I'm glad to see that little group even if half of them are missing.

Another family in the making....

The Common Gallinule is sitting on the nest inside the reeds while the mate brings nourishment....the Green Heron just watched though it didn't seem to be very interested.

The Green Herons tends to be more visible around the time of their nesting season, I spotted 8 today - they are such 'still' creatures that at times they are hard to locate which creates a pleasure when detected....all in all this day gave me fuzzy feelings all over.

 

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.

 

A walk on the beach side

I had some free time on my hands after checking on the last turtle nest so I took this opportunity to walk the beach, I enjoyed breathing that salt air with the breeze and the peacefulness that came with it - come along and join me....

I got there really early and I could barely make out that the birds were Black Skimmers

And before I knew it, the sun peeked into the horizon - giving the air that golden hue that I adore.

The Dune Sunflowers seemed to embrace that sun.

The little favorite: a Snowy Plover

Second favorite: The SemiPalmated Plover

An Adult Brown Pelican took off just as I set my lens on it - I love their expression and how they often engage eye contact.

More Semi-Palmated Plovers

A Black-bellied Plover

A bright and alive Lightning Whelk - I watched it as it slowly buried itself deeper into the wet sand.

And just for fun I collected a few Kitten paws and lined them up leading to a Spiny Jewelbox.

A hawk flew by and quickly landed into this Australian Pine - too many shadows and since I didn't have my binoculars with me, I wasn't quite sure which specie I was looking at.....

until it switched trees - the bright highlights near the tip of the wings was indicative of a Red-Shouldered Hawk.

Crossing air paths - several Brown Pelicans were cruising.

A pair of Sanderlings quickly got up when I approached - they blend so nicely with their surrounding that I had not noticed them until they moved.

Looks like a Bald Eagle - from the remaining dark feathers on its head - I would guess this adult Bald Eagle to be 3 years old.

While I was watching the Eagle - several of these were swooping by - can you guess which specie this is? I still need to spend more time to figure it out, though I have a hunch that it's a Northern Rough-Winged Swallow.

I couldn't tell what the Eagle was watching so intently but whatever it was, it must have moved on.

A half mile later I came across more Snowy Plovers.

There are three in this frame.

And this concluded my walk today - it is bittersweet to see this last nest of the season as the Sea Turtle Season is about to end - I bid farewell till the next time.