More families

Hello and welcome back to my Hump Wednesday. I'm glad to be sharing with you my quiet little adventure - let's begin....

One of my first sighting today was a Killdeer and surprisingly, he stayed still while I took his photo - handsome, isn't it? The Killdeers can be heard throughout the Bailey Tract - they are quite vocal this time of the year. Talking about being vocal - not too far away I could hear the Black-necked Stilts and spotted the male flying while fending off a Red-shouldered Hawk - I went closer to investigate.

As I suspected, the male was busy protecting its little family

Looks like we might have 3 chicks here...hard to tell

from where I'm standing - I put a white "x" for you to see where they are at

and a little bit closer....

and closer still. My Canon SX50 is awesome for bringing close up, I often use it to identify species that are far away....further than my binoculars can take me.

The Tricolored Heron told me it was time to move on and step over to the Sanibel Garden Preserves

When I got there, I saw right away this gator as well as the Tricolor coming for a landing....and I'm wondering what will follow.

He's looking a bit sneaky - but it turns out that he was there for a leisurely nap.

The Tricolored Heron on the other hand was quite busy feeding, funny how he had some of the Reddish Egret moves.

Hey, it may be summer time and the bird viewing has diminished but we can't dismiss the fact that this bird is strikingly beautiful.

Within the preserves, I could hear a lot of little chirping within the nesting boxes - and this one was no exception. Just as I came by, Mom brought a juicy worm....

Dad came popping up saying:"It's about time! The kids are starving."

Dad took off to get some more food while Mom watches him go.....there is no resting while raising a family...but, it's so worth it - the dividends and memories are priceless.

The lady Black-necked Stilt said farewell - till the next time.