Fort Myers Beach - Caloosa Bird Club

It's Caloosa Bird Club day, Elaine and I set out for Fort Myers Beach.

First a quick stop at Bowditch Point before meeting up with the gang.

We caught this Loggerhead Shrike singing - it seemed to agree that it was going to be a great day!

We spotted A Common Ground Dove before leaving, it seemed to feel comfortable with very little distance between us. My E-Bird List for Bowditch Point.

We met up with the group - I counted 24 happily birding folks.

A Semi-palmated Plover eyed us down or should I say "up" - either way he kept his distance.

Others were just chillin - a Willet with a Snowy Egret.

A beautiful adult Brown Pelican

A pair of Florida chickens - they are lovingly named this way because there are so many of them - seriously though, these are White Ibis.

A beautiful beach with lots of room to spread out.

A bunch of resting Willets.

A very busy Belted Kingfisher - dashing here, dashing there while belting out his clattering rattle.

A Wilson Plover - check that bill out.....

in comparison to the Piping Plover.

A nice group of Ruddy Turnstone sporting their adult nonbreeding plumage.

A Great Blue Heron - what a statement he makes.

A Wood Stork waved us on as we headed to our lunch location. My E-Bird List for this beach.

After we finished our lunches while enjoying the shade by the Mound House, our leader - Vince McGraph - started the bird list and had us all standing up when he pointed out the Great Horned Owl that was snoozing above our heads while we ate.

We all Hooted for joy at the beautiful sight.

This bird won the award for "Bird of the day". My E-Bird List for the Mound House.

Oh - BTW - a few of us ended up extending the trip to Bonita with the hopes of finding a Franklin Gull that had been reported earlier this morning. Ummm....looks like quite a few birds to go through while looking for our goto bird.

In the meantime - we were glad to see a 5 month old Herring Gull.

The Marbled Godwits always brings a smile.

A nice group of Dunlins with a Willet.

A Black Skimmer coming in for a landing...

easy does it....

save for the photo bomb.

Well, we gave it a good try but no Franklin were to be found this trip - better luck next time. My E-Bird List for Bonita Beach.

Estero Bay Preserve

It has been almost a year since I visited the Estero Preserve, reports of several ducks and other species made me itch for a visit.

Before heading there I made sure that I was prepared for the hike - water in the trails and insects in the air - we armed ourselves with boots and bug spray, two of us were glad to have a head net because the deer flies were in great numbers.

A beautiful sunny sky with a rainbow greeted us as we entered the preserve....our first stop....pond..

This is the pond where the American Wigeons have been seen, so....we quietly approached the pond...

because the ducks are known to be skittish and fly off if they are disturbed.

Well, not only did we have Wigeons but also Northern Pintails - sweet!

Not long after that the ducks took flight....we were glad to have been able to see them before they left for the day.

We traveled another mile or so before finding the second pond....

This pond is much larger than the other one and as you can see a lot more species....

Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Ducks and Buffleheads - oh my!

After exploring the big pond we ventured toward the Bay - walking gingerly on different types of terrain - we spotted small peeps....can you see them?

How about now? Isn't it amazing how well they blend in?

Semi-palmated Plovers are one of my favorites.

My birding partners and where we've been....don't you just love the expanse of this property? I highly advise not to venture alone, the trails are not well defined and one can easily get lost without a good sense of direction. Also, some areas are really muddy and very easy to sink in and loose your boots if you're not careful.

Another sweet spotting today: American Avocet.

A Dunlin receiving some sweet notes from a Semi-palmated Plover.

A group of Western Sandpipers.

A Greater Yellowleg.

One more area to venture through water and mud before reaching the edge of the shore.

Positioned by the shore we could see how many White Pelicans were across while a whole group flew above our heads.

Also, quite a few American Avocets far off.

These two were very close to us....what a nice gift!

This was indeed a very sweet visit and I look forward to return and explore the sparrows and rails territory.

What will you see when you visit? Check my E-bird List for the species we saw, also within that list you can click on "map" to see where it is. Happy Birding!