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Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Sandpiper, Merganser and Kingfisher

My weekly visit to Ding Darling Wildlife Drive provided me with some nice surprises, take a look...
The tides were not as low as I had anticipated and as such, much of the birds were further away from the shore and very few sandpipers in sight. This Short-billed Dowitcher lingered long enough for some good looks.

A few miles down the Wildlife Drive, I was pleased to discover a pair of Hooded Merganser.


In the bird/duck world, the male is the more colorful of the pair - though I have to say here that the female is quite attractive, don't you think?

A bit further still, I took a stroll down the Wulfert Point and this is the view I feasted my eyes on. While I was taking in the dolphin's move, a Green Heron flew by and a Belted Kingfisher landed nearby.....

a female - sporting a reddish-brown belly band, the male has an all white belly. In this specie, the female is more colorful than the male.


On my way back, I was pleased to see that the Spotted Sandpiper is still hanging around here - minus his summer spots.


A spider web caught the sun rays and produced a rainbow of colors above the boardwalk along the Caloosa trail.

Ahhhh, what a nice way to end the drive with a Magnificent Frigatebird - a large, black, soaring seabird, an adult male with his bright red throat pouch.
 

6 comments:

  1. it certainly was a lovely day to be out and about and you photographs are wonderful. Love all the waders and that is a beautiful duck. great shot of the spider's web and wonderful to see and get the flight shot of the Frigatebird.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words Margaret. I enjoyed reading your posts on your blog and especially appreciated the eye candy that you provided - I was able to live vicariously through your travel.

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  2. Beautiful photos, France. Love the Hooded Mergansers.

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  3. Awesome sightings, and beautiful photos!

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  4. I do like the hooded mergansers... I do love your photos. Interesting how you were able catch the sun just right on the spider web to have a rainbow look.

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