Pelicans at Bowman

After birding most of the weekend - Elaine and I decided to hit the beach for some shelling - HA! sometimes the best plans are meant to be broken.....instead I bring you Brown Pelicans....

To be perfectly honest I have to admit that I didn't use to pay attention to the Pelicans until I developed a passion for birding and now....

every time I see them I notice their intricate differences....the young ones are all brown and..

the older they get the more colorful they become.

And look how flexible that pouch is!

I also noticed today that their eyes are a different color as they age

a perfect example right here.

"What are you looking at?" it seems to say.

A mere few others were sighted - this White Ibis is just begging for admiration and why not!

And the Plovers are pairing up - soon they'll be sitting on eggs.

Three Wilson Plovers - can you see them all?

Pretty tricky wasn't it?

Well, I hope you enjoyed our sightings....come back later for more :)

Beachside

If you read my last post you saw that it was dedicated to the Royal Terns and the behavior I observed - I felt that it was so special that it deserved its own spot. This post is about everything else that I encountered, so come along and see....

I arrived at the beach just as the sun was rising - it made a perfect backdrop for this Sargasso Mat.

Not too long ago I discussed the small capsules that had washed up on the beach and here is a perfect example of what it looks like when it is still part of the Sargasso mat. The Sargassum provides a home to an amazing variety of marine species. Turtles use sargassum mats as nurseries where hatchlings have food and shelter. The mat also provides habitat for shrimp, crab, fish and other marine species that have adapted to this 'floating algae'.

Back to shore - the local Brown Pelicans were quite busy feeding - this young one came to investigate.

An adult Brown Pelican is getting quite colorful with its yellow head and reddish bill.

Now my attention is being drawn to this seashell mat - oh my! So much to do and see and so little time it seems.

And more birds to observe - there were at least a dozen Forster Tern mixed in with the Royal and Sandwich.

There were also quite a few dog walkers on the beach and as such the birds/terns found themselves being constantly displaced.

A small group of Sanderling managed to find a spot to rest away from the 'walking zone'.

Here's a fun picture - I always love to come across similar species side by side as it provides me with more study/comparison between the two....a Sandwich Tern in the back, a Forster in the front.

A Lesser Black-backed Gull was definitely a head above the rest.

My favorite couple - the Royal Tern side by side - also note to the right, another opportunity to compare the Forster, Sandwich and Royal Tern.

More Sanderlings.

A Ghost Crab - this fellow must be in its 3rd year because his borrow was way up the beach by the vegetation.

As I passed the Ghost Crab I came upon a couple who were eyeing a Common Loon that was sitting on the sand - their first reaction was that we needed to call CROW. Before doing so I gingerly approached the bird to see if it was injured - well, this Loon did not like the fact that I was getting closer and all of a sudden he attempted to stab me with its bill - it must have been pretty comical to see me skipping and jumping while trying to avoid his jabs - good thing I'm still quick on my feet. The Loon safely retreated to the ocean.

Well, that was quite a bit of excitement for one day and I'm getting hungry....time for lunch.

Sanibel West

A visit to the west end of the island today proved to be a rewarding and exciting experience....come along and see....

As we braved the gusty winds we marveled at the fact that the birds were able to stand still in the face of such power - heck, we had trouble walking and we are a lot bigger.

We directed our attention to the bird's features - this Caspian Tern for example and the difference that sets them apart from the Royal Tern....

the bill size/color/shape and I also noticed how the black cap reaches the edge of the bill on the Caspian - not so with the Royal.

As we looked back - we could see the blowing sand that we had felt on our skin - the salt air is very thick too, making our glasses/binos unclear to see through.

A bunch of Red Knots were hunkered down together - it's a group effort to shield one another.

The Snowy Plovers were not in large numbers but they too managed to find a clump of grass to shield them from the gusty winds.

When the wind increased even more, we decided to go to Blind Pass and perhaps catch sight of Northern Gannetts - instead we were greeted by the Sanibel Stoopers looking for shells....it looked like so much fun that we actually joined them for a while - had a blast doing it.

We then visited the pass and found this large group of Willet....

and mixed in were some Sanderlings and Ruddy Turnstones

and when we looked closely - we noticed some different plumage in the group....which turned out to be a couple Marbled Godwits

A few Dunlins were in the mix too...

and a few young Brown Pelicans.

Our last sighting was a Snowy Egret which was quite busy chasing bugs that were invisible from our human eyes - we enjoyed watching this bird as it crouched down low with quiet agility.....wishing we could do it too.