This page contains over 80 large images and composites of
Anhinga, Cormorants, Ibis, Osprey, Pelicans, Shorebirds and Storks
along with some other wildlife from Sanibel Island, Florida.

click an image to open a larger version
Use your back button to return to this page.
Composites will open in a second window.

Images on this page are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

Images are in the Birds Collection and Featured Birds Collection
(except for the sunrise, sunset and Crocodile images)
— Direct Links can be found at the bottom of this page —
 

Bunch Beach Sunrise 1150

One of the monumentally intense Florida sunrises...

Anhinga 0709

The Anhinga (or American Darter) is a member of the Cormorant family.
It has a very long neck, eats fish, and swims either completely submerged or
with its neck above water. When swimming with the neck above water it looks
a lot like a snake swimming, which led to its nickname, the Snakebird.

Anhinga 0331

Anhinga 0664

Anhinga 0726

This was a very polite Anhinga...
waving to its fans while they took its picture.

Anhinga 0745

Anhinga Drying Wings 2193

Unlike other waterbirds, Cormorant and Anhinga
feathers have no oil, so they must dry their wings.

Anhinga Swimming 0883

The lack of oil allows them to sumberge easily as
 they are less buoyant than other waterbirds. The
extra weight of the water causes them to have
to run on the water to achieve takeoff speed,
so they dry their wings to reduce weight.

Anhinga 0708, 739

Anhinga Sanibel XXL

click for 773 x 1200 version

Available as an XXL Signed Composite (3284 x 5100)

Black-Bellied Plover Sunrise 1371

Black-Bellied Plovers Sunrise 1388

When these Plovers grow their mating
feathers, they live up to their name.

Blue Winged Teals 0410, 0411

Brown Pelican Flight 1596

Brown Pelican Sunrise 0565

Brown Pelican Sunrise 0574

Brown Pelican Hunting Sunrise 1223

A 2464 x 821 single-shot panorama of Brown Pelicans herding fish into a dense ball.
Once they have the fish concentrated, they gain altitude and dive to fill their pouch.

Brown Pelican Sunrise 1277

For more Pelican shots, there is a Pelican page in the Wildlife Studies section
and some shots of White Pelicans on the Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge page.

Brown Pelican Hunting Sunrise 1287

Brown Pelican Hunting Sunrise 1292

Brown Pelican Landing 1402

Brown Pelican Landing 1396

Brown Pelican Landing SXL

click for 1500 x 654 version

Available as an SXL Signed Composite (4820 x 2100)

Brown Pelican Hunting Sunrise

A 1510 x 1325 composite of crops from the larger composite below.
This shows a Brown Pelican diving on a fish ball, accompanied by an opportunistic Gull.

Brown Pelican Hunting Sunrise XXL

click for 1500 x 750 version

Available as an XXL Signed Composite (4820 x 2410)

Cormorant 0303

The Cormorant, like the Anhinga, is a fish-eater and has no oils on its feathers, allowing
it to submerge for long periods of time to find fish. It also dries it’s wings often to reduce weight
and allow for a takeoff without running on the water to gain speed. They do take off quite often without
drying their wings though (it takes a long time to dry them), so you can often get cool running shots.

There are a large number of shots of Cormorants in flight and doing those running takeoffs
on the Cormorant page in the Wildlife Studies section and the Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge page.

Cormorant 0298

I just took a few Cormorant shots in Florida
as I have a large number from local refuges.
This fellow was quite good-looking though.

Cormorant with Prey 0313

I couldn’t resist this closeup pair with prey.

Cormorant with Prey 0312

That fish has really sharp dorsal spines. Swallowing it must be very tricky.

Florida Croc 1816

Speaking of closeups, this Crocodile was shot with a 70-200mm from ~ six to 8 feet.
I stayed on my toes and leaning back when taking these shots. This one was taken at
70mm and only covered 1/3 of the 12 foot long creature. Way too close for comfort. These
guys move slowly on land, especially when basking in the sun to warm up, but can lunge quickly.

Florida Croc 1815

Florida Croc 1823

Florida Croc 1819

The above three headshots were taken from five to six feet away at 200mm.
I cropped some foreground and background out to keep file size down, but
otherwise these are showing the entire frame. This was really close, folks.

Images are in the Birds Collection and Featured Birds Collection
(except for the sunrise, sunset and Crocodile images)

Ibis 0291

The American White Ibis is a wading bird that
is found from the mid-Atlantic south on the coast.

Ibis Dawn Flight 1163

Like many other birds (exc. herons and egrets)
the Ibis flies with its neck and legs extended.

Ibis Feeding Sunrise 1457

They feed by dipping their long, curved beak into the mud to stir up frogs,
fish, and invertebrates, but they also eat insects and small reptiles.

Ibis Feeding Sunrise 1467

While I have seen Glossy and White-Faced Ibis once in a while at Bolsa Chica
(usually at a great distance), Sanibel was my first opportunity at White Ibis.
I took advantage of the opportunity and got a number of good shots.

Ibis Feeding Sunrise 1494

The early morning light in Florida is beautiful.

