Sanibel Day 4

 We entered the refuge about 9:30am yesterday. Not a lot of people but boy were there a lot of birds. Osprey, Snowy egrets, white pelicans, brown pelicans, tri-colored herons, Great blue herons, ibis, Spoonbills, etc....

We watched the tri-colors fish, quite fascinating. The osprey were hunting every where. An excellent visit.

Here's some of the birds we saw..enjoy..

Anhinga watching..

Juvenile Tri-color heron fishing

Juvenile yellow-crowned night heron with crab..

Sunrise colors..

Osprey - eating a fish and then gathering nesting materials

So me of the many groups of wildlife we saw..roseate spoonbills among them

Tri-color herons - top one was fishing and the bottom one3 just posing.

A couple of regal tri-colored herons..

Sanibel vacation

 Finally some sunshine and warm weather without smog! We're here for a week, in a condo a couple of minutes walking time from the beach. It's kinda cool this weekend - 55 - but will be warming up tomorrow and the rest of the week.

We drove across the causeway to Sanibel, viewing the destruction that Hurricane Ian left behind on the small islands. Area of Fort Myers Beach look like another world - everything dead and gray.

Here on the island, we're seeing quite a bit of greenery although many trees and shrubs are missing. While condominium structures are still standing, many do not have the basics yet for occupancy. We'll explore more this week.

But the birds are great, as usual. I'll get to Ding Darling tomorrow, but have had visits from Osprey and pelicans already. Fresh sea air....

View down the central corridor at LoggerHead Cay. The tree is a Poinciana tree, dormant in the winter, full bloom by early summer - orange-red.

Pelicans in search of an easy snack..

Osprey - flew two circles over us on the beach..decided we didn't look that good or was happy with the photo!

Brown pelicans everywhere...quite beautiful in the right lighting...

Beautiful hibiscus everywhere ....

Saturday fun on the water..

Sanderling chased by the waves...

Antelope visit

 Sunday morning at Antelope Island was interesting.  Not a lot of animals..at least ones that we got close too. A large herd of bison and one of antelope were off in the distance. 

But there were a lot of people, unusual for an early Sunday morning. A group of 'spotters' moved around, one had found a couple of large bucks.

Still it was great to be out in the wide open spaces again..

Enjoy!

Sunrise over the Wasatch

Morning light reflections..

Watchful but not alarmed..

The Lonely Bull...

I think this is a couple of duck hunters that came in across the lake to the wildlife refuge area. The low-rent approach..

Refuge Tuesday

 Molly and I visited the refuge Tuesday...a very quiet day with a few hunters in the distance and lots of ducks in the safe areas. Not many raptors or other birds other than the Great Blue Herons...

Enjoy!

The Gathering place..Herons are often found here in groups during hunting season. It's a safe place away from the noise.

Why did the pheasant cross the road...

A Ring-necked duck..all alone with a bunch of Coots..

Some obnoxious visitors while trying to eat lunch..

Timing - not always planned for, but in this case, the apparent fish in the GBH's mouth is actually the head of a Canadian goose just behind it. Go figure..

Mountain snow..

 We had a good snowstorm in the mountains with just a bit here in the valley. Very beautiful. Here's a couple of photos to try to do it's beauty justice..

Eclipse show

 Saturday morning, despite the clouds, the eclipse show began as predicted and was impressive to watch. How small is humanity compared to things like this?

Anyway, here's some shots..

Refuge Wednesday

 A beautiful day yesterday, good to be alive and out in the refuge. Lots of Great Blue Herons and a few juvenile Black-crowned herons, along with migrating Snowy egrets that provided bright splashed of white. The long dike road was not opened yet, seems later than usual. So all the activity took place around Goose Egg hill and before that.

A few kestrels, one Cooper's hawk and a couple of playful Northern harriers were the only raptors seen. A dearth of raptors this year.

Enjoy!

Muskrat sneaking away to cover..

A juvenile Black-crowned night heron landing in a bush..

Pelicans lifting off..

White-faced ibis in non-breeding plumage