Up in the trees

This time of the year it starts to get hot, most of the birds have gone north with the snow birds - but don't let that fool you ..... there is much to be mesmerized by if you take the time to notice.

At 6mile Cypress Slough - a young Red-shouldered Hawk patiently waiting for the parent to return with some juicy morsel.

A male Northern Flicker - Yellow-shafted, quite noticeable from this angle. My books state that they feed on the ground yet I've never seen them other than up high in the trees.

A Male Northern Flicker - you can tell it's a male by the black line off the base of the bill, the female does not have one.

Not too far away a family of Swallow-tailed Kites was seen and heard.

They feed while flying, large insects, lizards, and even small birds are their main food staple.

They like to nest in the tallest trees.

They make a platform nest of sticks, twigs and pine needles - often lined with spanish moss. 2 to 4 eggs are incubated for 28 days, the young will fledge at 36-42 days.

They arrive in the spring and stay through the summer, they depart in the early fall and spend their winter in the tropics. It is quite a beautiful sight to watch them swooping and gliding gracefully while floating into space.

The sweet closure on that day was seeing this Bluebird, not a bad way to end the day.

 

Beach Patrol

The sun is rising - the day is filled with promises of surprises - what is not to like!! Let's go and take a walk along the Sanibel beaches and check on the Snowy Plover families.

Right away I spot mama with her two kids within the boundary enclosure - all safe and warm. Notice how many set of legs mama has...

aha! The chicks are ready to face the day.

And off they go foraging....

Look at my shadow....wow....how big I am!

Well, maybe they'd like to think so but in actuality they are quite small, not much bigger than a marshmallow on toothpicks.

The two siblings - comparing experiences....

staying close until....

it's time to go....look at that bug!!....oh....

wait for me!

In the meantime, another family grabs my attention - this chick here is much older than the other two we just saw....he will soon have his own wings but for the time being still depends on its parent .... there is so much to learn.

 

and, beside, staying under mama's belly feels so good.

Mama is all puffed up making room for this little fellow, which is not so little anymore.

ahhh....it feels so good, I'm not sure I want to leave yet.

But curiosity, energy and hunger wins out...and off he goes to join his little sibling

mama is keeping a close eye on them - alerting them to danger when necessary.

 Mama and one of her chick - such precious bunch.

It is time for me to let them be and head back....but not before spending some time admiring the...

Dark morph of the Reddish Egret which just landed near the shore.

The surf was up with some wave actions which prevented the Reddish Egret from doing its famous dance and instead resorted to just stab and eat the fish whenever possible.

Some Ruddy Turnstone passed by me - feeling quite at ease.

After a bit of walking, I arrived to my starting point - 3 Willets wished me a wonderful weekend. Will do!

 

Snowy Plover season

The Snowy Plover are doing ok this season - more nests have been successful than perished. One little family now has 27 days old chicks and a new family has a couple 2 days old chicks.

When the heat rises - a bit of shade can do a lot of good.

The new chick on the block - 2 days old.

The female is keeping a close watch on her brood.

So much to see and so much energy.

They are quite agile on their feet and fast too.

The older chicks from another family.

In the meantime the families were crossing boundaries and that didn't fly very far - they fought to regain territory.

The little ones are watching - they too will have to employ this technique when they get older.

These chicks are definitely high on my 'cute' list.