Hatchling Update!

We checked on the Tri-Colored Heron nest on Indigo Trail this morning.  When we arrived, the Mom (or Dad) stood up and poked around in the nest.  The baby was putting up a real fuss like it was starving.  Then, the parent regurgitated a bunch small fish for the baby chick.  So, we were able to watch it feed.  I took a lot of photos and it was only in a couple near the end, you can see another chick.  You can see one egg still in the nest, too.  I hope the second chick is ok, since it must have moved around to get into only a couple of the pics.  Hopefully, it had already eaten and just wasn't hungry?  

Mommmmmmmmmy, I have a fish in my eye!!  Get it out!!!

Look under the chick and you'll see the face of another.  I really hope it is ok.  Time will tell, I suppose.

Hatchling and Fledgling!

We checked on the Tri-Colored Heron's nest that had 3 blue eggs last week.  It appeared one of the eggs had just hatched and the other two had pips in them.  You can see the pips in the photo below.  We may try to go back tomorrow and check on them.  I hope to see 3 pretty little chicks when we do!  Look at this little face!

This is one of the proud parents fishing nearby.

Nearby, in the LIttle Green Heron nest, the chick is almost a fledgling!  He was flapping his wings, jumping from branch to branch, and even went down near the water and leaned over to peer into the water to watch for fish, just like his parents had taught him to do. He still has a bit of fuzz on his head and body, but he also has the pretty wings.

The watchful and proud parent Little Green Heron

As we walked down the Indigo Trail to the nests, we could see the tracks of a large gator that led a long way down the trail.  He was dragging his tail as you can see in the photo below.  His foot prints were a good 3 feet apart, at least.  We stopped and talked to the volunteer at the pay booth for the refuge.  He said the gator walks down that trail every couple of days or so and that he is about 10 ft. long, and old and irritable.  Everyone stays out of his way!  Uh, yep, we will, too!

Yep!  Got it!

The tide was high in Ding when we drove through.  We only saw 2 birds to photograph which were a couple of Yellow-Crowned Night Herons.  But, they posed very nicely for me!  

We did see this Tri-Colored Heron fly overhead, though.

Back at home, I've gotten a photo of the female and also the male Anhinga sitting on the new little nest.  I have a much better view of this Anhinga nest.  I haven't seen how many eggs are in the nest yet, though.  The female has the light colored throat.

I believe this is a fledgling Cardinal.  He's a bit ragged looking and wasn't as scared of me as the adult Cardinals usually are.

We were recently told by the person delivering some plants from the landscape nursery that the plant we have thought was a night-blooming cactus is actually a Dragon Fruit plant!  Who knew?!!  Pollination is difficult for them, since they need a certain bat or a large moth to pollinate them!  We didn't have as many blooms this year, but we had probably 20 blooms on this plant last summer.  It would be great if we had some Dragon Fruit we could just pick from our plant and eat.  I saw the fruit for $5 each in the grocery store a couple of weeks ago! 

This bee was doing his best for us!  Look at all the yellow pollen he's lugging along!

This spider built a huge web in our pool cage.  They are the strangest spiders.  It's called a Spinybacked Orb Weaver (aka crab spider).  It reminds me of a clown face with a spiky wig, which is probably just as scary as a spider!

Baby bird update!

We checked up on the nesting birds on the Indigo Trail and then drove through the refuge today.  The baby Little Green Heron has grown and has started to get a few more feathers and a little less fuzz.

The adult Little Green Heron was sitting on a branch near the nest.  The colors on this beautiful bird are amazing!

We were fortunate to be near the Tri-Colored Heron's nest just in time for the changing of the guard!

As they moved apart, you can see the 3 eggs are still there (bottom left of the pic).

All settled in . . .

How would you caption the photo below?  This Spoonbill behavior always makes me smile.

I'm not sure if I like the pink feathers better against a blue sky or against the green trees.  I'm glad I don't have to choose!

We found this pretty Little Blue Heron fishing at the edge of the water and being successful.

This beautiful Great White Egret posed for us as we left the refuge.  Another beautiful (and hot) day on Sanibel Island!

Baby birds and more!

We took a walk down the Indigo Trail at Ding this morning and met a lovely lady, Beth, who pointed out several nests that we might have otherwise missed.  I'm so glad she shared the nest locations with us!

This Little Green Heron baby chick was fuzzy and adorable.  Due to the age of the chick, It's possible that the remaining egg may not be viable.

One of the parents was on a limb nearby.

The parent bird went into the nest and seemed to herd the baby away from the edge.  The chick appears to be wondering if food might be coming soon!

Hey, wait, come back!!!

This female Anhinga seemed to be fairly young.  She was a bit klutzy and adorable.

We watched another Little Green Heron near the nest that could have been one of the baby's parents.  It is amazing how they can be perfectly still for long periods of time, just waiting for lunch to swim by.

It was fun watching the Little Green Heron hang vertically to catch fish!  So agile!

This juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron was sitting in a nest nearby.

A pretty Tri-Colored Heron was sitting on another nest.  In the second photo below, after waiting quite a while, we finally got a glimpse of 3 pretty blue eggs when it stood up to move around.

I've never noticed the light colored feathers on the back of the Tri-Colored Heron. 

The Roseate Spoonbill on the left is young.  Notice the head is not bald, the eye is not pink, the legs are light pink instead of dark, and the wings are not as dark.

They were strutting their stuff!

My neighbor down the street let me know that this iguana was in her back yard.  He was around 4 ft. long.  

It wasn't until I zoomed in that I realized he was shedding his skin.  I don't find them pretty as it is, but with that skin just hanging . . .

It seems it is the season!

These signs are on the second floor outside of the visitor center at Ding.  They mark the level of high water from years gone by.  It's strange to stand on the ground underneath the sign, look up, and imagine that water would have been 12 ft. above ground level here during a flood from a hurricane in 1873.  Ground level at our home on the island is about 4 ft. above sea level.