Sunny Saturday

We have Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but today on Sanibel Island, it was Sunny Saturday. It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Southwest Florida. Christmas is just around the corner!

Happy Thanksgiving 2019

It appears that the eagles are nesting! For the past couple of days, there has been one eagle always sitting in the nest. Here’s hoping they are successful this year! I was lucky to see one of them flying from the nest and then flew right near me.

Wishing all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving for 2019.

A beautiful Saturday along with some sad news

I found out some very sad news today. In the past, you may have seen my photos of a couple of Reddish Egrets that had transmitters located on their backs. In 2014 and 2015 there were 5 Reddish Egrets that were tagged in Lee County. In the last week, Ding#2 and Darling, two of the well-photographed Reddish Egrets at the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge succumbed to the impact of red tide. CROW (Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife) does an amazing job with caring for all of the sick and injured wildlife that is brought in to them. CROW is especially busy when red tide affects our wildlife. They tried everything they could to save the tagged Reddish Egrets, but were not able to do so.

I did see one untagged Reddish Egret looking for breakfast at Ding today. They are so fun to watch as they dance around.

It was a good day to see several other types of birds.

We made a quick stop by the Bailey Tract to get a few photos.

I’m not sure what the next little bird is. Maybe a Carolina Wren or a Great Crested Flycatcher? I imagine someone will identify it for me!

We watched an osprey dip into the pond and try to catch a fish several times, but he was not successful while we were watching.

The osprey in the next photo was flying over our house and squawking loudly. He either has food stuck in his throat or there is something wrong with him. Either way, it is a bit disturbing.

Slow and cool Saturday

A cloudy, misty Saturday morning at Ding with high tide, didn’t produce many chances for photos. We did see a couple of Great Blue Herons, though.

The pair of Bald Eagles still show up every day on the nest, but they also leave it for long periods. I hope to see one of them sitting on the nest around the clock soon!

This beautiful hawk was sitting in a tree near my back deck earlier this week. He’s been keeping all the doves in the area busy while he chases them for meals.

I saw a flock of White Pelicans flying overhead and ran inside to get my camera. I was able to catch this shot just as they flew out of sight.

The full moon this week was just beautiful. I hope you were able to see it.