It's Monday - and guess what day this is? Well, it's Caloosa Bird Club day - the best way to start the week. It's very humid and cloudy this morning with warnings of rain/thunderstorms later, I'm hoping it happens after my bird trip.
Well, let's get the show on the road - today's destination: Cape Coral....let's go....
Our meeting place: Rotary Park - very first sighting...
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| Pink Flamingos - this is promising. |
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| In the distance we heard the shrill of the Red-shouldered Hawk, several were spotted. |
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| Several Blue-winged Teals were observed. |
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| Some Penguins too :) on one of our leader's shirt, that is. |
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| The Caloosa President assessing the situation..."Hello Sheila!" |
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| A Mottled Duck - most likely an hybrid of some sort considering the dark plumage and bill. |
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| A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - a female - shown by the white throat. |
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| Then we were off to the next stop - the Pelican Ballfield where we had the opportunity to watch some Burrowing Owls, sweet! |
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| Then we were off to Jaycee Park along the Caloosahatchee River - we could see several 'rafts' of Lesser Scaup in the distance..... |
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| Here's a close up. Other than the Scaups, we also noted some Red-breasted Mergansers and a loon in the distance. | |
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| It started to sprinkle a bit and the air was heavy with humidity but the water was calm and almost glassy. |
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| A little break while enjoying the vista before we raised our necks and watched the warblers in the Pine Trees - many Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers were seen. |
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| We returned to the Rotary Park to have lunch and do our bird list, on our way to the parking lot we spotted the Monk Parakeets.... |
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| now, this burst of color made my day. |
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| My kind and gentle friend Elaine. |
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| Elaine, took me for a quick visit in her back yard where we observed some Gadwalls.... the male above and the female below. |
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| One of the Mottled Duck in her pond - mallard? Look at the feathers - blue and green on the wing. |
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| Well, all good things come to an end or close to it....had to stop on the causeway to check, here a Sanderling |
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| a Ring-billed Gull |
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| and...take a look at this one....yellowish eyes... |
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| yellowish legs... |
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| look at the size and how it towers over the Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls - especially look at the wings and the color on the tips |
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| and here's a better view of the bill with a large reddish spot |
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| care to guess what my name is.....I am a Lesser Black-backed Gull. |
