Busy Bird Filled Day

Well, another very cold morning but it did not deter us from visiting both Harns Marsh (in Lehigh Acres) and the "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel. My goal for the morning and Harns Marsh was to finally see a Snail Kite which is an endangered species but quite common on the marsh there. These kites feast on the Apple Snail which is a pretty good sized snail and can be up to 4 or 5 inches across. They get them in their talons like the osprey gets the fish and then sit on a branch near the water and eat the animal leaving the shells behind. Last year we didn't spot any but this year I saw three or four and can now identify them pretty easily!
This is my favorite bird (the Roseate Spoolbill) and really the only one we have seen anywhere near enough to take a picture. This one was a very bright pink with a very yellow head.

This is a Greater Yellowlegs. He looks a lot like a Willet except for the bright yellow legs. You can tell him from the Lesser Yellowlegs by the fact that his bill is 1 1/2 times the length of his head whereas the Lesser Yellowlegs has a smaller bill in comparison (Stokes Field Guide to Birds).

This is one of several Snail Kites I saw with its newly acquired snail! These birds are identified by the large white stripe across their tails and of course an Apple Snail in their talons!

This was one of several large piles of Apple Snail shells. All along the edge of the pond, these shells accumulate, discarded by the Snail Kites -- all different sizes and shades of beige, pink and brown.

These three Black Vultures greeted us as we entered the marshes. They are almost attractive but look like harbingers of evil.
This is a very poor picture of an American Bittern which I had never seen before. They literally fade into their background as do many of the birds. You can see if you look closely at the object in the middle that there are long stripes down the length of his chest.

From Harns Marsh, we made a quick stop for lunch and then headed to Sanibel for our yearly trip to "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. We have never been disappointed there! This year was no exception. Each time we see something different. The tide was really low and there were lots and lots of the common birds.
This was one of the more famous winter visitors, the White Pelicans which migrate from very far north to spend time in these mangroves and marshes. Most of the pelicans were huddled together in one large continuous mass of pelican trying to keep warm.

The best views of the day were of the endangered Wood Stork. They were sunning about 10 feet off the road and didn't seem to care about all the visitors. Here are three of them.

Here is a profile picture of the Wood Stork.

This was an immature wood stork who still had fuzzy white on his head.

Another nice view was of the Yellow Crowned Night Heron who posed for us just feet away from the car. He couldn't get enough of having his picture taken!