With The Fishes At Bunche Beach Preserve

As the dog days of summer wane, I made an early morning trip to Bunche Beach Preserve.

The Willet above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

The weather forecast called for rain and I was prepared with a trash bag to cover the camera if it did.

My arrival at San Carlos Bay was about ten minutes before sunrise.

Marie Di Rosa, Bird Patrol volunteer and excellent birder, above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

In the next five hours I would only see the sun once while it otherwise remained obscured by overcast conditions.

On the approach to the parking area a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks were observed perched on the same branch of a tree.

The Semipalmated Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

They were very intolerant of my stopping to take their photo as they took flight before I could close the door of the car even though I was a couple hundred feet from them.

Although I didn't get a good look at them, I'd speculate that they were juveniles.

The Little Blue Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

As I made my way toward the west channel walking in the flats of the bay I stopped for extended periods of time to observe the small groups of birds that were feeding in the shallow pools.

The tide would recede for the next couple of hours until it turned shortly before 9am.

The Black-bellied Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

The light remained subdued enough to create photography of the wildlife quite challenging while testing the capability of the camera and my understanding of what settings to use under the circumstances.

Flight shots were particularly daunting to capture successfully and I met with great failure in review of the images taken as the shutter speeds were simply not fast enough to freeze the action in most instances.

The Short-billed Dowitcher above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

Virtually every wading and shore bird that can be expected to be seen this time of year at Bunche Beach was observed.

Osprey were in greater numbers than I'd seen them here before.

The Brown Pelican above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

Although I studied the Osprey and its hunting tactics extensively, I failed to see it come up with a catch, though a close flyby with one was observed.

A Marbled Godwit at one point was seen to show aggression toward a Willet that got too close.

The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

There were four godwit seen in all and they interestingly kept a great distance from one another.

Black Skimmers have settled in to the area again and will be appreciated through early May with regularity.

The Osprey above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

A couple hundred yards toward the west, a Little Blue Heron was observed to capture a sea creature which attracted the interest of several Laughing Gulls.

One of the gulls in the next moment as the heron flew toward me was observed to have the quarry after a scuffle at the edge of the west channel.

The Laughing Gull above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

I was unable to see whether the gull had taken the food directly from the beak of the heron or if the food had been dropped.

The other gulls gave great chase of the Laughing Gull which took flight with the prize which lasted for upwards of a minute before the sea creature was consumed in flight.

The Tricolored Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

A second wildlife observer was seen walking along shore and with a close look I was able to determine that it was local birding expert Wes Dirks.

Wes told me that he was headed to the east channel and I of course regret not leaving the west channel with him to gather some more insight about the wildlife and hear another interesting story he would tell.

Wes Dirks above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

Drizzle would fall intermittently in the next few hours which did not deter a few fishermen from arriving on the scene.

Jesus Diaz and his friends Hector and Dinero were very successful in catching primarily Mullet with a cast net.

The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

Dinero told me that the fish and sausage would make a great meal on the grill with a few cervezas on the side.

I don't recall the Mexican town Dinero told me he was from, but he noted that the birds there would allow for some great wildlife photography.

The fisherman above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

As the tide rose, the Osprey became particularly active over the bay.

It was a little unnerving to see all the sea life that I was crawling around with taken from the water by the birds.

The scene above above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

I was fortunately only bitten by a crab once.

As the skimmer and herons flew over the channel, they would startle fish that would make a splash on the surface of the water with a quick getaway.

The Great Blue Heron above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

Surrounded by hundreds of birds all morning long was what makes this place one of my favorite wildlife venues in the Fort Myers area especially when well timed in its visit.

One of the specialties of Bunche Beach Preserve in the Piping Plover wasn't seen.

The Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

Juveniles of most species were observed with some of the species still sporting breeding plumage.

None of the birds observed on this visit to the preserve were banded.

The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2011.

A walk to the east channel remains very long overdue while it was rewarding to make an equally overdue morning visit to Bunche Beach Preserve itself this week.

I heard from Gayle Sheets noting that the flags carried by Marie indicate that she was at the preserve checking to see, which is an objective of a dedicated group from May through October, if any turtles may have visited and left a nest on shore overnight.