Friday, August 10, 2012

Oystercatchers At Little Estero Lagoon: Part III

Images presented in this article were captured during the late afternoon of 28 July when I met up with Bob Blanchard, and on the mornings of 31 July and 10 August 2012.


The American Oystercatcher above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.

The two late July visits to Little Estero Lagoon were primarily in anticipation of the hatching of an American Oystercatcher egg observed over a four week period. Bob Blanchard would observe that the egg had disappeared from the nest by the afternoon of 1 August with compelling evidence that the egg was stolen by human hands. As of this writing, the culprit remains unknown. On 2 August, Fort Myers biologist Keith Laakkonen surveyed the nest area to conclude that the egg loss was not attributable to predation. Keith was witness to a mating attempt by the oystercatchers during his morning visit which was encouraging news. I met up with Francois Constantin to close this three part article. Oystercatchers were not initially observed anywhere near the former nest, but the species was ultimately seen heading south in small groups or alone totaling 11 individuals as was noted in late June. Although the high tide in the Lagoon was not favorable for wading bird observation on the 10 August visit with Frank, the visit on 31 July was ideal for the larger birds. The August visit to the Lagoon was very favorable for shorebird action, however, which included sighting of the following species: American Oystercatcher, Brown Pelican, Laughing Gull, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Least Tern, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Forster's Tern, Royal Tern, White Ibis, Magnificent Frigatebird, Double-crested Cormorant, Sanderling, Red Knot (many banded), Black-bellied Plover, Wilson's Plover, Snowy Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Black Skimmer, Willet, Short-billed Dowitcher, Snowy Egret, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Reddish Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, Osprey, and Common Ground Dove. Other species represented here were observed in the prior two visits to the Lagoon. There was no personal observation of mating activity of the oystercatchers during the 10 August visit.


The American Oystercatcher above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The American Oystercatcher above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The American Oystercatcher above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Magnificent Frigatebird above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Sanderling above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Brown Pelican above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The scene including the Naples skyline on the horizon above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Willet above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The scene above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Brown Pelican above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Brown Pelican above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Osprey above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Ruddy Turnstone with a Red Knot at lower right above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Willet above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Brown Pelican above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The American Oystercatcher above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The sunset above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The American Oystercatcher above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The American Oystercatcher above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The American Oystercatcher above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Green Heron above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Great Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Double-crested Cormorant above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Snowy Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Green Heron above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Laughing Gull above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Snowy Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Snowy Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Great Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Snowy Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The White Ibis above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Great Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The American Oystercatcher above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Roseate Spoonbill above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Belted Kingfisher above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Northern Cardinal above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Green Heron above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The Osprey above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in July 2012.


The American Oystercatcher above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in August 2012.


The Ruddy Turnstone above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in August 2012.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in August 2012.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in August 2012.


The Wilson's Plover above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in August 2012.


The juvenile Reddish Egret above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in August 2012.


The Forster's Tern above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in August 2012.


The Sandwich Tern above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in August 2012.


The Red Knot above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in August 2012.


The Snowy Plover above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon in August 2012.


The American Oystercatcher egg above was photographed at Little Estero Lagoon on 31 July 2012. This was the last time I saw the egg before its disappearance from the nest.

Please see Oystercatchers At Little Estero Lagoon: Part I.
Please see Oystercatchers At Little Estero Lagoon: Part II.
Please see Oystercatchers At Little Estero Lagoon: Part IV.

7 comments:

  1. wat moet je hier nog van zeggen.het is adembenement mooi en dan heb ik nog te weinig gezegd.fantastisch.

    ReplyDelete
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    Replies
    1. Thank you for the information, Damien. I have investigated the Adbeans company and regret that I cannot support your business model as it would adversely interfere with the content of the blog I provide my readers. Good luck in your search.

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  3. Excepcional trabajo con la luz en todas las fotos. Momentos de gran belleza. Me encantan las del Ostrero. Saludos

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful light, brilliant, colourful and soooo lively!
    Your King fisher in flight is very impressive among all your other fantastic shots!!
    I ma truly in awe!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bob,

    I have been a fan of your site for months now! Great shooting skills and wonderful photos. Really jealous of the Kingfisher; they are tough to catch.

    When reading your blog RSS feed, thought, the captions to your photos are unreadable due to the color of the font (light green against white background). Any thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your thoughts on the difficult to see font color, DrMickey. I have investigated this and have chosen a new HEX color for the selected text. It will be available in my future articles beginning today. Hopefully this solves the problem you've experienced.

      Delete