Anhinga chick

We didn’t see much on our drive through Ding today, but our walk on the Indigo Trail produced several nests and a new baby Anhinga chick!

You can see from the series of photos below, that I was taking a photo of the male on the nest, when the chick popped up looking for food. The male guides the baby to reach down his throat for food.

This proud daddy seems to be smiling about his new chick!

How sweet is this?

Up here, little one!

And the baby chick manages to get his head down daddy’s throat for some food!

We saw at least 3 Yellow-Crowned Night Heron nests.

Always on the lookout for another twig for the nest!

A rather large gator was hiding in the shade under the boardwalk.

Due to bad lighting, I couldn’t get a good photo of the Little Blue Heron nesting. Maybe next time!

Redhead Duck and more

We had a nice bike ride through Pond Apple trail this morning. I finally saw the Redhead Duck that everyone has been telling me about.

I heard the bird in the photo below calling out. From the sound he made, it was obviously not a crow. All I could really see from a distance, was a black bird with a big tail. It turns out it is a male Boat-Tailed Grackle.

The bird below is the female Boat-Tailed Grackle. Why is the male bird usually the pretty and colorful bird and the female is almost always drab and plain? What is that about?!!

And one of my favorites . . . a Swallow-Tailed Kite. They are such graceful flyers.

You can almost always see an Anhinga sitting on the rope fence at the pond. They will usually let you walk or ride your bicycle right by them as long as you don’t make a sudden move.

Why did the common gallinule cross the road?

The gator below was all the way across the pond. I thought it was just something floating in the water. But, it was this eerie looking gator.

Always remember to look in the trees over your head!!

When you and your best friend sit on the beach in the rain and watch the dolphins swim by . . . it doesn’t get any better!

The brown pelicans were having a meeting under the causeway bridge.

Right beside the pelican meeting, these two fishermen were enjoying the shade of the bridge while casting for fish, with Fort Myers in the background.

Early morning at Lighthouse Beach

I met with a couple of friends at the Lighthouse Beach this morning. We watched the sun come up and watched the birds and fish. It was great to see so many birds dipping into the clear water and catching fish, again.

We were there early enough that the lighthouse lantern was still blinking its presence.

We saw many small starfish in the shallow, clear water.

We were treated to an Osprey that caught a large Spotted Seatrout in his talons. He flew around overhead several times in the early morning light, before taking the fish to the nest.

Hey, look at me! I’m surfing!!

There was another Osprey nest on top of a chimney on one of buildings near the lighthouse.

One of the friends I was with this morning found this beautiful Shark’s Eye shell. What a great find!

We saw several Laughing Gulls with all the shore birds today.

And, of course, you cannot walk by this structure without taking a photo. I wonder how many photos have been taken of this lighthouse over the years. I’ve certainly taken my share of them!

Eagles, herons, and more

It was at about this same time last year that we first saw the two Bald Eagles in this nest. They were back again this week. They weren’t successful having a chick this year, but hopefully, they will be back next season to try again. I love getting the chance to see these magnificent birds.

The juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron was still hanging around the boardwalk at Ding today.

The male Anhinga was taking his turn sitting on the nest, again.

The Yellow-Crowned Night Herons were still working on their nest, a week later!

The pretty little Tri-Colored Heron below was searching for breakfast.

This Little Blue Heron walked along the Indigo Trail with us.

I don’t know if this is a Little Blue Heron in the white phase or a Reddish Egret in the white phase. It seemed too large for a Little Blue Heron, though. I’m sure someone can tell me.

It was a treat to see 4 Great Blue Herons all in one spot. The one below was the only one with mating plumage.

The one below caught lunch and then moved into the trees with it. I wondered if there were a nest back in the trees, since they usually immediately eat what they catch.

Then, a walk through the Bailey Tract yielded a Tri-Colored Heron and a Little Blue Heron. The Tri-Colored Heron appears to be starting to change to the blue and gray colors.

Back at home, I got a couple more photos of the Common Gallinule and the baby chicks in the lake behind our house.

Just look at the size of these feet!! They are bigger than the chick!

The ducks like to get a little attention, too.

I heard a different bird call than I usually do in my backyard. I grabbed my camera and found this little Carolina Wren in a tree near our back deck. Just caught a quick glimpse of it, though. Thank you to one of our neighbors who has flown north for the summer, for identifying it for me!

The frangipanni blooms are starting to show up. They smell so sweet!