Davis Islands at sunset.

Semipalmated plover on the beach near Davis Islands Yacht Club.

Night heron prowling for food before sundown.


Oystercatcher flying away before dark.

Osprey sitting on a light pole looking in the water for dinner.

With a perfect sunset like this how could anyone stay indoors, other than the fact that it was 92 degrees at 7pm on Sunday. A few birds were out getting that last minute dinner in before it got dark. I walked around the jetti at the end of the airport runway to the Davis Island Yacht Club. Considering there were lots of people around walking dogs, riding bikes and hanging out there were a handfull of birds around. The oystercatchers are the most skittish. If they see someone coming from miles away they will take off. The other birds just took all the people in stride. Soon the weather will be cooling off a little bit and there will be tons of people there on the weekends.

Wild Bird Rescue Workshop

Barbara from the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary conducts a workshop on rescuing injured birds.

Barbara and Liz show how to properly hold a cormorant and anhinga when helping an injured bird.


Ralph Heath, the founder of Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, stops by the workshop to thank everyone for coming. He started it 35 years ago.

Permanent resident at the sanctuary coming out of the pool. He is missing the top of his beak.

Another permanant resident pelican going in for a swim. He had a wing that was permanantly injured. He was looking at me like "come in with me".

Saturday was October 10th and still 95 degrees. I braved the heat and went to a wild bird rescue workshop at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary. They reviewed all of the different situations that could happen when you see an injured bird out in the wild and how to handle them. Some might be fairly easy with proper equipment such as catching a pelican with a net, removing the hook from the beak the correct way and releasing the bird. They reviewed situations and types of birds where it's best to call the sanctuary for an experienced rescuer to come out. Liz (pictured in first 2 pictures on the right) is their experienced rescuer at the sanctuary and she had some great stories to tell and a few sad ones as well.

Liz spends a lot of time on busy fishing piers rescuing hooked pelicans and cormorants and trying to release them there if they are well enough. She shows fishermen how to properly pull up a hooked pelican, cut the hook and release. It's so important that the fisherman don't just cut the line with the hook still in the pelican which can then get tangled in mangroves, etc.

It was a fun morning and I learned a lot about the tough life of birds around the coast as well as how hard they work at the sanctuary. Please stop by there if you are in the Tampa Bay area. No admission but they welcome donations.

Birds of a feather

Flock of snowy egrets hanging around Fort Desoto shore at sunset.

Group of white birds (great egret and ibis) in a big old tree at Fort Desoto. I wonder if they'll sleep there. It was sunset.


Ibis looking for some last minute food before dark.

A group of shorebirds all together getting ready for bed.

Close up of above - skimmers, oystercatcher, godwits, willets.

Last night I went to Fort Desoto after work to catch some sunset pictures. There were lots of large flocks of birds everywhere. It looks like they were getting ready for bed or getting some last minute bed time snacks. I guess they think there is safety in numbers at night. The fishing pier was busy with people fishing and birds were still hanging around looking for a handout even after the sun had gone down. It was a beautiful sunset (even though it was still 90 degrees). I'm sure it rivals any sunset in Key West. I have several pictures in my flickr stream of it.

Feature: Little Estero Lagoon

Little Estero Lagoon, also known as Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area (with the CWA designation by the state of Florida in 1992), is one of 15 such areas of concern in the state.

The Great Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area in October 2009.

The primary purpose of such a classification is to protect nesting and foraging wildlife that may be imperiled by the inadvertent or otherwise disturbance of species which could result in a decline in their numbers unnecessarily.

CWAs are under the authority of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

The Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area in October 2009.

Little Estero Lagoon has its nesting species, which include Least Tern, Snowy and Piping Plovers, Willet, and Sea Turtles, cordoned off with stakes, ribbon, and signs, as prudent, from April 1 through August 31. Once the Sea Turtle lays its eggs, it returns to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

I didn't observe any Sea Turtle nests near the lagoon this past year although there were successful nests at Lovers Key State Park immediately to the south.

The Great Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area in October 2009.

Brie Ochoa, Park Services Specialist at Lovers Key, informed me that the Least Tern seemed to favor the lagoon area in the 2009 breeding season as there was a very significant decline in Least Tern nesting at Little Estero Lagoon's adjacent state park compared to 2008. I am not able to say how the nests compared at the lagoon between the two seasons as I failed to make noteworthy observations.

Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area is a must see venue from anywhere. While thought to be a preserve 150 acres in size, the lagoon itself is much more intimate.

The Little Blue Heron above was photographed at Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area in October 2009.

The lagoon is just south of Fort Myers Beach. It has the Gulf of Mexico immediately to its west with condos and a Holiday Inn surprisingly close to the east. Close enough, in fact, to cast shadows on the lagoon's waters in the early morning hours.

The birds are for the most part seemingly oblivious to the human traffic that makes its way to and from the beach through the lagoon's shallow water.

The Snowy Plover above was photographed at Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area in October 2009.

While this venue is best visited at low tide, I also recommend a morning visit when the sun is most accommodating for comfort and photography if you are so inclined.

In my relatively few visits the lagoon, I have always seen the Great Egret, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Brown Pelican, and Osprey. Other species are hit and miss, but I've never failed to be completely astounded with the enjoyment I get from this place.

