Sunday, October 12, 2008

Sunday's Hit and Miss Rain Clouds

Today was kind of hot and humid. It was sunny all day, but there were some really big white fluffy clouds that looked like they might drop rain at any time. Early this evening there were some big sprinkles for a few minutes on the east end of the island.

Later, around 6:00 PM I drove out to the causeway. I thought there might be a beautiful sunset with all the clouds that were around. As I drove over the first bridge, the gulls were swooping down beside me and then gliding along on the air currents.

I stopped at the first island to take some pictures. The sunset wasn't all the colorful, but the mixture of clouds was interesting to watch. All around in any direction I looked, there was rain coming down from some of the clouds. There was a lot of thunder and lightning, but it was further out.

The thunder, lightning, and threatening clouds didn't seem to bother any of the people who were out fishing or sky watching. I saw one man catch two fish while I was there. He was on the Bay side, and I saw fish jumping out of the water on the other side of the island.

Just as I was ready to leave, I noticed two ladies on the south side of the island taking pictures. Then I saw an eagle fly up from the water carrying a fish in it's talons. Just as I was wishing I had been prepared with the video cam, another one swooped down, grabbed a fish and flew away. Darn, I'm never prepared! Oh well, maybe another day. As I started to drive away, I looked back over in the same area and there was an eagle with a big fish in it's talons just hanging in one spot facing the wind with it's wings flapping. The wind was pretty strong. That was a neat thing to watch; and would have been a neat video. :-(

Going off island on the causeway.

Looking toward the lighthouse.

Looking toward the east end of causeway.

Beach on south side of causeway island.





Clouds head toward Tarpon Bay. Raining over West Gulf area and toward the end of Sanibel.
Looking toward Ft. Myers Beach.

Gradually more rain reached West end of Sanibel.

Pretty heavy rain coming down on the little islands scattered in San Carlos Bay.
The best shot I could get of the Eagle with a fish.

Going back toward Sanibel on the causeway.


8 comments:

Snowbird said...

Pretty impressive clouds. I really miss the Dairy Queen eagles. Their nest got blown down last spring. I wonder where they moved to.

Tootie said...

I'm guessing they moved in the preserve that's behind Matzaluna, because they are around here quite a bit. We also see them flying around toward the golf course. I think they're still close by.

antigoni said...

Awesome photos. You are so lucky to live there.

gpc said...

You're sure it wasn't an osprey? I love to watch them fish! I've seen the eagles, but I've never seen them fishing.

George Townboy said...

What a paradise Sanibel is! Your pictures and writing about the island showcase it exquisitely. I was lucky enough to spend a few hours on Sanibel one afternoon way back in '94, but I'll never forget the experience.

Smalltown RN said...

what a wonderful place you live and I love the pictures of the sky....do you by any chances participate in Sky watch Friday? if you don't you might want to consider participating...

Anyhow, thaks for stopping by my blog....

Maria Verivaki said...

i love the way you hardly ever capture people in your shots - seems like you got the whole place to yourself!

Kahshe Cottager said...

I do love seeing pictures of clouds and these ones are very moody! Amazing to have seen the eagle and I regret you weren't able to photograph it too but at least you did get to see it!