Bits and pieces

Sea Turtle Season is once again upon us and I've been busy with meetings and getting things ready - something that I love to do and I've had to rearrange my schedule and my birding time has changed some. Don't get me wrong, I can't stay away from birding but I also can't be spending as much time as I am accustomed to. In as much - I've gathered up the little bits of pieces of this past week - so come along and see what came down my neck of the woods.....

A visit along the Indigo Trail at Ding Darling brought me to observe this Yellow-crowned Night Heron which has been trying to nest - the first nest was destroyed by an Anhinga and now the YCNH is rebuilding.

The Green Herons were plentiful - check the breeding colors on these legs!

One Green Heron nest being tended to.

 

This weekend I found myself around Island Inn Rd area in Sanibel - a Red-shouldered Hawk was really glowing in the early morning light.

A Marsh Rabbit - did you know that rabbit can swim! Marsh Rabbit are especially good at it.

It also blends very well in this particular spot.

A young family of Killdeer was really sweet to discover - I wish I could spend more time with them but they were quite distraught for the short few minutes that I was there.

I knew too that all that raucous would alert some predators - so I quickly retreated.

and so did one of the little ones....

"now you see me.....

now you don't."

A Swallow-tailed Kite was seen gathering some nesting material.

And who do you think is deep within this cavity?

If you guessed Common Grackle, then you were right on.

More Swallow-tailed Kites seen in that area.

A beautiful Cape May Warbler in the tree top - talk about eye candy!

A Gopher Tortoise was checking things out by the Lighthouse.

Check the dewlap on this Anole!

A Native Green Anole - we don't see those very often.

An Eastern Kingbird by the Lighthouse - check the white band at the end of the tail, always a good clue for i.d.

 

Along the Shell Mound Trail - a young White Ibis is holding down the fort - king of the sticks.

A pair of Screech Owl was well hidden from prying eyes, can you find them? I hope you are getting out there and finding some treasures of your own - life is short - go outside!

Safe to come out now

Sanibel has had its shares of bad weather lately with tornadoes touching down along with a lot of rain - all's well now and the water is slowly receding and with that in mind I ventured into the Bailey Tract to check/see how it fared.

As I suspected - the ponds are filled to the top...

some of the trails are underwater....how deep?....

ankle deep - good thing I wore my water shoes today.

The Pied-billed Grebes were not bothered by the extra water - I watched as they came up with food in their bill and this was my learning tidbit today: Turns out their diet consists of 'crustaceans, small fish, crabs, shrimps, snails, mussels, frogs and tadpoles - to name a few'.

The bench on the middle dike had water ready for cooling your feet if you so desire.

From the bench it is obvious that the middle islands are under water.

The grassy area by the Smith Pond and along Island Inn Road was under water this morning.

This turned out to be my bright sunshine this morning - a few Cattle Egrets - high and dry.

A Little Blue Heron and a Tricolored Heron were fighting for space to park their feet.

A Common Grackle - check those yellow eyes out.

A quick stop at the Sanibel Garden Preserves granted me views of the Red-bellied Woodpecker.

As the sun was coming up, the Yellow-rumped Warblers came in great numbers.

Sure, it may be a little wet but there's no place like the Bailey Tract....come and see for yourself.

 

Hump Day

My schedule is winding down and I took this opportunity to visit the Sanibel Garden Preserve. I arrived bright and early and enjoyed listening to the symphony that only the birds can provide.

Spring and love is definitely in the air - evident with all the pairs that I am seeing, the Great Crested Flycatchers were everywhere it seemed.

This Common Grackle was seen carrying nesting material into this wooden power pole cavity.

A pair of Mottled Ducks were enjoying their private pond,

I can certainly understand that.

My happy place - well, one of them.

A Gumbo Limbo in transition.

After a while I headed to the Lighthouse....

a female Cardinal was spotted even though it blended in quite well.....

 

and a Common Grackle on top of palm fronds - look at that purple neck ring, I never noticed that before.

Several Prairie Warblers were spotted - they were quite busy eating the insects among the trees....one of these days I'll spot one sitting still.

Hump day can be lovely.

After being done with my turtle patrol - I decided to make a visit to my favorite spot - the Sanibel Garden Preserve - and what a nice visit this was.

I never get tired of seeing the Swallow-tailed Kites - they are just magnificent with their simple grace.

And the Great-crested Flycatchers are in greater numbers and can be seen in pairs throughout the preserve.

A Red-shouldered Hawk - ever patient and vigilant.

By the tower - a Starling

One of the Killdeer giving me the broken wing syndrome - I retreated and let him/her be.

The Common Grackle with its bright yellow eye.

Talking about eyes - who has eyes on who? A Great Blue Heron by an alligator.

Quite an acrobat, don't you think?

Here's the Great-crested Flycatcher by its home.

The better half - not too far - seem to say: "Are you looking at me?"

Another box being used by the Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Time for me to start heading out - the Swallow-tailed Kite was leading the way.

But before I leave, I had to cross the street over to the Bailey Tract to take a peek on the little family - all's well.