Nest Update and more . . .

Last Saturday morning, I took a couple of pics of the Tri-Colored Heron chick.  It was branching out on a limb near the nest, as they do when they get a little older.  I had not posted the pics yet and went back this morning to get some more.  The person who works at the Ding entrance gate said that mid-week, the baby chick was gone.  It wasn't old enough to fly yet, so whatever happened is not good.   We walked down to the nest anyway, but the chick was indeed gone.  He told us that Ding volunteers said the parent bird was there mid-week and very upset. 

It was great to see all the other wildlife today, especially since the city just announced that 403 "tons" of dead sea life from red tide has now been collected on Sanibel beaches.  To see fish jumping in the water at Ding and the birds being active was very heartwarming.  That certainly wasn't the case two weeks ago.

Here are the pics of the Tri-Colored Heron chick from last weekend.  

It was quite overcast and cloudy for our drive through Ding.  I didn't expect to see much wildlife, only to be very surprised at all the birds, a gator, and even manatees!  

I had fun watching several Snowy Egrets bullying all the other birds.  They make a honking sound and fluff out their feathers as they chase any other bird away.  (And yes, I took far too many pics of them!)

Notice the transmitter sticking up from the back of the Reddish Egret below.

He strutted right over to another Reddish Egret and they did a little  Do-Si-Do dance.

If you click on the photo below and enlarge it, you'll see a transmitter on the other Reddish Egret, also.

Got a little wave from a Manatee.  There was a lady that had been watching the manatees closely and said she thought there were at least 8 in the water.  Some of the manatees were adults and some young ones.

The most I got to see of them were their noses sticking out of the water.  It started to rain, so I needed to get my camera out of the rain.  I would have loved to stay and hopefully see more of these large creatures that have made it through the red tide so far.  Many manatees have not survived it.  The average adult manatee is about 10 ft. long and weighs between 800 and 1200 pounds. 

As we left Ding, we saw this large gator, but only his head.

A few days ago, this hawk chased all the doves from the telephone wires as I walked by.  They all managed to get away that day.  I think it is a Red-Shouldered Hawk since they are more common than the Cooper's Hawk around here.  But the two look very much the same to me!