Happy Halloween 2020

A vulture in a dead tree seems a good way to start off a Halloween post!

Back at home, I grabbed pics of a couple of squirrels and a couple of red-bellied woodpeckers.

Whether you are taking the kids Trick or Treating, or if you are handing out treats, or maybe you are not participating this year, I hope all of you have a good Halloween weekend.

High Tide / Low Bird Sighting

Our drive through Ding today was at high tide. There weren’t any sand bars or shallow water areas to get good bird pics. But, we found a couple of birds near the road.

When you run out of shampoo mid-shower and you stomp to the corner grocery to get more.

Ahh . . . much better.

We had a chance for one photo last weekend. If you can only get one pic, then a Roseate Spoonbill is a good choice.

The pair of eagles show up almost daily to stake a claim to the nest. They don’t stay long, but other birds seem to respect their territory.

Neighborhood Wood Stork

This is the first time I’ve seen a wood stork in our neighborhood. We had almost 2 inches of rain in a short time span yesterday evening. The wood stork was foraging for food in a swale just a few doors down from our home. And, yes, they have a face only their mother could love, but I’m fascinated with them. It is so rare for me to be able to get this close.

A great white egret was being a little more careful in searching for food.

Morning coffee and a beautiful Sanibel sunrise from our back deck.

Eagles at work!

The eagles aren’t at the nest every day yet, but when they are there, they are busy remodeling. Like any couple who remodels, there are some disagreements on placement and design. On Sunday morning, I must have taken 150 photos of them. They did a lot of bickering and pecking, but in the end, they seemed to be in agreement. The closest I can get is about 900 feet from this nest, so these photos are cropped and a bit blurry, but thought I’d share several of them.

Coming in hot with a stick! Sometimes they bring it in their mouth and sometimes it is in their talons.

One of their biggest problems is when they come in on one side of the vertical branches, but want it on the other side and the stick is wider than the opening. They always persevere, though.

Made it!

Bringing in a shorter stick this time.

Team work makes the dream work!

Gimme that! (Not so much team work)

Oooh! Look, babe, I found some nice soft bedding! (aka moss)

Getting ready for another supply run.

Be back in a jiffy!

Hurry back! I’m getting hot and tired!

Dang! You brought the whole tree. You can do that one by yourself!

No problem!

I think this is a little blue heron in the white phase. It watched the eagles antics from a nearby dead tree.