Sunday Birding

Today started off mild with moderate winds so Bill and I headed to the R/Seahawks Park flying field so Bill could get a few flights in ahead of the cold front. We arrived just as the sun came up and Bill had the field to himself. He flew a replica of a Navy T-28 trainer - a plane that Bill actually worked on in the early 60's. Bill has learned to fly with some wind and he did great!

Afterwards, we checked out some of the Burrowing Owl sites on Cape Coral. These birds spend most of the time standing on the ground or perched on T-stands that people place outside their burrows.

We found several sites with birds present and many that are still waiting for the birds to arrive.

This Eastern Meadow-lark was sitting on the wires overhead singing a welcome to the morning.

The weather went downhill as the cold front quickly blew in. We had hoped for a significant amount of rain - but only got a quick shower. After spending some time re-caulking our shower, we headed out to walk Six-Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. The parking machine was broken so parking was free today - an added bonus.

At the entrance to the boardwalk we spotted this Black and White Warbler creeping down a tree trunk much like a nuthatch does. We also saw Palm, Yellow-rumped and Pine Warblers - but they move so quickly it's hard enough to identify them - much less take a decent picture.

This picture of a Snowy Egret looks just as good right side up as upside down.

This beautiful Iris is proof that it really is Spring here in Florida!

While looking for birds and alligators at one of the pond overlooks, these two female Hooded Mergansers swam by. We hoped to see a male, but one of the guides told us the males have not yet arrived. As evidenced by my sister's blog (http://quilterb-bethsblog.blogspot.com/) the males have stopped off in New York City's Central Park - perhaps, like my sister, to see a Broadway Show or two.