Osprey

Once again I started the day with a walk on the beach, then after breakfast we went kayaking at Tarpon Bay, on the Commodore Creek water trail, in the J.N. Ding Darling Wildlife refuge, where I captured this osprey sitting on a branch overhanging the water. The trail weaves through the mangroves. The mangrove community plays an important role in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. In south Florida, three different mangrove species protect and stabilize low-lying coastal lands and provide protection and food for the animals that live in the estuary. Mangroves serve as feeding, breeding, and nursery grounds for a variety of fish, shellfish, birds, and other wildlife. An estimated 75% of the game fish and 90% of the commercial fish species in south Florida depend on the mangrove system. We spent a bit of time at the beach in the afternoon, then Roger and I went for a bike ride to Tarpon Bay beach, where someone had been very creative building a great sand-castle, and we saw a white ibis foraging along the shoreline.

Best viewed in large.