I returned to the Pelican Beach fields early this morning. My primary target were the “Butcher Birds” (aka Loggerhead Shrikes) which I had seen two days ago. The clouds cleared and I was rewarded with quality time with this duo. Why named a Butcher Bird? Although not bigger than a robin, they catch mice, songbirds and insects. Upon capture they often swing their prey till its neck brakes. If hunting is real successful the Loggerhead Shrike will impale extra dead prey on the barbs of barbed wire. Kind of sounds like a real butcher. I am used to seeing this bird’s northern cousin, the Northern Shrike.

Loggerhead Shrikes

Given my location, I obviously spent time watching all the Burrowing Owls. When one hopped up onto a post, I was lucky enough to see the owl fly into a palm tree. Otherwise I never would have seen the owl in the palm.

Burrowing Owl … Standing … On a Post … in a Palm Tree

Finally, lots of Monk Parakeets nest in the ballpark lights.

One should always look for unexpected pleasures in life, and a little bit of research helps you find these gems. Given I am spending the week down in Fort Myers, Florida I decided to casually examine what other kinds of birds might be in the area … my surprise finding was I found myself near one of the hotbed capitals of Burrowing Owls. Good ole eBird, and specifically this range map of sightings led to my discovery (I use the Snowy Owl map, then change species and dates). Apparently the town of Cape Coral which is borders Fort Myers has made the Burrowing Owl their official “town bird” and even pays residents $250 to maintain proper habitat / burrows. (read CNN article).

My research indicated the Pelican Baseball Field in Cape Coral was the real focal point. Arriving shortly after sunrise our group found a huge number of burrows … including eight owls greeting the early morning light. I had even convinced non birders (my wife and our hosts) a sunrise trip would be a real treat. They were not disappointed!

Burrowing Owls of Cape Coral (videos follow still images)

Note: Significantly higher resolution images of all photos found upon my blog exist. For speed web page loading, lower res versions are used here. Contact me should you need higher resolution images.

Videos (note: in the second video you are seeing sand being tossed out of a hole by an owl in the actual act of burrowing)(video links for email subscribers: Vid1 … Vid2)

I don’t know if the famous children’s author, Bill Peet, was a birder, but if he was … I guarantee he would have visited the Ding Darling National Wildlife Preserve. Jay  “Ding” Darling was instrumental in saving thousands of vital habitat on Sanibel Island, and he also was a Pulitzer prize winning cartoonist. Bill Peet wrote and illustrated the Wing Ding Dilly and many other stupendous books. Walt Disney called Bill Peet his greatest storyman. I rest my case!

With that preamble, I drove over to the Ding Darling Wildlife Preserve yesterday morning and timed my visit for the the two hours leading up to low tide in the morning. I recommend a visit, and you should always visit during the first low tide of the morning. You will be rewarded with a huge number of birds. During high tide, sightings will be much more difficult. (wading birds eat what the tides bring in and deposit on the flats)

Lifers for me included this Roseate Spoonbill, and the Reddish Egret found later in this post.

Wing Ding Dilly!

Brown and White Pelicans

Little Blue Heron

Green Heron

Reddish Egret

Tricolored Heron

Anhinga