Monday, February 16, 2015

Sanibel…

Our first morning in Sanibel we thought we would go shelling.

We checked the tides the night before and decided to wait a

day until low tides were at seven instead of six am.

So instead we went birding at Ding Darling..

P1070668White Pelican…Brown Pelican on the far right.

See the size difference?

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Mangrove Tree crabs..

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I walked while Jeff drove, stopping where the birds were.

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Mostly Willet here with about seven Red Knot, Dunlin. Short-billed Dowitchers

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The morning flew by…we did some birding and socializing…

We met up

with Don and Lillian Stokes and chatted for a while, Our Sanibel

landlord Ken showed up with a friend and it was one Social

bird party.

I also had a life bird today!

White-crowned Pigeon

A great morning at Ding!

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After lunch back at Homey…

We walked to the beach..

P1070703Lesser Black-backed Gull

P1070705Ruddy Turnstone

P1070717Mostly Royal tern and a few Laughing Gull

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P1070732White Ibis hanging out on the beach

P1070746Beach goodies..

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In the distance we saw this interesting tree..

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On closer inspection we see its been decorated..

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I have no idea who started it or when..

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Some people have hung shells and others write names and dates on them.

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Jeff and I found a shell on the beach and will add it to the tree after writing in it.

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P1070769It was time to leave…

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We retraced our steps…

this time we walked behind the tern and I was able to get this

shot of its awesome hair doo..

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Tomorrow we plan an early start…

I hope the shells are waiting for us..

 

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Good night Willet…

See you tomorrow!

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4 comments:

  1. Lovely photos of my favorite island -- thanks so much for these!!! :-)

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  2. OH! Those mangrove tree crabs! Amazing critters!
    I wonder; they're all facing downward. Do they walk up backwards (crabs are crazy that way, sometimes) or do they climb up, then turn around to rest facing down?
    And what do they eat, up there?

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  3. Gorgeous Dawn! I so want to go back there again. What an amazing place to bird sans the tourists! That was a real treat. Beautiful photos and congrats on the lifer!

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  4. I really enjoyed your blog post.

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