Day 34 Continued

After our trip to DDWR, we had a brunch of French Toast, Bacon and Oranges.   We had worked up an appetite after our birding excursion.  The sky was a bit cloudy and not great for sunning on the beach but was nice enough for a walk and more photographing of birds.   Al sat on the beach while I walked and shot beach scenes.    There were over 100 Royal Terns, one of my favorite shore birds,  on the beach today.   They were in 3 different groups.

 

 

 

 

 Did you see the sand castle that I built?

 A close up of Royal birds.

 It gets tired standing all day!

 

Birds in flight after being disturbed by walkers and/or dogs. 

Don't they know that's a bad thing for us birds?

 

Other birds today:

 

 

Other interesting scenes:

 

 

Al sitting on the beach.  Photographed from a distance.

 

Tonight we enjoyed a special evening of dinner and live music at Traditions with Joe and Marvilla.

 

We shared Prime Beef Carpaccio served  with baby arugula, grated  Reggiano Parmesan Cheese, capers, lemon, and EVOO and balsamic vinegar.   This was the best Carpacio that we have had in a long time....very well presented and a generous serving.   Al ordered the evening special of Veal Filet with Giant Shrimp with a Brandy Cream sauce and served with eggplant, potatoes, and steamed spinach.   I ordered Veal and  Artichokes with capers, lemon, and wine sauce served with Potato

 Dauphinoise  and vegetables.  We splurged with a dessert of Crème Brule Flan served with fresh berries.  We finished the evening dancing to the music by Joe and Marvilla  and with complimentary drinks from the host, Andrea, who we have known over 27 years.   We first met him at his former restaurant Bellini's on Captiva Island and have memories of following him to his other restaurants  The Riviera and Dolce Vita.

 

A great evening that brought back wonderful memories and made new ones.

Day 34 on Captiva

Another trip to Ding Darling this morning about 9:00 am.  This morning we enjoyed seeing White Pelicans (no sign of the African one), Roseate Spoonbills, many shore birds, an immature night heron,  and more of the alligators (no photos today). I will begin with a video of the White Pelicans preening on the sand bar:
(If you reading this in an email, go to my blog(link at bottom) and click on the videos to view.)

 Have you seen the African today?

 Can't you forget that big bird?   We are just as interesting.

 

 

 And now we add in some Roseate Spoonbills:

 There were 3 sleeping....

 One looked up.....

 Another looked up.....

And then there were 4......

Back to sleep.

 

 One off for a stroll....

 Have you seen the African Pelican that everyone is looking for?

Guess she has gone......so I am off too!

 

Other birds:

 Tri-colored Heron

 Ibis

Three Ibis and Reflections

 

On the way out, we saw this Great Blue Heron.

And then we spotted this Immature Heron who was posing on the side of the drive.

 

That's enough for this post. Day 34 to be continued in another post.

Day 33 on Captiva

Today we had "Free Play" time....that's when we have no plans and do whatever we want to do.   I spent my time editing some photos and posting on the blog.   Al spent time reading and relaxing on the porch.  We walked back to dock before lunch and found only a few birds.

 Great Blue Heron with Royal Terns

 

 Walk to the Dock

 Ibis in the Mangroves

 

For lunch we had sandwiches and salad made with leftover steak.   We then went to Bailey's for some provisions for dinner.....we seem to spend a lot of time planning our next meal.

We then drove through DDWR to see if the African Pelican was visiting today but no one had seen her but a lot of people were there hoping to spot the Great White Pelican.   At least we can say we were there at the same tine even if we have no photos. 

American White Pelicans  at DDNWR waiting for the African?

 

We stayed on the drive looking for the Special Bird for about an hour before giving up.  The afternoon was cloudy and we spend the afternoon inside reading.

 

For dinner Grill Master Al prepared Pompano filets on the grill and we served them simply with Lime Wedges along with Rice and Red Leaf Lettuce salad.   Dinner was great at the Pollack Café.

 

 

Day 32 on Captiva

After nearly seeing the Great White Pelican  at DDNWR yesterday,  I wanted to try again to see her today.  We headed to the drive around 10am and watched for her near the observation tower where she been spotted on Sunday and Monday,  but she did not appear.  As we waited, we started conversing with a lady who looked to be a serious photographer and she shared some photos that she had taken on Monday afternoon of the African visitor.   Roberta, the name of the lady,  had returned in hopes of seeing her again and capturing more photos.  She was a very interesting person and had lived in the area for about 40 years and yes she was a photographer and a previous model.

While on watch out, we made a few photos of the regular residents:

 Reddish Egret

 Shore birds and White Pelicans

 

This is the bird we were hoping to see:

From DDWR Facebook

Finally giving up on our "stakeout" we returned to the house for a brunch of Lox and Scrambled Eggs with toast and sliced tomatoes.  One does work up an appetite when staking out birds.  After the morning's activity we relaxed the afternoon away at the beach.

Dinner tonight was at Doc Ford's .  We shared some Oysters on the half shell which were very good.  Al ordered Fried Panko Shrimp served with fries and coleslaw. It was very good also.  I went for lighter fare by ordering Maine Lobster Roll which was supposed to be diced lobster piled high on a toasted brioche roll.  I was very disappointed ....the lobster was bland and not even on the roll.  It had been "thrown" on the plate next to the untoasted roll.  Poor choice!  And it was very overpriced for what it turned out to be.  This was the first disappointment we experienced at Doc Ford's.