Powell Creek Preserves

I finally had the opportunity to return to Powell Creek Preserves and as soon as I got there I wondered what took me so long!

This preserve is a small quiet spot to observe nature, I visited a year ago and the experience was great and different.

This time around I was blessed with a Wood Duck family.

Meet the Papa Wood Duck,

the Mama Wood Duck and

the baby Wood Duck (actually one of the sibling).

The trail is calling, let's go!

Close to 50 Wood Storks were greeting us and

showing us the way.

This one just watched as we went by.

Around the corner - a pair of Red-bellied Woodpecker were sealing the deal of a new family.

And then, what do you know! You can take a girl away from the beach but you can't take the turtles out of her....check out this turtle and the track that it leaves behind.

This is serious business.

More Wood Storks and

a freshly cleaned Red-bellied Woodpecker.

At the turn around point, more marshes and more birds!

A Wood Stork in flight gear.

A Killdeer - quite lovely in the morning sun.

Nature sure provides for beautiful colors.

Oh! Looks like more ducklings!

Mama Mottled Duck seemingly sleeping on the job - hey, it's hard to keep up with 8 ducklings!

A Great Egret - one of many.

Another fine pair of Mottled Ducks.

Great Egrets resting with full bellies.

We had such a great time that we decided to check the Wood Ducks one more time.

Sweet! The whole family is here.

Another male Wood Duck was spotted along the shoreline taking a dry break.

The Papa Wood Duck on the other hand was heard whistling while raising his crest.

Then the crest went down.

I would highly recommend a visit to this quaint little spot....now would be a good time, don't delay like I did.

My E-Bird List for today.

Jump start with Monday

My Monday is always reserved for birding with the Caloosa Bird Club - today's destination - Sanibel!

Our first meeting place is at the Lighthouse with the hopes of catching sight of some migrants (the bird kind).

I got there early to start the day with a sunrise - imagine my surprise when I caught sight of Kelly, my program coordinator for the turtle program - what a great way to start the day and to get my juices running for the upcoming turtle season.

Nearby was a Lesser Black-backed Gull feasting on a large Catfish.

Along the Hammock trail - a pair of White Ibis with a Marsh Rabbit were owning the spot....

 

A Prairie Warbler was heard and seen as well as

a couple Hooded Warbler - a male is pictured here. After a bit I headed to the Island Inn Road for our next stop.

 

A Kestrel was spotted looking at me :D

On the north side of Island Inn Road the city has cleared up quite a bit of vegetation - it was calling to me, so I ventured over. Look at that open space!

Other than the Kestrel a family of White Ibis was seen - here is an adult with several juveniles.

The group was joined by more adults and soon they left the area.

I met up with my group and headed over to the Bailey Tract - our target bird was the Sora....

and here it is - taking a drink and cooling his heels.

Across the way a pair of Black-necked Stilts was admired - look at those bubble gum legs!

On the way out of the trail we took extra time to watch the Sora some more. After a bit it was time to head to the Sanibel Garden Preserve. We took the road less traveled and enjoyed the scenery as well as a few species along the way.

 

A pair of Magnificent Frigatebirds,

a few Snowy Egrets and

a Swallow-tailed Kite provided us with a great aerial show. Our aim for this trail was to see a

Mangrove Cuckoo, however he eluded us and instead we ended up seeing a

Mocking bird.... we got excited there for a bit when we thought we had the Cuckoo - so let's just say that we saw a Mocking Cuckoo as well as a good laugh. All in all it turned out to be another great birding day.