AirBnB Birding! I pick our locations with care. Down here in Fort Myers we have a beautiful spot well off the main drag. Our rental is the upper floor of a nice home, and there is a wrap around balcony / covered deck (around the entire house). Early on in our stay I realized there was a pair of Red-Shouldered Hawks that were getting ready to nest in the yard. Although I had some nice photographs of the male hunting for food, this afternoon at “happy hour” I managed to capture the happy couple! The female is on your right, and is the bigger of the two hawks. Females raptors are commonly bigger than their male counterparts.

Three years ago in Tucson at our AirBnB we had a nesting pair of Western Screech Owls, and Gambels Quail which would entertain us at happy hour. I know how to choose our AirBnB’s. We head back to this spot in April!

Red-Shouldered Hawks … The Happy Couple

The Female

The Male

I took Molly up to the Babcock Webb Preserve early this morning for our bicycle ride. As noted in a prior post, the five mile paved road in the park makes for a delightful 10 mile round trip ride in a beautiful natural environment. Molly ride 20 miles which I only did 10 such that I could stop and bird / photograph.

3 miles into our ride we came across a lifer for me … Sneetches w/o Stars! Even the non birder would get excited with this sighting. I know my readers rely upon me to give good factual birding information, and while others might believe these birds were Great Egrets (over 30 feeding in one marshy field), I knew better … Sneetches!!!

In this image I caught three Sneetches (YouTube Story Link) looking for their stars, while one danced in joy. Perhaps it has seen Sylvester McMonkey McBean with his Star On and Off Machine?

Here are more images from the Sneetches’ morning, including a “student body take-off”. I had spent 20 minutes gaining the confidence of the birds and getting closer, when one car came by and caused the take-off. However, within moments they all landed once more within 40 yards of my position. (in the take-off images you will find White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Little Blue Herons in addition to the Great Egrets)

In addition to Sneetches, I found this flock of White Ibis taking care of the morning preen in a dead tree just across the river.

Finally, in closing, I photographed this Little Blue Heron (immature) in an extremely nice, artistic pose / location.

Yesterday morning I did a repeat … Harns Marsh at sunrise followed by a search for Crested Caracaras immediately afterwards. Both efforts were highly successful. My goal was to ignore the water birds and focus upon two bird species that hunt to survive, the Loggerhead Shrike and Crested Caracara.

“The small of it” would definitely be the Loggerhead Shrike. It is the only songbird about which I know which hunts other birds, small rodents, and insects. I found a pair of Shrikes after a one mile walk. This duo were obviously an established pair. In addition to watching them catch lots of insects, two Cardinals are lucky to still be alive. By a matter of inches the Shrikes failed in their attempts to kill the red birds. However, apparently a Northern Mockingbird is either big enough … or nasty enough in its own right that the Shrikes left it alone. The Mockingbird often hunted for food just a few feet from the Shrikes and was definitely left alone.

Loggerhead Shrikes

Northern Mockingbird (being left alone)

After enjoying my time with the Shrikes, it was time to try and find a “Mexican Eagle” … the Crested Caracara. This bird is actually a falcon but its large fierce appearance is more than likely how this nickname arose. Regardless, I found a Crested Caracara on Church Road. I had never seen a juvenile, which this bird apparently was given its more brown and black markings (adults are white and black … see my prior post). Thus … for the “Large of it”!

Crested Caracara