Ding Darling Sunset Beauty

As sunset approaches, at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, the light gets beautiful. The Double-crested Cormorant stands, lone dark figure against the white snow of the White Pelicans.

A Wood Stork flies into shore, backlit against the lowering sun.

A Snowy Egret guards the shore,

and flies after any intruder, full out fury.

White Pelican take-off, centered below the lowering, glowing ball.

Moonrise Bird Beauty

Went for a wonderful sunset cruise recently out of Tarpon Bay (nestled within Ding Darling NWR) Sanibel, FL, run by Tarpon Bay Explorers. We saw birds going to roost at sunset and this spectacular moonrise (taken with Canon SX 50 HS camera, photo not cropped. All photos were taken with this camera.)

Tarpon Bay (the setting for the Doc Ford novels by Randy Wayne White) stretches out before you. The pontoon boat we took is at the dock.

We passed this nesting pair of Ospreys atop a pole with a nesting platform. 

Then out to the rookery islands out in the bay where there were hundreds of birds, especially pelicans,

both White Pelicans,

and Brown Pelicans.

The birds were settling in for the night.

 The closer it got to sunset, the more birds flew in including may White Ibis, Snowy Egrets, other herons and more. The birds find safety at night on the islands and also a place to nest.

It was magical as the sun got lower.

and we had a spectacular sunset,

then moonrise. It was awesome being out in nature and experiencing the night ritual of the birds. Just us and them. Go if you can.

White Pelican Personality Profile

White Pelicans are such group-oriented birds.

They do the same things at the same time, preening

and then going out to feed.

Sending you some birds from sunny Florida where the things that are white in winter are White Pelicans, as well as Snowy Egrets, White Ibis, and Great Egrets. Often these White Pelicans have a little feeding frenzy in J. N.Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel, FL. When the wind pushs the tide out more than usual so the water levels are low, it congregates fish. These pelicans feed, often as a group, by "herding" fish and scooping the small fish up in their bills, letting the water spill out. Click on the video to watch them feed. It is such a treat to see them so close.

White Pelicans are winter visitors here. Their breeding areas are in western areas of the U.S. and Canada, such as MT, ID, UT, WY, etc. Their relatives, the Brown Pelicans, live in southern coastal areas all year, and have a different method of feeding by diving headfirst into the water to catch a fish.

After they winter here, in groups, they migrate back to their breeding areas.

Enjoy!