Smiles during stressful times

Our beaches are shut down, our restaurants either deliver to your house or to your car, and public gatherings are cancelled, all while we practice social distancing or self-isolation. One of the few places open on the island is the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge. We drove through yesterday and grabbed a few photos to share with you. I hope they distract you for a few minutes and maybe give you a smile.

There is a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron nest near Indigo Trail. The two herons were going through their mating ritual. They appeared to be flirting as they built their nest. I took far too many photos of them. The sticks block the birds, but they were still fascinating to watch.

Do you think I’m pretty . . . how about now?

Look, honey, I found the perfect stick!!

I love you . . . I really love you!

How about now? Do you like me now?

When you see your mate about to do battle with another heron.

All is well, the crisis averted.

This pretty male Anhinga posed for me near the Indigo Trail observation deck. The turquoise around the eye is part of the mating plumage.

The Green Heron below was under some limbs, so the dark photo is a bit grainy. They are such pretty birds, though.

On our drive along Wildlife Drive, we saw this Great Blue Heron having breakfast.

Several people were taking photos of this Yellow-Crowned Night Heron soaking up some sun along the drive.

We took a walk on the beach last weekend. Now, it is closed, so enjoy these until we can visit the beaches, again.

Even last weekend, it wasn’t hard to social distance.

I’m not good with identifying the shorebirds, so I won’t even try. This one has a sweet little face, though.

I still find joy in locating very tiny pretty shells. Getting both sides of this one is a plus!

Success!!

A tree full of brown pelicans!

Awww! Look at that face!

Stay safe everyone! Please don’t take chances and follow the guidelines. We’ll get through this.

A Morning at Six Mile Cypress Slough

Earlier this week, I spent the morning with a good friend at Six Mile Cypress Slough (pronounced “sloo”). The slough is over 3,400 acres of wetland in the middle of Ft. Myers. If you’ve never been, it is such a surprise to find this in the middle of the city. There is a boardwalk that allows you to walk through the wetlands to view many species of wildlife and plants. While these photos were not taken on Sanibel Island, it’s just a few miles inland, and I wanted to share the natural beauty of the slough.

This pretty hawk waited while I changed lens to get a better photo.

The big gator below was resting on a log with his from foot just touching the still water. The mirror reflection made it look as if he is holding hands with another gator.

The gator below was very relaxed, but also kept an eye out.

Across the water, there were two Anhinga nests with both pair of Anhingas watching over the nests.

We saw two Black-Crowned Night Herons. They are so shy that I usually only see them sitting very still behind some leaves on a branch. One of these two kept its back to me, but the one moved slowly around trying to find some breakfast. They are bigger than I expect them to be. I love the colors on them.

Note to self . . . when a tree grows up through the roof, there is a solution . . . of sorts.

Chilly Leap Day Morning

We saw a few birds at Ding on this chilly morning. But, it was when we were back home that I had a chance to get a couple of action shots of eagles and ospreys. First the photos from Ding, starting with a pretty Little Blue Heron that posed then flew away.

Then, a Tri-Colored heron landed on the opposite side of the culvert.

There was one Roseate Spoonbill trying to ignore all of the photographers lined up waiting for it to do something exciting like fly toward them. But, it just seemed to want to take a morning nap while standing on one leg.

A few days ago, we rode our bikes over to the bay. The ospreys appeared busy building a nest. One of them wasn’t amused by my presence.

It’s not every day that you can stand on your front porch and see an eagle flying around with a fish in its talons (and luckily have a camera in your hands). And then watch it meet up with another eagle.

The eagle with the fish turned and slipped out of sight. I got one more pic of the second eagle.

Then, a few minutes later an osprey landed in the tree across the street. He seemed very agitated and I assumed it was because of the eagle activity.

This photo is grainy when I zoom in, but take a look at these talons! They look like they mean business. Yikes!

He flew away from the tree seeming to just soar on the wind and turning to come back to land in the tree, or so I thought.

While I was following the osprey with my camera, another osprey had landed in the tree that obviously belonged to the first guy! These two were pretty much in the same spot that the eagles had been in. It was an exciting morning!

One last eagle nest update. Occasionally, one or both of the eagles will visit the nest, but it doesn’t appear that they are going to try again this year. If the tree is still standing next year, maybe they will be successful.

Ding and Pond Apple Trail

A drive through Ding and a walk around Pond Apple Trail gave me the chance to get some photos of several different birds and an iguana. The Reddish Egret below along Wildlife Drive was looking pretty with its mating plumage.

The sweet little bird below is a Pied-Billed Grebe. It’s a small waterbird with a thick bill and almost no tail. The breeding ones have a vertical black stripe on the bill, like the one below.

At Pond Apple Trail, we came upon a beautiful Black-Crowned Night Heron. It’s not often that we get to see one and they are quite shy, usually hiding behind foliage. I love the eye color.

In a nearby tree, we found a juvenile Black-Crowned Night Heron. The bill that is half black and half yellow/green is a key to identifying this as a juvenile Black-Crowned Night Heron instead of a juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron.

In the tree above the heron, there was an Iguana clutching to the branch being blown around by the wind.

In the photo below, the spider web was hanging above the water, attached to the little walkway bridge and some sticks. The spider in the middle appears to be holding the web together. It made me think of how we often weave our own webs and then hold on by a thread.