Day 36 on Captiva

Today was one of those days that seemed to slip by so quickly and nothing was too exciting.   I got wrapped up in organizing and editing photos and writing some blog posts.  Al spent time reading and doing some surveys for fun.   I made lunch of grilled mozzarella cheese with tomatoes.  Al had a 1:00 massage appointment and came back feeling rejuvenated. It was too windy to sit on the beach so we whiled away the afternoon.   Al grilled hamburgers for dinner and we served with all the fixings and fries.  Al watched harness races at Northfield on the computer.

That's all folks!

Day 35 on Captiva

 

This morning we returned to The Shipley Trail at the Bailey Homestead and walked to the Pond Apple Trail to the retention pond area. We had another great birding event seeing many Great Blue Herons, Wood Storks, Blue Herons, Tri-colored Herons, Cormorants, Brown Pelicans, Ibis, Anhingas, as well as an immature Heron that I believe to be a Yellow-Crested Night Heron..  We have never seen as many Great Blues and Anhingas in one spot as we saw today. I lost count of the many Great Blues and most of them was busy feeding.   We  spotted the " Dairy Queen"Eagles in a far away Australian Pine and I managed to get a distant photo of one of their backs.   But the highlight of the walk was being able to photograph the Great White Heron and catching some shots of it feeding..    We also saw at least 3, if not more, alligators swimming in the ponds.

 

First to catch our attention were the many Anhingas:

Cormorants and Brown Pelicans are seen behind this Anhinga.

 Males, females, and immature Anhingas posed all around us.

 

The blue eyes and bright yellow bill  indicate mating season.

 

Next to get our attention were the Wood Storks.  

 Not as many Wood Storks as the last time we were here,

 but they were busy feeding and flying about:

 This trail is not just for people,

 

And now for the Great Blue Herons:

 

 

Video of Great Blue Heron on the Move:

 

One more Hungry Heron:

 

If the Wood Stork can use the trail, so can we.

But most of the Blue Herons  were going by air.

 

And now for the Great White Heron:

We saw the Great White Heron eating breakfast. 

 

 And then the heron flew away:

 

Other birds we saw:

 Cormorants and More

Pair of Tri-colored Herons

 Cormorants

Immature Night Heron

 Little Blue Heron

Eagle from A Distant

 

The Alligators were swimming in two of the ponds:

 

 

Back to the house for a lunch of sandwiches and then to the beach for the afternoon. Dinner tonight at the Pollack's Diner.  I prepared Orange Roasted Salmon served with Couscous and Green salad.

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.