More wildlife

Monday 29 January
This morning, we did make it up for the sunrise, but it was so cold! I decided just to take my phone for a camera, and typically I came to regret it! It was fine for the sunrise, as I knew it would be, but what I hadn’t counted on was the sight of a couple of Black skimmers, skimming over the surface of the water, feeding. For those not familiar with them, Skimmers are quite a large long-winged bird with stark black and white coloring, and a long black and red beak, with the lower mandible being longer than the top. They feed by opening their bill and dropping the long, narrow lower mandible into the water, skimming the surface until they feel a fish. We didn’t actually see them catch a fish, but watching their precise flying, skimming the surface of the water, adjusting for incoming waves, was fascinating. I have seen the birds before, and photographed them, but never in action like this!
The rest of the day was a repeat of yesterday, Wildlife refuge in the morning, National seashore in the afternoon, but today was sunny all day, though not overly warm. Today, before leaving the wildlife refuge, we visited the Manatee Observation deck, where the Haulover Canal connects the Indian RiverLagoon and Mosquito Lagoon, and we got to see several manatees as well as a few dolphins. My collage shows a Glossy ibis, a Wood stork, a manatee, and what would a trip to Florida be without a shot of an alligator, taken safely through the car window! We had seen the Glossy Ibis yesterday, but in the overcast weather yesterday, they just appeared to be black, but today’s sunshine brought out their true colours!
Step count: 11,541