My first trip there was to get a better photo of a Burrowing Owl. I went to the same burrow where I photographed one last year, but I didn't see the owl. I decided to try pishing to see if an owl would react to the sound, and on the second pish, the Burrowing Owl popped out of the burrow, saw me, and kept turning its head from side to side to locate the source of the sound. I kept pishing for a minute or so while I took photos, and then thought that I had pestered the owl enough and left so that it could return to the burrow.
Burrowing Owl
Burrowing Owl
Burrowing Owl
Burrowing Owl
Burrowing Owl
Burrowing Owl
Next stop was at the Goodland Bridge where I saw a Brown Pelican waiting for fish to fall from the sky.
Brown Pelican
I met Andy at Tigertail Beach on the second trip. He told me about the two White-morph Reddish Egrets he had seen on a prior trip there. In addition to seeing this rare bird, I also saw some Snowy Plovers and American Oystercatchers, two new life birds for me.
Start of the peninsular area
White-morph Reddish Egret
White-morph Reddish Egret
White-morph Reddish Egret
White-morph Reddish Egret
White-morph Reddish Egret
White-morph Reddish Egret
White-morph Reddish Egret
White-morph Reddish Egret
White-morph Reddish Egret
White-morph Reddish Egret
White-morph Reddish Egret
White-morph Reddish Egret
American Oystercatcher
Juvenile American Oystercatcher
American Oystercatcher
American Oystercatchers
American Oystercatcher
American Oystercatcher
American Oystercatcher
American Oystercatcher
Snowy Plover
Snowy Plover
Snowy Plover
Snowy Plover
Snowy Plover
Snowy Plover
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gulls
Great Black-backed Gull
On my third trip to Marco Island, Alice and I went to Tigertail Beach. The tide was high so there weren't a lot of shore birds, but I did see a few of them. One was very interesting as it was banded. After sending the photos to some prominent members of the Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society, I was told that was a Red Knot, another new life bird for me. I also saw a female Magnificent Frigatebird flying high in the sky. I had seen them before, but not in North America. An Osprey landed on the Marco Island sign - a favorite place for it to eat lunch. And speaking of lunch, while Alice and I were eating at the small concession area between the beach and the parking lot, a Yellow-throated Warbler landed in a palm tree a few feet away. There was a striking female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on another tree. But the highlight of the day was watching a Reddish Egret doing its comical fishing dance, someimes with its long neck held horizontal, and always opening its wings to shadow a potential catch.
Brown Pelican
Female Magnificent Frigatebird
Osprey
Ring-billed Gull
Short-billed Dowitcher and a Willet
Common Grackle
Female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Yellow-throated Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Red Knot
Red Knot
Red Knot
Red Knot
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret