Subject: [Oversea] December 2015, Sanibel Island, Florida [Print This Page] Author: subbuteo Time: 5/01/2016 13:31 Subject: December 2015, Sanibel Island, Florida
I spent a ten day family holiday in Sanibel Island on the Gulf of Mexico coast of Florida, USA. The island is mostly managed conservation land and home of the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge. The birds are incredibly approachable. I took a few pictures with a compact camera some of which turned out surprisingly well considering.
Along with the birdlife I also saw alligator, racoon, bobcat, marsh rabbit, armadillo, gopher turtle and heard coyote calling (when emergency vehicle sirens went past). I will add a list of birds seen later- happy to be corrected on some of the IDs here- working from memory.
Dylan
Pied billed grebe
Red knot
Magnificent frigatebird
Magnificent frigatebird
Magnificent frigatebird
Magnificent frigatebird and tree swallows
Yellow-throated Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Marsh rabbit
Mourning dove
Common gallinule (moorhen)
American coot
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Killdeer
Louisiana Heron
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Double-crested cormorant
Common grackle
Tree swallows
American alligator
American alligator
Snowy egret and white ibis
Least sandpiper
Snowy egret
Laughing gull
Red-breasted Merganser
American White Pelican
American White Pelican and Brown Pelican
Spotted Sandpiper (I yhink... need to check!)
American White Pelican
Roseate Spoonbill
Ding Darling bird flock
Little Blue Heron
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Eastern Phoebe
Royal Tern
Roosting Terns, gulls and waders
Herring gull (need to confirm?)
Laughing gull
Willets and red knot
White Ibis and sanderling
Willet, red knot, dunlin
Dunlin
Turnstone
Willet
Laughing gull
Ring-billed gull
Laughing gull
Laughing gull
Sandwich Tern
Terns
Terns
[ Last edited by subbuteo at 5/01/2016 17:48 ] Author: lmichael Time: 5/01/2016 14:26
Nice pictures for a compact!
I think that the bird labelled Herring Gull is Lesser Black-backed Gull - American Herring Gull is pale manteled and always has pink legs (these are yellowish). However I would not want to rule out a hybrid.
Also the 'Sandwich Terns' are Cabot's Terns Thalasseus acuflavidus. This is a DNA split - the North American taxon looks much like Sandwich Ter.
Cheers
Mike Leven Author: subbuteo Time: 5/01/2016 17:56
Thanks Mike- the camera performs well when you can get that close to the birds- nearly treading on them! The American warblers (actually most passerines) respond very well to pishing so come very close. I missed photos of Grey Catbird, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-rumped warbler, Pileated woodppecker and a lot of other birds due to the slow focus and shutter response. Ospreys are seemingly everywhere but hard to get a decent picture of.
Dylan
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