Birding and Helpful Helpers

I had a very interesting day today - very informative and quite rewarding on many levels. My destination: Ding Darling to attend the first Friday lecture of the season, topic: Birding Using Social Media.....I personally know all the speakers and I looked forward to hear what they had to say, so - off I go - but first a little detour near Island Inn Road to see who might be around.

Far, in the distance, I spotted a raptor which I could not identify with my binoculars - my trusty SX50 Camera provided me with the extra distance that I needed - after pulling my book out and comparing photos, I was able to narrow it down to either a Cooper or a Sharp-shinned....lucky for me, I was going to be surrounded by many knowledgeable people today and knew I would get some help. A few people scratched their heads like I did and then Don Stokes provided the clues to i.d. this raptor to a Cooper - the flat head and the eyes forward were some of the clues that he used - the exercise in comparison was very informative, thank you Don. It was then time to sit and listen to our speakers, key points that were covered today had to do with Listserv, E-Bird, Twitter, FB, Blogs and Birding Apps - I learned a lot and I look forward to utilize more of those tools in the very near future.....like....today! Word was out that Green-winged Teals were seen along the Indigo Trail - so I went to check it out after the lecture. I did get to see them behind all the mangrove roots and they were beautiful! Thank you to the Stokes & the McQuade for their location tip.

As I made my way back I was treated to some glimpses of A Green Heron and

a sweet Screech Owl. I didn't spend much time outdoor today and I'll remedy that by tomorrow morning with a guided walk at Bunche Beach, see you there!