Lazy day on the Island

We took a stroll around the Lighthouse fishing pier today, hoping to get some photos of fish being caught.  No one was catching any fish while we were there, but there's always an abundance of other good photo ops. 

This Reddish Egret was posing so nicely on top of the roofed portion of the pier structure.

The pier has this handy fish cleaning station, complete with a cool hand pump.

The Brown Pelicans decided that it was their turn to be photographed.  

See, I'm THIS big!!!

Just a little bit shy.

The Sanibel Lighthouse was built in 1884, making it 132 years old this year.  It's definitely a big tourist draw, as it should be.

And then back home to take some pics around the yard.  Many of our plants and bushes are in full bloom.  My husband keeps our yard in beautiful shape.  His retirement may be different than he had envisioned, but our yard surely reflects his attention to detail! 

These are my favorites.  They are called Frangipani and are so sweet smelling.  I understand that if you have been to Hawaii and someone put a lei around your neck, it was probably made from these blooms.  When we moved here 3 1/2 years ago, the plants were just a stick in the ground about 2 feet tall.  We almost pulled them out.  So glad we didn't!  Now they are several feet over my head and just starting to bloom this season!

Blue Plumbago shrub.  

Pink Bougainvillea makes lots of pretty color!

Peachy orange colored Bougainvillea

Mexican Petunias are non-native and considered invasive, but they still provide some pretty color!

And then there's the birds and the bees!

Sometimes you have to immerse yourself in your job and just wallow in it!

The next two photos aren't great, but came about in an interesting way.  I was standing near the water at the back of our yard.  Three ducks came barreling into the water in front of me and just as quickly took off, again.  I didn't even have time to put my camera to my eye.  They were all quacking like crazy and flying around really fast.  I don't know if they were playing or fighting, but one of them was the pretty little Mandarin Duck.  I grabbed a couple of shots when they came back around not too far from me.