Sanibel Island 1

We stayed in Sanibel Island for the first two weeks of February 2018, walking the beach looking for seashells, searching the Bailey Tract (part of the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge) looking for dragonflies, and driving through the main refuge looking for birds. The next few posts report on some of the wildlife we found. Each species will be hot-linked to other accounts in this blog. The first of these birds was a nesting Pileated Woodpecker at the Bailey Tract. The crest seems inordinately long, but that might be typical of male birds.

We shared a condo with good friends. One morning we were greeted by a Red-shoulded Hawk, a common species in the area. You can see the reddish shoulders even on this young bird.

Beach walking was constantly entertaining. Erika searched for shells, while I looked for birds. Two of Erika’s fellow beachcombers kicked up this sandpiper flock. Most appear to be Sanderlings, common along the coasts of North and South America in the winter. A few Dunlin, another common species, were mixed in the flock, though I do not see one in the photo. The next picture is of a Dunlin.

The crows on the beach scavanged for scraps left by the beach-goers, human and bird. The crows were clearlyb smaller than normal American Crows—indeed they are Fish Crows. The best way to identify a Fish Crow, however, is npt by its size, but by its double-syllabed call. They say, “wonk-wonk.” The only trouble is that I have heard that call from a young crow here in Minnesota. This bird could have been a Fish Crow—they are expanding their range up the Mississippi drainage. So far they are not known to occur in our state.