Summer fun at the Alamitos Bay Peninsula, in Long Beach, where I grew up, always included watching the pelicans fly overhead and dive bomb into the surf, in search of lunch.  I used to love watching “pelis”, my favorite bird. 

Here in Sanibel, pelicans are everywhere!  And, we saw plenty of them today, along with great egrets, snowy egrets, reddish egrets, and cormorants; all hoping for castoffs from the fisherman along the beach and Lighthouse pier.

Before we found ourselves surrounded by birds, the day began with my swim workout, while Bruce took a long walk on the beach near our cottage.  (For my Sun City friends who have been to Sanibel, Seahorse Cottages are located directly behind the Lighthouse Café; a great location!)

At the recommendation of those same Sun City friends, we enjoyed brunch at Grama Dot’s, thoroughly enjoying peel-and-eat shrimp (me) and fried shrimp (Bruce), after working up quite an appetite.  It was a gorgeous day, so the view of the boats at Sanibel Marina was the perfect way to enjoy those shrimp.  I had hoped to also see manatees or dolphins, but the water was too cold for the manatees and the dolphins were elsewhere…

Bruce had opted not to fish today, so it was back to the beach for some shelling and photography.

Our last stop was back at Lighthouse Beach, where we had seen dolphins and pelicans the first time.  We thought we would try our luck again.  So, that’s where the dolphins were hanging out today!  Overheard on the pier, spoken by a sunburned fisherman who had been there…awhile:  “Those dolphins have been here all damn day!”  Of course, we were ecstatic, however, he wasn’t too thrilled about the dolphins eating up his potential catch.

We didn’t see just one or two dolphins; we saw several pods, all out cruising for their lunch.  A couple of times, we watched as one would chase a fish all the way up to the shallow edge, just feet from the shore, then dart back out again.  It all happened so quick, I never had my camera ready.  But, I did manage to get my favorite bird and (part of a) water mammal together in the same frame.

Meanwhile, back to the birds, as soon as a fisherman threw some bits of fish to a pelican on the beach, birds came out of nowhere and everywhere.  It was a free for all and quite a hoot to watch.  I never had this much fun watching birds in Long Beach!