Non-stop Birding with Bill & Beth

We had quite a bit of rain overnight Saturday, but Sunday morning was beautiful. We started our busy day at Six Mile Cypress Slough.

 This Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was about the only interesting bird we saw.

 My sister looked the butterflies up in my Florida Butterfly Book and this is a Viceroy. He is on the pretty white flowers of a Button Bush.

 This is a small butterfly - but a very pretty one. Beth identified it as a White Peacock.

 This is a silly looking fish - look at his eyes!

We almost missed this turtle because his back is covered in moss. It was a nice walk even if we didn't see much.

After Six Mile Cypress Slough, we stopped at Metro Parkway to see if the birds were still there. Sadly, most had left, but we still saw some.

 I love Bill's new shirt!

 Close to the bank was this Great Blue Heron. He's more colorful than the ones we saw earlier (but not as colorful as Bill).

All the Roseate Spoonbills had already left and while we quietly watched, the White Pelicans took to the air.

From Metro, we decided to head to Bunche Beach.

But unfortunately, we arrived at extreme high tide. There was no beach; there were no birds. So we drove over the Matanzas Pass Bridge to Fort Myers Beach.

 I've been searching for the illusive Scarlet Ibis ever since we moved to Florida - but to no avail and today was no different. But we did see some very pretty White Ibis.

 Back over the bridge and down Winkler we checked out a deserted subdivision near the end of the road. On the sandy bank of the pond, we saw a pretty little duck.

 It wasn't until she went into the water that we recognized her as a Red-breasted Merganser. She had the pond all to herself.

Last, but not least, some pretty yellow flowers we saw on someone's front lawn.