2018 Coming to a Close

2018 was a difficult year for the wildlife in this area. Hundreds of tons of dead sea life washed ashore on Sanibel alone, killed by the extreme red tide toxins. The problem also affected birds and other animals that depend on the sea life. Let’s hope that 2019 does not see a repeat.

We took one last trip for the year through Ding today and were treated to more White Pelicans and Roseate Spoonbills than we have seen recently. It was definitely encouraging to see the larger flocks. I didn’t get any great pics of the White Pelicans, but I grabbed a shot of this Brown Pelican taking off and flying by.

This was the first time I’d seen a green iguana at Ding. He had quite an audience watching him.

Wishing everyone a safe and Happy New Year! Thank you for looking at my photos this year!

Day After Christmas (aka Boxing Day) 2018

The day after Christmas was a beautiful day on the island. We saw a few birds at Ding, but still not as many as we usually see around Christmas.

There was one Roseate Spoonbill that appeared to give us a nice smile.

We watched the Yellow-Crowned Night Heron below stalk over to the water, dip his head in and come out with a crab for lunch.

We saw a couple more Yellow-Crowned Night Herons resting in trees.

We saw a couple of Anhingas, one female and then one juvenile that didn’t have white on its wings yet. The light reflecting off the wet black wings of the juvenile almost looks white, though.

Back at home, the Osprey pair are staying close to the nest in our neighbor’s backyard. We hope they will be nesting soon!

I think this is a Red-Shouldered Hawk. Whatever it is, it was terrorizing the doves in our backyard.

A couple of nights ago, the full moon had a cover of hazy clouds, so it made for an interesting pic.

Merry Christmas - 2018!

We took a quick trip through Ding today, just in case we do not get another chance before Christmas. There was a nice low tide, but very few birds. It might have been the chilly 45 degree temp early this morning! The rest of the week is supposed to warm up, though. The clear blue skies made a great backdrop for white birds.

Another person was also taking a photo of this pretty male Anhinga. We talked about how they seem to know how beautiful their wings are and make sure we get their good side.

Then, we saw another Anhinga, but this one didn’t have any white on the wings. I’m not sure what that’s about. Maybe it’s a juvenile? I’m sure Hugh will fill me in on why it doesn’t have white!

We found a couple more Great White Egrets in the top of some trees before we left Ding.

This afternoon we had this big guy visiting our back yard.

The photo below says what he thought of me!

It’s been hard to catch photos of the eagles in the nest lately. Whichever one is in the nest is usually only showing a small bit of their head since he or she is sitting on the egg. I happened to catch this one upright and it appears to be checking out the egg underneath, and then looking around before disappearing down into the nest, again.

Thank you to all of you for checking out my photos and blog this year. And a special thank you for all of your encouraging comments.

Merry Christmas to you and your family, from Wild On Sanibel.

December Bird Count 2018

We joined the December bird count again this year. We had fun counting the birds in our neighborhood on Sanibel last year, so we volunteered to do it again. This time we walked instead of riding our bikes, which allowed me to bring along my camera and long lens.

Starting in our own backyard, we saw 40 Mottled Ducks, a Red-Shouldered Hawk, a Cardinal, a Common Gallinule, Crows, Woodpeckers, and Doves.

We saw seven Ospreys in our small neighborhood, most in nests, starting with the two in the nest behind our neighbor’s house. It appears that all of them are busy staking out their territory.

The Osprey below had a nest in the top of a very tall tree at the end of a cul-de-sac.

Another Osprey sitting on the edge of a recently repaired nest in a backyard.

The Osprey below landed in a dead tree in the lot across the street from our house.

We saw a second Red-Shouldered Hawk on our walk.

We saw a few Mockingbirds, too. (At least I think that is what they are!)

Then, off to Ding Refuge to take some pics without the need to count birds! There are always so many Cormorants at Ding, so I rarely take photos of them. But, this one seemed to be posing just for me!

The Reddish Egret does a little dance while looking for food. They create a shade with their wings before grabbing dinner.

I think the birds below are Willets. I'm sure Hugh will correct me if I’m wrong. I’m not good with identifying the shore birds!

It’s good to reach for your goals!

The rest of these photos were taken at Ding several days ago. I apologize for making the blog so long today!

The Anhinga’s beautiful feathers always fascinate me.

The coloring was striking on the Little Blue Heron below.