Ibis Feeding Sunrise 1497

Ibis Feeding Sunrise 1506

They are very successful hunters. These were mostly after little jellyfish seen in shots below.

Ibis Feeding Sunrise 1514

Ibis Feeding Sunrise 1510

Ibis Feeding Sunrise 1523

Ibis Feeding Sunrise 1532

Ibis and Snowy Egret 0361

A jealous Snowy Egret watches as this Ibis catches a Horseshoe Crab.
He followed along for quite a while, probably to learn the technique for success.

Ibis and Snowy Egret 0366

Ibis and Snowy Egret 0368

Ibis Portrait Sunset 0963

Ibis Portrait Sunset 0975, 0978

Ibis Feeding Sunrise XXL

click for 1365 x 1200 version

Available as an XXL Signed Composite (4948 x 4350)

Images are in the Birds Collection and Featured Birds Collection
(except for the sunrise, sunset and Crocodile images)

Merlin Sunset 1023

A perched female Merlin at sunset. Normally a prairie bird, this one migrated south for the winter.

Osprey with Prey 0806, 0807

An Osprey carries off what appears to be a Knifejaw (or beakfish), which as far as I know
is normally a northern Pacific fish and must be rare in the Atlantic (not to mention in Florida).

Osprey on a Stick

Often, raptors can be found perched on a bare branch or dead tree where they can
watch in all directions for prey to appear. Photographers dub these ‘bird on a stick’.   :^)

Osprey 0506

Osprey 0530

Osprey 1572

Some of the best Osprey shots I have ever acquired were taken of this bird above
a small river just inland from the mouth, where it met the Gulf of Mexico. The background
is busy, but this is one of those rare opportunities where the bird is not too far above eye level.

Osprey 1559

Osprey 1571

Osprey 1574

Osprey 1585

Osprey 1596, 1641

The Osprey is a sea hawk and eats mostly fish. In many images of this particular bird,
you can see the unusual outer toe of the Osprey, which reverses to allow it to grasp prey
with two toes in front and two in the rear. Ospreys also tend to turn the fish head-forward to
reduce drag (see image above, or click for a composite image of an Osprey carrying a trout).

Osprey 1634

Osprey 1660

Osprey 1662

Osprey XXL

click for 1287 x 1200 version

Available as an XXL Signed Composite (5344 x 4984)

Roseate Spoonbill Flight 9885

The Spoonbill is an inordinately difficult bird
to shoot in flight in a clear sky due to the lack
of contrast, and getting a clean shot of one
is an extremely frustrating experience.

Roseate Spoonbill Flight 9888

It took me a few tries to determine that the only
way to get a decent shot was to track the base
of the wing where the shadow adds contrast.
 

Roseate Spoonbill Flight 9901

Roseate Spoonbill Flight 9902

Roseate Spoonbill Flight XXL
(a composite flight study)

click for 2250 x 675 version

Available as an XXL Signed Composite (5000 x 1500)

White Pelican 0262

The White Pelicans were for the most part
just hanging around at Sanibel and didn’t
offer many good shot opportunities.

White Pelican 0266

For an extensive study of the White Pelican,
you can visit the Pelicans page in the Wildlife
Studies section, or the Sepulveda Wildlife page.

White Pelican Landing XL

click for 1406 x 1200 version

Available as an XL Signed Composite (4100 x 3500)

Willet 0017

The Willet is a very large Sandpiper with distinctive banding on their wings.
They are quite common, and to be honest, the reason I shot this fellow was because
there weren’t any other birds around at the time. He is a very good-looking Willet though.
 

Willet 0008

Willet 0012

Willet 0004

If you want to see some interesting shots of Willets in flight,
click here or here (or stop by the Bolsa Chica Wildlife page).

Wood Stork Dragonfly Flight 1687

The only stork that breeds in North America,
the Wood Stork has a few endangered colonies
in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. They eat
fish, frogs and large insects in shallow water.
This guy seems to be after a dragonfly.

Wood Stork Flight 1694

This overhead fly-by is the only opportunity
I had at a Wood Stork while I was at Sanibel,
and I was very glad that they came out so well.
This is a pretty large bird, with a roughly
six foot wingspan and a bald head.

Wood Stork Flight XL

click for 1500 x 1079 version

Available as an XL Signed Composite (2710 x 1950)

Bunch Beach Sunset 1829

How’s that for drama? Some sunset, eh?

Birds of Sanibel XXXL

A composite showing the diversity of bird life on Sanibel Island, Florida.

click for 1397 x 1200 version

Available as an XXXL Signed Composite (10360 x 8900)

Standard Composites are available Framed as well.
Below is an example of Birds of Sanibel with a digital frame.

Birds of Sanibel XXXL (Framed)

click for 1500 x 1278 version

Available as an XXXL Signed Composite (12768 x 10878)

Images on this page are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

Images are in the Birds Collection and Featured Birds Collection
(except for the sunrise, sunset and Crocodile images)
and can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links)

Anhinga
Assorted Shorebirds
Pintails, Teals & Ruddy Ducks
Brown Pelican
Cormorants
Ibis & Roseate Spoonbill
Falcons & Kites
Osprey
White Pelican
Assorted Birds