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Sunday, December 21, 2014

Sunday surprises at the Sanibel Garden Preserve

A peaceful Sunday this morning with the trail, my friend Adele and our feathered friends, of course.
One of those feathered friend played hard to see and kept staying just out of sight....."Aha! I see you now!"

I finally got a good look of his belly - enough to help me identify "her" as a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The yellowish hues of her belly, the white edges of her wings, her white throat and wide black band on her neck were the magic clues that I needed.....the male would have sported a bright red throat.

The Eastern Phoebe on the other hand was right out in the open - looking this way....

and that way....

with a glint of an eye sparkle.

Then, the Osprey - oh my! - there it was with its fresh catch.....so fresh that the tail kept on flipping.

As I uploaded my photos the fish became in focus - making me wonder whether it was a Jack or Angel fish. So, my son the fisherman in the family, came to the rescue with identification....

A Lookdown - I googled it and found out that this fish naturally occurs in the Gulf of Mexico - I learn something new every day! Thank you Tony.

After spending 3 hours on the trail it was time to say "farewell" and until the next time.....another great day....life is good!

 

3 comments:

  1. Great osprey and downy photos. Nice that you included the sapsucker photos because we sometimes we miss seeing certain features of a bird when we go for the typically framed photo.

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  2. Downy? I must be missing something - please help!

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  3. What a variety of wonderful birds you get to see at this marvelous site. The Eastern Phoebe is so sweet and serene. And, how nice to have a fisherman in the family to actually ID the Osprey's breakfast!

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