Day 8 on Captiva

Today was more exciting!  After coffee and biscotti, we headed to Ding Darling Wildlife Drive and spent the morning birding.  It was a spectacular day for birding as the tide was extremely low and birds were everywhere in droves.  This was the most birds we have seen in several years and not only were there large numbers of birds but a large variety of species.  Many Ibis, Great Blues,  Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Yellow Crowned Night Heron, Reddish Egrets, Tricolored Heron, Blue Herons, Cormorants, White and Brown Pelicans,  Roseate Spoonbills, Plovers and Willets were spotted.  Al saw a Bald Eagle flying over head but I missed that. Only duck we saw was the Pied-Billed Grebe.  I also spotted celebrity birders Lillian and Donald Stokes birding with the crowd of excited birders.  The most wondrous sight was a flock of about 12 or more Roseate Spoonbills take off and fly overhead as a group.  I almost got it on a video but just in a short frame.

Pictures from the morning:

 

 

 

 

We stopped for lunch at Sunset Grill. I had Dill seasoned and pan seared Atlantic Salmon on a bed of Romaine and Spinach with a cucumber, wasabi buttermilk dressing, tossed with bacon crumbles, sweet onion, tomato, cucumber slices and shaved Parmesan.  It was enough salad for 4 people. Al had the Wood Grilled Burger-a half pound Angus burger topped with your choice of cheese and grilled to your liking on a Kaiser roll.  We enjoyed our meal on the outside deck.

We drove home and spent some time on the bayside watching the fishing boats and distant birds on the shore line.
For dinner, I cooked Shrimp Puttanesca with pasta, one of Al's favorites,  and served with mixed green salad with hot rolls and glasses of wine.