I had missed the Bird Patrol walk that took place on Saturday, so I was glad to be able to grab this opportunity to visit Bunche Beach this morning since the tides were still favorable.
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| Quite a few Plovers were present this morning - here, a Piping Plover. |
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| The sun is slowly rising and giving that special glow to the horizon - plenty of Short-billed Dowitchers can be seen. |
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| The White morph of the Reddish Egret. |
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| A Wilson Plover - check that bill out! |
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| A Piping Plover to my left and a Semi-palmated Plover to my right. |
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| These two Semi-palmated Plovers were quite fun to watch, they went in a circle while watching one another. |
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| A pair of Oystercatcher flew in - the male on the left, the female on the right. |
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| The female sports a beautiful chocolate dress.... |
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| while her partner sports a fine black suit. |
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| Does it get any better than this? |
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| From the edge of the shore, this Great Blue Heron is keeping an eye on things while resting. |
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| Further out, several hundred birds can be seen....Sandwich Terns, Royal Terns, Black Skimmers, Laughing Gulls and Brown Pelicans among others. Sanibel and the Lighthouse can be seen in the background. |
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| A Marbled Godwit - one of my favorite shorebird. |
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| The Dowitcher with his foraging motions. |
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| At the point, I found the resident Spotted Sandpipers in their usual location. |
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| They lack their breast spots as they head into the winter months. |
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| This sandy spot is soft and white as snow. |
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| Several Red Knots were spotted too - busily feeding in the distance. |
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| A Marbled Godwit just behind the Red Knots. |
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| A Wilson Plover |
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| Then, all of a sudden, there was lift off.... |
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| and more joined in, I looked upward expecting to see an Eagle....instead, something really odd flew by |
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| I quickly snap its photo - when I cropped it, I could see white band on the wings, pointed wings, a very dark bird and a forked tail with a white band - my only deduction is a Common Nighthawk. |
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| The Reddish Egret watching its prey intently. |
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| Another Oystercatcher made an appearance by the Dowitchers. |
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| A Black-bellied Plover slowly loosing his black belly. |
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| The Black Skimmers took to the sky in unison. |
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| Both groups heading in opposite directions with a common intention....fish! |
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| Lift off for the Reddish Egret. |
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| Short-billed Dowitcher |
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| I love to follow these footprints in the sand - you just never know who you'll find. |
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| The little prints belong to the Semi-palmated Plover.... |
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| The bigger ones - a mystery. |
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| On my way out I spotted an Hermit Crab in a fancy shell.... |
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| Hey, if you're going to be living at Bunche Beach, you need a fancy shell because ..... there's no place like |
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| it. |
