Rare Visitors to Sanibel Island

As usual , this winter season saw many new visitors on island.

Word has gotten out that Sanibel is about as perfect a retreat from the icy cold and snow as one could wish for in the range of choices.

And so there was a parade of holiday makers, some staying a few days, some a week, some a month who were first timers for our little tropical island.

No doubt among them, were celebrities.  News makers, the rich and famous and others whom one might recognize from tv and the papers.

But there was probably less hue and cry about the two legged celebrities than there was about the avian rarities.  While the Island is famous world wide for its migratory bird populations, these migrants were particularly notable.

One of these, a Flamingo who may have lost his way in the Everglades, ended up in the water ways surrounding Sanibel.  The first sighting was in late January off the Sanibel Causeway and it received such acclamation that people were coming from all over Florida to get a glimpse.

Some did, and there were some spectacular shots taken of this gorgeous visitor.....from a distance, of course.  Even with those, a couple of professional photographers with both patience and the right equipment were able to capture images that also captured the full enthusiasm of bird watchers who hoped to get a glimpse as well.

Future sightings took place through February, though it has been a couple of weeks since any reports were made.  But that is the way it is with birds.  They come and they go, and much of the ability to see them depends on luck as well as keen eyesight and patience.

Another rare avian visitor was the Great White Pelican who just appeared this month in the Ding Darling Nature preserve----- a good 4,000 miles from its home range of Africa.

Southwest Florida news outlets reported recently that the bird was first spotted on a  Sunday in early March .  But it was not so apparent,  as was the Flamingo. The Great White Pelican joined the flock of American White Pelicans and though it is bigger and has a different shaped head than the "ordinary" White Pelicans, one had to look closer in the flocks to discern it from the others.

The stray pelican immediately made waves in the birding community, including among "Ding" Darling staff, who promptly made it the refuge's Facebook cover photo.

Sanibel Island is a very special place, and this winter claimed the Island more special than ever!