Little Estero Lagoon

These are the last of the pictures from my Fort Myers adventures with sister Beth. Our last birding trip was to Little Estero Lagoon on Fort Myers Beach. As we were walking along the path by the first body of water, a passerby told us there was a birder on the beach with a scope. He had shown her a rare "clam-catcher." She said the black ones are very rare. I said I had never heard of this bird and asked if she meant "oystercatcher" instead of "clamcatcher."

We never found the birder, but we did see this American Oystercatcher standing at the edge of the waves. He was standing and even hoping around on one leg - to the point that we thought his other leg was injured.

But all was well - he finally finally engaged his other leg and walked a short distance giving us his best profile. Oystercatchers can live for up to 20 years and don't mate until they are 3 or 4. All-black Oystercatchers are found along the Pacific Coast.

Both Beth and I love the Roseate Spoonbills!

These are youngsters and have not reached breeding age. Compare these birds with the one we saw at Harns Marsh with the dark pink wing strip and yellow head.

I still can't figure out how the Wood Storks got such an ugly head to go with that beautiful body.

I thought this was an interesting shot with the birds lined up-down-up-down-up-down.

We saw several dolphins playing in the waves. This one went over to see the Brown Pelicans in the tree. When he got right under them he jumped and splashed. It looked like he was trying to scare them away.

Back at the lagoon, the Pelicans were busy fishing.

This one was successful and came up with a big fish - which he promptly ate.

I think the Killdeer must be the most common plover. I see them at the beach, in our backyard here in Ocala and even at our summer home in Colorado Springs!

It's the day after Christmas and the weather has gone downhill. The sun is hiding behind dark clouds and the wind is mean - too strong for Bill to fly. The freeze warnings are out for the next two days - so guess I'll have to head back to the sewing room and work on another quilt!