Manatees by the Saltmarsh

November 18, 2018

Regis and I went birding at the Saltmarsh yesterday and saw lots of birds.  We saw four different birds of prey:  Bald Eagle, Osprey, Red-tailed hawk, and Northern Harrier.  While standing on the dock at the intracoastal waterway (ICW), I looked across the ICW at the GTM Reserve to watch all the bird activity.  Regis called that a manatee had just surfaced.  It turned out to be four manatees cruising by the dock.  There was a baby in the group!  They were so close, I couldn’t get a picture with my long lens until they got further away.   I suppose they are migrating to warmer waters.  There were lots of boats headed south on the ICW also.  The manatees were hugging the shore and I hope they do that the whole way so they don’t get run over by those boats.

I took Regis birding with me at the same place I saw the leucistic Blue-gray Gnatcatcher last Monday and Regis found it again.  How cool is that??

Following are some favorite bird pictures from the last few bird hikes.