Wednesday, May 3rd, continued
I left and took the Sanibel Causeway back. This time I stopped and drove along the
beach areas whenever possible. Saw a number of shorebirds and waders. At one
place, I parked the car and went to an area where a fisherman was about to call
it a day. He was
joined by two Snowy Egrets and one Great Egret. These guys were terrific. I
kneeled down within four or five feet of them and snapped away. Besides being
cooperative, they were absolutely gorgeous!
Next, I went to Fort Myers Beach which the guide book said was good for shorebirds that would also let you get close. Pranty particularly mentioned Reddish Egrets but only one was present and it would not let me get close. However, there were other herons and egrets present.
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Click for More White Ibis Pictures
And there was an exquisite White Ibis with an intense red and black bill. A pair of Short-billed Dowitchers worked the shoreline as did a large number of Least Sandpipers. A couple of Wilson's Plovers were a nice addition to the list; equaled by the sighting of a Whimbrel.
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While walking back to the car, I passed a shrubby area where I saw several Common Yellowthroats. I also saw two warblers - black and white. Actually, I only glimpsed them and could not identify them. Could have been Blackpoll Warblers but... I stayed about 10 minutes but could not find them. As I left it started raining lightly.
It stopped raining when I arrived at Cape Coral to look for Burrowing Owls. I
will quote from Pranty. "Many Burrowing Owls inhabit the huge development
of Cape Coral west of Fort Myers. To reach an area with many owls... watching
for the owls or the stakes that mark their burrows... Owls are easy to find in
this area..."
Well, the owls were easy to find, or at least two of them were. As soon as I reached the area, I found one roped off section where there was a burrow and two owls. One was standing on a post, the other on the ground. I saw only one other marked off area and didn't see any owls in it. The whole area is undergoing development and the only other stakes were the abundant For Sale signs. It was really disappointing. It started raining again and I drove off to Bradenton where I did the unthinkable - I went swimming in the motel pool.
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