 |
| Great Blue Heron shakes it off |
Our last week at Fort Myers Beach was spent with friends celebrating Christmas and New Year's Eve Day. We enjoyed two months here and especially the great worship services at 1st Assembly of God where Dan Betzer is the senior pastor.
 |
| Wood Duck Pond at Six Mile Cypress Slough |
 |
| Pied-billed Grebe eyes his reflection |
Our last birding outing for 2017 was to Six Mile Cypress Slough Reserve in east Fort Myers.
 |
| Limpkin lands right next to the boardwalk trail |
 |
| Cottonmouth / Water Moccasin finds a sunny log to warm up |
 |
| Ancient Bald Cypress Tree survived the hurricane |
It was hard to say good-bye to "our" nesting eagles at Indian Creek RV Resort, plus the ospreys and other birds; and the many people we met.
 |
| Fish Crow gives stoic Bald Eagle a hard time |
 |
| Wood Stork gulps down breakfast |
 |
| Mourning Dove on our RV |
 |
| Ospreys get busy |
We traveled to and through 20 states in 2017 and observed 491 species of birds. It's a new start now for 2018! We drove east to Lake Okeechobee where we will spend January at South Bay Campground.
 |
| Limpkin |
Our birding list started at dawn on January 1st; we drove south of Clewiston on Highway 835 and found over 50 species of birds for a great start.
 |
| Belted Kingfisher in Brazilian Pepper |
 |
| Feral Hogs - big problem for Florida |
 |
| Western Flycatcher comes east to winter |
 |
| Rare visitor from Texas - Scissors-tailed Flycatcher |
 |
| Scissors-tailed Flycatcher |
 |
| Yellow-crowned Night-heron |
 |
| Common Loon arrives at Lake Okeechobee from up north |
 |
| Pink Apple Snail eggs on Pickerel Weed |
 |
| Am. Kestrel bombards Red-Shouldered Hawk |
 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk |
 |
| Black Vultures try cleaning up a dead Cooter Turtle |
 |
| Cattle Egret grabs a quick snake lunch |
 |
| American Kestrel |
 |
| Crested Caracara - taxiing for take-off |
 |
| Take off over the dike at Lake O. Crested Caracara |
We made it through the coldest week in Florida that set some record lows. We didn't get below freezing here but 2/3rd's of the state did.
Looking forward to our next three months in Florida and many, many birds and other wildlife to find.
Love & Prayers,
Ty & Ida Baumann
 |
| Sunset over South Bay Campground |
The sunset photos are beautiful! Wish you could fax us some FLA balmy breezes here in the frozen tundra!
ReplyDelete