Dec. 2, 2018 - Sanibel - Birds with Food

On our recent trip to Sanibel Island, Florida, I photographed several birds with fish they had caught. This is a first winter Laughing Gull standing in the shallow water on Sanibel’s Gulf of Mexico beach near the cottage we rented. I don’t know what kind of fish it has. At this time of year, the juvenile gulls like this one have much more interesting and colorful plumage than the adults.

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Here is another juvenile Laughing Gull. (This photo and the first one were taken on different days.) I can’t tell if the gull standing in the water is trying to take the fish away, or if it just lost the fish to the bird that is flying away.

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Here’s a Royal Tern with a small fish in its mouth. I didn’t see any of these birds actually catch the fish; I just saw them carrying their lunch along the beach.

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I walked one of the trails at Ding Darling NWR. As I stood at the end of the trail, this Osprey flew by with a fish in its talons. Notice how the Osprey is holding the fish parallel to its own body. It does this to minimize air resistance and make it easier to fly while holding its catch.

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This photo was taken near the lighthouse on Sanibel Island. That’s a really big fish, even for a bird as large and powerful as an Osprey.

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This is the same bird as shown in the previous photo. It is perched on a nest platform built for use by an Osprey. Obviously, the nest has not been started yet. Those Fish Crows would gladly take the Osprey’s catch away if they could.

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