Bailey Tract

A visit to the Bailey Tract always brings nice surprises, come along and see....

My first greeter today - a young female Belted Kingfisher.

Another loud greeter - the Green Heron - this one with its crest up and its neck all stretched out - made it looked very tall.

It was soon joined by 3 others.

What a glorious beacon this Bald Eagle makes.

I have a feeling I know who these are....

sure enough, Eastern Kingbirds.

The Red Cardinal wondered what the fuss was all about.

Another look or two - what a treat to see it relatively close by.

One of two Pied-billed Grebe, my first fall sighting - welcome back!

Poor photos but it was my first time putting my camera on a Bobolink, it was quite a bit of a distance away but it sure made for a nice sign off for the day!

 

Kingbirds & Peewee after the storm

After several days of gusty winds and intermittent rain, we were finally blessed with clearing in the weather laced with baby blue sky. 

As I was washing my car I noticed several Eastern Kingbirds in the neighborhood - well needless to say I abandoned my task, quickly grabbed my bins and camera and off I scooted for closer looks....oh boy, come along and see.....

A Yellow-throated Warbler is always a welcomed sight.

Oh My! This is my first time spotting this specie around my house - an Eastern Wood Peewee

A Red-eyed Vireo is also a nice sighting.

Interesting that the Peewee hangs around with the Eastern Kingbird

Quite a looker, wouldn't you say?

I have to be honest, I don't see these very often and I was trying to make it something else - like an Alder Flycatcher....oh well, can't blame a girl for trying.

Here's a few of those Eastern Kingbirds - I counted almost 2 dozen - how cool is that!

Another Peewee - this one has darker feathers around its belly.

I told them to stay in one tree but only a few agreed, you'll just have to take my word that I saw nearly 24 of them.

Can you stand another pic of this Peewee?

Or maybe a mouse? They are cute but not quite my favorite.

And tonight before the sun went down - I stepped outside and revisited with the Kingbirds and Peewee and then I was blessed with 6 Common Nighthawks! I'd say this was a great day and quite nice to have our birds returning! Happy Birding!

 

Bailey Tract visit - From Green Heron to Orchard Oriole

I was due for an early visit to the Bailey Tract and this time of the year can be really peaceful there, what's not to love! Come and visit with me.....

Oh Look! We have a greeter today.....

a Green Heron - "Good Morning to you!".

A young Little Blue was slowly waking up.

A silent Great-crested Flycatcher was observing me.

One of the greeter's relative was nearby too.

Oh!, Look how much the Common Gallinule have grown.

And what do we have here?

If you guessed an immature Black-crowned Night Heron, then you win the early bird prize.

The sun is slowly rising and the true colors are coming up - a Red-shouldered Hawk drying up from his morning bath.

A young Red-bellied Woodpecker exploring all that his world has to offer.

The Tricolored Heron is always one to admire.

A Brown Anole that lost its tail to a predator,

this one sports his entire tail.

This little turtle was quite far away - I don't have enough clue to properly identify - If you know, do pipe in.

A Kingbird - with a white tail tip it would indicate an Eastern Kingbird.

And what a nice surprise! An Orchard Oriole - welcome back!

A beach morning walk along Sanibel shore

An early rising brought me to the beach and as always I was pleased with my encounters. Come along and see....

A couple Dragonflies were spinning around before they landed by my feet, I watched for a bit before they flew off again.

 I'm not quite sure what that was about, so you be the judge. 
I was then drawn to a 'shell' art - just beautiful to see this gratitude message with the shorebirds on top.

Then, the sunrise in all its glory - nature is beautiful just as it is.

A small group of Sandwich Terns - take a look at their bill and see how it looks as if they dipped it in mustard - of course the last one on the right has yet to reach that stage since he's still maturing.

A little pool within the sandy beach was a perfect spot for this Snowy Egret's breakfast.

It was hard to peel away from the Snowy at first but I soon was distracted by the Black-bellied Plover and the Sanderling.

Shortly after I went to the Lighthouse to check things out - a walk along the dirt trail provided good viewing of a Skipper.

Isn't it amazing how they look when we can see the details up close - I didn't realize how 'hairy looking' this guy was.

I then went near the pier and saw this Loggerhead Sea Turtle - well, what's left of it. It most likely suffered from propeller injuries and then became food for the sea life.

The turtle was reported and will be removed from the beach after detailed information is taken and recorded with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Take a look at this back limb -isn't it just incredible that they can create a perfect cylinder chamber to deposit their eggs in with such a large flipper? Isn't nature just amazing?

On the other side of the Pier, a dark morph of the Reddish Egret with Snowy Egrets - all seemingly waiting for a hand out from the fisherman.

A Willet was nearby - a one leg willet.

On my way back to the car, I heard and saw several Eastern Kingbird - I though he looked a little scruffy - so, he cleaned up his act ....

"How's that!"