Saturday, December 25, 2010

Why I love Florida

Ring-billed gull with shrimp
Regular Amusing Musings readers know how much I love and treasure the greater Yellowstone area. But for a change of pace we sometimes spend a week on Sanibel Island, just off the coast of Fort Myers, Gulf of Mexico side. Sanibel is two-thirds nature preserve, what more could I want? Well, it helps to have birds that are big enough to see without my glasses. Yes, yes, there are little warblers and hummingbirds, but it's the big guys that are abundantly present at this time of year. Here's just a sample of what we saw two weeks ago (click on the photos to see the details). Enjoy, and merry Christmas!

Double-crested cormorant, juvenile plumage, at Ding Darling National Wildlife
Refuge. Note the striking eye color!


Great egret on Sanibel's fishing pier
Snowy egret, at Sanibel Marina
Boat-tailed grackle
Great blue heron, Captiva Island
Pair of nesting ospreys, under the Sanibel Lighthouse

White ibis, with pretty blues

Wood stork, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Brown pelicans, Ding Darling
White pelican (and great white egret), Ding Darling
Roseate spoonbill, a standout even at this distance (and ibises and a gull)

3 comments:

  1. Beautiful birds! Merry Christmas!

    Jane

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  2. What a beautiful set of photos! And the birds are amazing. Absolutely fascinating.

    I hope that you had a great Christmas and all the very very best for the New Year.

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  3. Catching up Veronica. Wonderful pics. Now more more! We intend to make our second Florida trip returning to Ding Darling and Corkscrew swamp after doing the Gulf Coast by car. Can't wait

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