Day 30 Captiva

The temperature this morning was 54 degrees at 7:00, the coolest morning since we have been here.  I stayed inside all morning and wrote posts to my blog and caught up to the present day.  It takes a bit of time to edit pictures and videos that I include.  Al has been reading and finished one book today and began another.  I have read 15 books-- maybe I will list later so that I remember which ones.
I made our fave breakfast-poached eggs, bacon, and bagels. It was warm enough to eat on the porch.

At 3:00, I walked to the beach and Al went to the pool to read.   Today was a busy birding adventure at the beach....the flock of willets was back with marbled godwits mixed in.  Counted 20 willets in one group and over one hundred in another.  Also saw dunlins, lesser yellowlegs, great blue heron and the usual gulls, sanderlings, and brown pelicans.   Also more people on the beach.

 Small flock of Willets:

 Large flock of Willets:

Video of Willets Snoozing 

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Video of Shorebirds Scurrying

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 Marbled Godwits with the Willets:

L to R:Lesser Yellowlegs, Willet, Marbled Godwit:

 Lesser Yellowlegs

Black-Bellied Plover

 Dunlin

 Dunlins

Great Blue Heron joins Sunbathers

At 4:30 we had our usual drinks on the porch with a snack.   For dinner I prepared Shrimp   Puttanesca  served arugula salad.

Day 9 Captiva

Monday was started with coffee and pastry from the Santiva General Store.  I took my early morning  stroll on the beach....just a few pelicans this am and a few shore birds.

Served a grapefruit on the porch when I got back.  Al did some laundry ....nice to have an in house laundry man!  I made egg salad sandwiches for lunch served with sliced tomatoes, pickles and iced tea.
Afternoon spent at the pool and took a quick walk about 4:00 on the beach before going in for drinks and taquitos on the "Veranda".

 4:00 on Beach

Al grilled hamburgers which we enjoyed with all the fixins and fried okra. Served with choice of beer and wine.

Day 27 on Captiva

This morning we went to Bailey Homestead Preserve to check out  Shipley Trail and more. To learn more about this homestead read this link.  We arrived about 9:30 and was greeted in the parking lot by a gathering of cattle egrets and ibis feeding under the trees.

 

 

Spotted a Phoebe near the manmade lake by the entrance.

 

There was also an alligator sunning on an island in the lake. I first thought it was a log.

 

We saw many beautiful wildflowers on the trail.

 

At the reservoir ponds there were many anhinga sunning, several cormorants feeding, many snowy egrets,  brown pelicans, great blue herons, and more.  But no storks to be found like last year.

 

 

  

 

And Al was pointing the way to Pond Apple Trail.

 

After our hike,  we had brunch at Jerry's Café which was not busy...we walked right in to a booth.  Al ordered eggs, sausage patties, hash browns, and rye toast. I opted for  lunch of seafood salad on lettuce and tomatoes with red pepper strips, cucumber slices, egg, and fruit.  We shopped for coffee, wine, sandwich meat and a few other items. 

We spent the rest of afternoon at the beach....was quiet day at the beach ....nice and breezy and  warm.  We saw a pod of dolphins swim by....saw at least 6 or 8. 

 

Dinner tonight at 5:30 at Lazy Flamingo....just in time to get seats at the bar.   Started with fresh oysters on the half shell.  Al ordered fried shrimp with fries and I ordered half Caesar salad with grilled mesquite grouper and garlic bread. And of course we shared our dinners.

Day 15 on Captiva

My Sunday morning began with a walk to the beach just at sunrise.  Al was already on the porch with his coffee.  Again the beach was quiet but I enjoyed the walk and took some  photographs.

 

 When I got back to the cottage I snapped some shots of the nest.  Only this chick was seen.

I saw that Pam was up and Mike had already gone to Jensen's to  pick up his brother, Fran. Pam and I joined Al upstairs and had coffee while we waited for Mike and Fran.  After we became acquainted with Fran and had more coffee with pastries, bagels, and fruit, we went outside to check on the pool and the eagle family on what was a beautiful day-warm and very sunny.  It was an enjoyable morning keeping a watch on the nest and hanging out poolside.

 

 The five of us then took a walk up the street to take a view of the bay from Margarethe and Rene's dock.  There was one white pelican, who soon flew away, along with terns, gulls, and brown pelicans sitting on the sand barge.  A fishing boat with some people was anchored near the deck.....we watched as a swimming brown pelican tried to steal a sheep head fish from one of the fisherman as she pulled in her line but the pelican lost.

 

 Some of the scenery along the way:

 

After our walk we all decided it was time to eat breakfast or lunch.   We went to the nearby Sunset Grill just beyond the Blind Pass on Sanibel Island.  Our timing was perfect as we had no wait and arrived just ahead of the lunch  crowd

 

Mike and Fran each ordered corned beef hash and two eggs. Pam ordered cakes and eggs-two buttermilk pancakes, eggs, hash browns and meat of choice. Al had his usual order of Bagel and Lox-toasted bagel served with smoked Salmon, tomato slices, capers, onions, and cream cheese.    I ordered Eggs Captiva -homemade crab cakes and poached eggs on a toasted English muffin

\ topped with hollandaise sauce which was enough for two people.  I should not have ordered so much.  The food and setting was delightful and a good breakfast was enjoyed by all.  This restaurant certainly has an island feel about it and a great view as well.

 

Mike and Pam said their farewells and then headed with Fran in tow to visit Mike and Fran's sister for dinner before driving back to Naples.  We enjoyed their visit but it was much, much too short.

 

Al and I then took a drive through Ding Darling.  I will continue in another post with more details on the rest of Day 15.