Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Egmont Key NWR: 11-13-16



Madagascar Periwinkle 




Willet with a crab breakfast
 Although both parents incubate the eggs, only the males spend the night on the nest.



 Wallets and other shorebirds were once popular food.  In his famous Birds of America accounts, John James Audubon wrote that Willet eggs were tasty and the young "grow rapidly, become fat and juicy, and by the time they are able to fly, afford excellent food."





Because Willets find food using the sensitive tips if their bills, and not eyesight alone, they can feed both during the day and at night.


As we approached the east side of the island on the 8 am ferry from Ft Desoto,  an Osprey approached the Lighthouse from the west side of the island.



At the nest on the Scanning Tower the Ospreys will use all sorts on nesting material.


Female Osprey (notice her brown pigmented "necklace")




Probably a male Osprey (notice his clean throat area without a necklace)



Dorantes Skipper





As the afternoon sun waded toward the horizon, there were some beautiful cloud formations.


And when we got home, I headed up to our deck to catch the last visions of the day.









Amen!




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