After our two hours of paid parking at Sanibel Island's Lighthouse parking was up (parking there is $4 an hour), we headed to the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge's Wildlife Drive. The birding got better as the tide dropped throughout the day.
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White Ibis is perhaps the easiest bird to photograph in Florida. They're plentiful, fairly tame, and can be found near almost any body of water. I only photograph them now when they're doing intertesting things, like holding a strange fish.... |
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Or fighting... I assume these are two males. I've never had the pleasure to photograph this behavior before. These two engaged in mid-air combat for about a minute, with the bird on the left eventually chasing the other individual off. |
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Piping plover? Semi-palmated plover? |
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Pied-billed Grebes are frequent in most still water bodies in southwest Florida. |
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This was just one slice of a massive bird panorama. I estimate there were over 1000 white ibis, herons, egrets, and roseate spoonbills. Truly a magnificent sight. |
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Willets are another bird that I have photographed quite a bit, so I turn my camera to them in situations where they're showing interesting behaviors, like eating a small horseshoe crab. |
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Short-billed Dowitcher? I'm going solely on Sibley's advice that they occur mostly on tidal flats, as opposed to the Long-billed Dowitcher preference for freshwater ponds. |
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Surprise! This large, awake American Alligator was being guarded by a refuge volunteer. He didn't want anyone going too close.
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