24 April 2023 - Bonita Springs & Sanibel Island

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Summer Tanager, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Blue Jay, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Green Heron, Anhinga, Osprey, Great Blue Heron, Willet, Roseate Spoonbills, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Pileated Woodpecker, Chuck-will's Widow (heard)

A walk around the trees surrounding the accommodation this morning produced a singing immature male Summer Tanager with a red head and breast and yellow belly. It was rather against the light and I couldn't get into a position with the sun behind me before it scarpered. There are two Yellow-crowned Night Heron nests in the trees around and about, including one right outside our door. Other birds included a Great Crested Flycatcher, which always seem difficult to photograph, being high up in the trees and preferring to perch in the shade, as well as Blue Jays and Red-bellied Woodpeckers and of course the ubiquitous Northern Cardinal and Northern Mockingbird. The Blue Jay photo is perched on a frond in front of the house number on the front of our accommodation, 27590 Big Bend Road.

After breakfast we went to Sanibel Island and the J.N. 'Ding' Darling reserve. Sadly, a lot of Sanibel has suffered from Hurricane Ian last September with large swathes of the area devastated and many places closed to admission. We did have a walk at the Wildlife Drive to see a Green Heron on its nest, having just hatched two young that morning. Also here was a Little Blue Heron and an Anhinga on the nest. The drive itself was relatively quiet, though we did encounter a male Summer Tanager that posed for some photos, and a nearby Osprey on the nest.

We left the Ding Darling reserve to head to the north of the island for some beach time, and there was a splendid Great Blue Heron posing on the beach, and several waders including Willet. However, just as we'd set up our chairs and sunshade, I realised I'd lost my wallet, so we had to abandon everything to go looking for it...

In the evening we sat by the dock for a while then retired to the digs. A number of birds went overhead including several each of Yellow-crowned Night Heron and Little Blue heron, 2 Roseate Spoonbills and 3 Tricolored Herons, and a Red-tailed Hawk. By the digs, both Pileated and Red-bellied Woodpeckers were recorded, and as dusk fell we heard a Chuck-will's Widow repeatedly calling somewhere in the distance.

Summer Tanager, 1/640 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 1250 (view full size image)