Shorebirds....

Each day I get up early, camera in hand and go to the beach for a long walk, hoping to pick up a few shells and take pictures of a few shorebirds. At first all the birds looked alike, but slowly I can differentiate the different types.

This is one of the more common shorebirds -- the Willet. It is in the sandpiper family. He has long legs and a long beak and is easy to spot.

It was very rainy and windy yesterday and I was surprised to see an osprey around in the back sitting on one of the dock posts. Usually they are high on a post or on top of a tree.

This I believe is a semi-palmated plover. We used to get plovers all the time in our yard when we lived in Batavia NY. He has a very distinctive collar.

This I believe is a Ruddy Turnstone. He is a relatively small bird with the bib in front.

A Snowy Egret visited the pool yesterday while I was there. Note his black legs, beak and bright yellow feet. The other night I saw Cattle Egrets and they were a bit smaller and had yellow beaks as opposed to the black beak of the Snowy Egret.

I am an inveterate reader of mysteries and a series I have enjoyed is the Doc Ford series by Randy Wayne White, a Ft. Myers native. Although the books are not what I normally would like, his passion for this area of SW Florida is evident. Last night I made my husband, sister and her husband go to to the Doc Ford Rum Bar and Grill in Ft. Myers. I had no idea whether the food was any good or not but White lends his name to the establishment and I had enjoyed the books so much. It was a very pleasant surprise as the food was rated excellent by all four of us and definitely a place we wanted to which we wanted to return! My fried shrimp were easily the best I have ever had and the other three said that their fish was cooked perfectly. From my husband, that is saying something!!