Just back from another great trip to Florida - this time the Gulf Coast at Naples. Not so much photography, but as always a chance to get snaps of some new species or better ones of those i've seen before.
The pick of the shots were taken on Naples beach where Sanderling, Willet, Snowy Egret and several species of tern wandered happily amongst the sunbathers.
Sanderling
Why fly when you can just walk around the people?
Willet
Snowy egret
Royal tern (see top also)
Sandwich tern
Fosrter's tern
Pelican cleaning bill
Plover
Ruddy Turnstone
It wasn't only birds at the beach, though. Walking the strand we came across the following sight....
If you look in the centre of the next shot you get another clue ........
Guessed? A cownose ray. Several in fact working the shoreline
I saw a shoal of about 15 of these when I was fishing from the pier one day, although I didn't catch any. Someone else caught by far and away the biggest fish I have ever seen on the end of a line though. It's hard to get the scale here - the concrete is the main support for the pier - and we are looking at several hundred pounds of fish ..................
A well-named Goliath Grouper.
More shots of these and others in the web album
HERE