The Tricolored Heron above was photographed at Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area in October 2009.

I observed the Long-billed Curlew at the lagoon for the first and only time in my two and a half years of wildlife observation in late December of 2008.

My only sighting of the American Avocet was made at Lovers Key in early May of 2008, so it may be expected to see this species at the lagoon any time other than in the summer months.

The Semipalmated Plover above was photographed at Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area in October 2009.

Renowned wildlife photographer, Artie Morris, made the announcement in his blog that he has chosen the Little Estero Lagoon for an early 2010 visit with his clients in favor of the very popular Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

The birds here should offer significant excitement as they do regularly.

The White Ibis above was photographed at Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area in October 2009.

There always exists an opportunity for photography of birds in flight at Little Estero Lagoon, but for the more ambitious, be prepared to get wet and muddy at my recommendation.

Other must see wildlife venues in the immediate vicinity include San Carlos Bay: Bunche Beach Preserve, Lovers Key State Park, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, and National Audubon Society Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area in December 2008.

A more detailed account of my wildlife observations at Little Estero Lagoon in early October 2009 can be seen here.

Additional photographs I've taken at Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area can be seen here.

American Oystercatchers

This week I went to a presentation on american oystercatchers in the Tampa Bay estuary put on by the Clearwater Audubon Society with help from the Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuary Program. These birds are a "species of special concern" by the Audubon Society. The Tampa Bay area has over 18% of the oystercatcher pairs in the entire state of Florida. Oystercatchers mate for life (like penguins). They nest on beaches and there aren't many of those left that are not being trampled on by people. There are several protected islands in the Hillsborough bay that are off limits to people for these birds to nest on with big signs that explain why you cannot tresspass on these islands. Boaters still land on these islands and spend time playing on them even with their pets. The oystercatchers are declining due to these types of behaviours.

What can you do? Stay out of protected areas. Don't let your dogs run unleashed on beaches. Keep pets off beaches where they don't belong. Stay far away from bird nests and eggs on the beach. If the oystercatcher parent is scared away from the nest the eggs could cook in the hot sun in less than 20 minutes. The eggs need the shade the parent provides.

A year ago I never really noticed these birds. At first glance I thought it was another skimmer. They are so rare to see. They are very skittish and will fly away quickly. It's hard to get good pictures of them, they have to be cropped up closely. Now I am always looking for them.

Queen City Birders Club Birding Blitz Weekend

Last Saturday, I attended the Ohio Young Birders Club/Queen City Birders Club Birding Blitz Weekend/campout held at Hueston Woods State Park. It was nice to see young people out enjoying and learning about nature instead of inside playing video games. I decided against camping, since I am currently tentless -probably glad I did.

After breakfast, I headed on over to the bird banding station run by the Avian Research and Education Institute. It was a little cool early, but they had some good birds. Here are a few of the birds from the morning.

Mourning Warbler (HY female)

Blue-headed Vireo


Philadelphia Vireo

Event attendants got a behind the scenes tour of the education birds at the Hueston Woods Raptor Center by the park naturalist. The kids got to watch as the naturalist fed the Golden and Bald Eagles as well as the resident bobcat and cougar.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Eastern Screech-Owl

Dr. Dave Russell gave a very informative talk on sparrow ID in preparation for Sunday morning's trip to Miami Whitewater Wetlands for sparrow banding. (I did not go to the sparrow banding, too much traveling for this eastsider who was already an hour and a half away from home!)

More important than anything else, including the ticking off of life birds for us older birders, is that we take the time to plant the seeds of appreciation & discovery of the natural world in children.

Dr. Jill Russell instructing young birders on how to use field marks to differentiate Great Egrets from Great Blue Herons.

Dr. Herman Mays Jr., Curator of Zoology at the Cincinnati Museum Center, gave a talk on what it is like and what it takes education wise to become a professional ornithologist. He presented pics of the many birds he has seen while traveling the world working as an ornithologist. Hopefully, this will inspire the youngins to be interested in science as a career and get as much education as possible.

Dr. Mays and volunteers from the Cincinnati Museum Center came with some dead birds to show how one goes about preparing a study skin specimen for museum collections.

Dr. Herman Mays Jr. showing kids how to skin birds. (bird here is a Rose-breasted Grosbeak)

Before taking off, I decided to go back to the campground for the owl walk given by Susan from Raptor, Inc. She was able to call in a gray morph screech-owl that called back and flew over everyone's head, landing in a nearby tree. Everyone got an up close look at the bird.

Terns and dolphins

Lots of terns on Fort Desoto beach.

Ruddy Turnstone on the fishing pier hiding behind the rail.

The hubby and I spent Sunday afternoon at Fort Desoto park. It was a sunny gorgeous day. I spent some time walking the fishing pier. There were dolphins everywhere. They seemed to be trying to steal fish away from the fishermen as they were catching fish on lines. Several times fishermen thought they had caught something only to have the dolphin show up and take the fish off their line. They were not happy. The dolphins were swimming right up to the pier.

The beach was full of terns. There were huge flocks of the them resting on the edge of the beach. Every once in a while someone would be walking down the beach and they would fly in a circle and come right back down to the beach. It was weird to see so many terns and so few gulls.