Snails, Snails and More Snails - Harns Marsh

First thing on Wednesday morning (even before dawn), I got out to the beach to pick up some shells as I knew it would be an extra low tide. Well, there weren't many shell remains but there were a lot of living shells and some interesting sea creatures (I always take my camera on these walks). It was still so dark that I had to use a flash for this creature, many of which I saw hanging out in the shallows. I believe it is some sort of anemone. It was brighter pink around the edges but the flash washed it out a bit.

Two posing pelicans on the canal.


This was a nice four or five inch tulip shell alive on the beach -- I saw many that morning.


Dawn was just coming up for this Great Egret and Snowy Egret in the shallows.



At the canal again, a Great Blue Heron and a Little Blue Heron so you can compare the sizes!

I saw this fellow on my beach walk and took many pictures as I didn't know what he was as he was too big to be an egret! There is a version of the adult Great Blue that is all white as well but he would have yellow legs as opposed to the grey legs of this bird. Maybe a giant snowy egret?

I took a whole bunch of pics and after looking through all of them, I think it is the white morph of the Great Blue which generally is only found in the Keys and the Everglades. He looks like all the pictures online though!

Okay, we think the mystery is finally solved! It is probably the rare white morph of the reddish egret. Either way, it is an uncommon coloration of the herons!

Ah, now I know the difference between a swamp and a marsh. I had never thought about it before. The marsh was like a large field or pasture with small ponds. The swamps have been dense with mangrove and cypress trees. This is Harns Marsh which is north of Ft. Myers in Lehigh Acres. It is a very peaceful setting and a place where you can spot the endangered Snail Kite which feasts exclusively on Apple Snails.



If you look closely here, you can see the telltale white beaks that identify this flock as American Coot. I have seen them in North Carolina as well and there were lots here.




This butterfly is a Buckeye -- I am not sure what variation of Buckeye though.

This was my first sighting of a bird called a Limpkin. It has a long slightly curved beak like the ibis but the beak is straighter, he is bigger and has a long neck and is very spotty brown. I was thrilled to see him!


And these are the apple snails that the Snail Kite feasts on and I must say FEASTS!! Along the side of the ponds, these were literally piled up, every color and size. These vary in size from about 2 inches to about 4 1/2 inches but they can get as large as 6 inches across. It was amazing to see them all cleaned out along the shore!! I couldn't bend over, I had so many in my pockets! We only saw the Snail Kites off in a distance though, none were close enough for a photo even with my sister's 24X optical zoom!