Back to Fort Myers

Over the weekend Bill and I visited our good friends Wendy & Larry in Cape Coral. Naturally, we found some time to get a little birding in.

This beautiful Bald Eagle was perched just a couple of houses away from Wendy's. What a great way to begin our day!

I've only seen a Reddish Egret one other time while walking on the beach in Fort Myers with my sister. This one was at Ding Darling on Sanibel.  Unfortunately, it was about the only bird we saw at Ding Darling!

Love the hairdo!

Harns Marsh is one of our most favorite places to visit. We arrived just as the sun was coming up through the fog. There were several Limpkins making lots of noise.

We saw about 5 Sandhill Cranes and they too were loudly protesting the arrival of morning.

Harns Marsh is one of the few places you can see Snail Kites and we were not disappointed. We saw about a dozen including several juveniles.

 After our visit to Harns Marsh we walked Six-Mile Cypress. I was delighted to see this Ovenbird.

Every time we visit, the slough is different - but we always see Double-crested Cormorants.

And Anhingas

This is a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron. We saw a couple of adults, but they were deep in the bushes and I could not get a decent picture.

We saw a few smaller birds, including a Black-throated Green Warbler, but the light was terrible for pictures.

It was nice to visit our old stomping grounds, but we are glad we moved to Ocala. The traffic in Fort Myers, Sanible & Captiva was horrible. Our visit was special but we were glad to get home.

A Short Visit to Fort Myers

Bill and I had an unexpected trip to Fort Myers after the couple renting our condo left early. Last year at this time we experienced a bird fall-out on Sanibel Island (http://parkersbarkers.blogspot.com/2012/04/sanibel-lighthouse-migratory-bird.html) so even before we set our suitcase down, we hurried over the causeway to Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge and Sanibel's Lighthouse Beach hoping to see some of the neo-tropical migrants flying north from South and Central America. There were none. Looking at the empty Gumbo Limbo Tree, I realized what an extraordinary experience we had last year. Even Metro Parkway was devoid of birds!

This is the only picture I took at Ding Darling - a Catbird. Yes, there was a tiny smattering of the usual shore birds - one White Pelican, the usual Osprey, a couple of Cormorants and several Willets - but that was it! Lighthouse Beach was even more disappointing. We had planned to spend the next day on the island but went to Harns Marsh instead.

We were greeted at Harns Marsh by a Sandhill Crane family. One adult flew away and the others quickly hid in the heavy foliage.

The marsh was beautiful with the early morning light playing on the water. We usually see large flocks of herons and egrets, coots and moorhens, but there were only a few this time. It didn't matter - this Great Egret, in breeding plumage is always fun to see.

...as was this Tri-colored Heron. Look at that bright blue beak!

He was showing off his feathered headdress. I hadn't noticed this before my sister showed pictures on her blog (http://quilterb-bethsblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/i-just-cant-stop-making-purses-worse.html).

His colors were wonderful!

There were several Limpkin making lots of noise.

...and the usual Red-winged Blackbirds.

A couple of Black-necked Stilts flew over the marsh.

...and the Sandhill Crane returned and posed for pictures. Our trip to Fort Myers was short. We met with our rental agent, restocked and replaced a couple of lanai chairs, visited with friends and closed the condo for the summer before heading back to Ocala.

Next week Bill and I will head back to Colorado for the summer. We plan to travel via Route 10 through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, doing some birding along the way. I hate to see the season end as I really love it here at On Top of the World - but we'll be back!

Harns Marsh & the Three "R's"Reflections, Roseates & Reddish

  We promised Beth a trip to Harns Marsh. It was postponed on Monday in favor of the fallout at the Sanibel Lighthouse, but very early on Tuesday we headed into Lehigh Acres and Harns Marsh, arriving at sunrise. Another photographer that we met there before was already in place.

Great Egrets

 Great Egrets were out in numbers. They are always beautiful and a pleasure to photograph.

White Ibis and Reflection

Harns Marsh

  While we were watching, all of the birds suddenly took flight,

Bald Eagle

 ...and this was the reason.

Roseate Spoonbills

 The early morning light complimented the pink reflections.

Roseate Spoonbills

Roseate Spoonbills

 The Roseate Spoonbill in the back is almost all white - very little pink. Both of these are juveniles.

Roseate Spoonbill and Snowy Egret

Sister Beth: http://quilterb-bethsblog.blogspot.com/

Snail Kite

 We drove to the other side of the Marsh to see the Snail Kites. I was surprised that Bill drove back the sand road after our last experience - but I guess he took pity on us old gals.

Snail Kite

 They were quite a distance away - but very numerous. We counted over a dozen.

Snail Kite

Reddish Egret

  The last of my three "R's" is a Reddish Egret. This picture was taken at Ding Darling on Sanibel the day before.

Reddish Egret

He looks cold but he's just getting ready to open his wings to shade the water so he can see the fish better. I like this shot because it shows his bright pink bill and long breeding feathers.

Merlin

 Another one of my mystery fallout birds identified! This is a Merlin and he probably thought of the influx of tropical birds as "lunch."

Merlin

Harns Marsh

Harns Marsh in Lehigh Acres is one of our favorite birding venues here in SW Florida - but we never know what we'll see.

This time of year, the water level is low - but we saw lots and lots of birds.

The Wood Storks spent the morning with their heads in the water looking for fish.

Wood Storks are huge birds with ugly heads and beautiful bodies.

These twins were moving from one pond to another.

We always see lots of Tricolored Herons. They are small - about the size of the Little Blue Herons, but have white on their necks and chests.

One of my favorite South Florida birds - Roseate Spoonbills.

Beautiful, beautiful birds with unusual bills.

We saw more Limpkin than we've ever seen in one place.

They were nesting.

This is an immature White Ibis. He will turn all white within the year. That's a noisy female Grackle in the background.

Snowy Egret, Great Egret and Roseate Spoonbill.

Everywhere we looked we saw lots of birds - all trying to get their share of the items on the day's menu. The dark birds are Glossy Ibis.

The Great Egret are about the same size as the Great Blue Heron.







While we were there, what must have been an Eco-Safari arrived to see the birds. They didn't stay very long - but took lots of pictures.

Great Egret





The Glossy Ibis wore colors that I've never seen before - full mating plumage.



The Cattle Egret are clowns. Notice the pink blush on his head and chest - mating colors.

This Wood Stork seems to be having an angry discussion with his friend - but he's just coming in for a landing.

A Little Blue Heron - notice the bright blue beak typical of mating season.

It was a special treat to see Black-necked Stilts.

We got to Harns Marsh shortly after sunrise and this photographer was already there. His name is Dave. Bill commented to him that we hadn't seen any Snail Kites. This is usually the place to see these rare birds. Well Dave, a regular, told us we needed to head down Sunshine, turn on 25th and look for the school. He told us to turn onto the dirt road and go back to the other side of the Marsh to see the Kites. We followed his directions and our adventure (!) will be in my next blog. Stay tuned.