Memorial Day Weekend - 2020

So far, it’s been a cloudy/rainy day weekend for the island. No complaints, though, since we really need the rain right now. A week ago, I met a friend on the beach for a short walk and an outside visit, instead of our usual breakfast visit. It was a beautiful and warm day!

Any day that you can walk on the beach and see dolphins playing in the surf, it’s a great day!

This gator looked to be about 7 or 8 feet long and was quietly slithering through the water along Indigo Trail at Ding on Saturday.

Gators are so prehistoric looking. A good example is the gator’s tail

I snapped the photo below just to show the Pileated Woodpecker working away on the pole under the Osprey nest. If the woodpeckers keep it up, they make a hole through the pole one day!

This Tri-Colored Heron is almost rid of all the brown feathers of its youth.

A male Anhinga was drying his wings and then a female landed on a limb nearby.

I love the mating plumage on the Tri-Colored Heron.

As is the way with nature, another Yellow-Crowned Night Heron nest disappeared from near the walkway at Indigo Trail. Most likely, it fell into the water after some wind/rain. That’s the second one this season. The one below appears a little more secure and has at least 2 babies in it. I couldn’t get a good shot of their faces, but you can see their wild punk hair underneath the parent.

The nest below is very near the trail and looks strong. If you look near the bird’s legs, you can sort of see the punk hair on the babies. They must have already been fed and were napping.

These common gallinules seem to be getting enough to eat. They were very plump and healthy looking. I get a kick our of their candy corn noses.

It’s the time of year that we get to see a lot more pink along Wildlife Drive! The photographers are always lined up to try to catch photos of them taking off in flight. While we were there, they were mostly tucked in for a nap or preening.

And as a bonus, a Swallow-Tailed Kite hovered above with his breakfast of a lizard. Lots of people snapping photos of this one!

A Magnificent Frigatebird even coasted nearby. With a wingspan is 7 to 8 feet, they are aptly named!

Back at home, this huge bark scorpion was a bit frightful. Normally, we find them dead, but this one was very much alive.