Florida - Sanibel

Final full day ~ off to Sanibel

MUSAP enjoying Ding Darling

Best thing about Day #5? Catching up with my friend Blair. We spent summers together in Duxbury when we were teenagers - lots of family memories. He moved to Florida over 30 years ago. We lost touch, then reconnected. We share a love of nature photography and push each other to do more and work for better photographs.

Blair looking for a heron that was hiding

Blair wanted to start the day with a sunrise shoot - I declined! He went without me and then came to pick me up for a day of photography fun.

shorebird with a fish, or it might be a shrimp

First stop of the day was Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge. This has been a place we have visited together every winter for the past several years. Ding Darling is part of a mangrove ecosystem. It’s a stopping point for lots of migrating birds.

white pelicans

To see Ding Darling you drive along their Wildlife Drive and pull over whenever you see something of interest. Lots to see and not too much walking. We saw lots of egrets (great & snowy, herons (great blue, little blue, tri-color), anhinga, and pelicans.

tri-color heron

There was a flock of roseate spoonbills and I caught them in flight. Also saw a bald eagle when I was scanning the skies.

roseate spoonbills

There were lots of birders and photographers along the drive. Also some hopeful fisherman.

fisherman hoping for a bite

CLICK HERE for Ding Darling photos.

white ibis

After grabbing a quick lunch and picnic behind the store we headed to the Bailey Tract. This is another place we have photographed together on previous visits. It’s managed by Ding Darling, but far less crowded. There are several looping trails.

wildflower

Most of our photography was plants on this stop.

great egret

We saw an egret who posed well for the camera. Also a butterfly that stayed still for a photo op.

white peacock butterfly (thanks BTH for the ID on this one)

Blair noticed a rain gauge and discovered a little frog in the top of it.

frog (no idea what kind)

CLICK HERE for Bailey Track photos.

foliage at Bailey Tract

We were both getting tired but we weren’t done yet. Last stop on Sanibel was the fishing pier near the lighthouse at the south end of the island.

egret at dusk

It was nice to stroll on the beach and there were some birds at the water’s edge that were good subjects for my camera.

reddish egret

Our last stop of the day was Bunche Beach back in Ft Myers. We thought we might get some sunset photos but clouds had moved in so we weren’t successful with that idea. But being on the beach at the end of a day spent with a good friend was a nice ending to this adventure.

at Bunche Beach

CLICK HERE for more photos of Sanibel and Bunche Beach

snowy egret - golden slippers

New goal - take pictures of family & friends with MUSAP.

MUSAP needs to pose with more friends and family

Florida ~ Naples

On day 4 of my Florida adventure I kept going south to Naples. 

at Naples Botanical Garden

I was happy to connect with friends from MA who now live there year round. We had known each other through our behind the scenes volunteer work at the WGBH Auction ~ so nice to still have connections from those memorable times! I started volunteering at the Auction in 1968 and kept going back until they switched to their online format.

me with Nancy

I had a lovely brunch with Nancy & Bud at their club. Then Nancy and I went to the Naples Botanical Garden. It’s a beautiful place for a walk. They have a variety of different of different gardens so there are plenty of opportunities for photography. We wandered through the Asian, Water, Florida, Caribbean, Brazilian, and Children’s gardens.

overlooking the bocce court at Naples Botanical Garden

I wasn’t sure how much we would see in January but there were lots more flowers than I expected.

lily pads

There’s a butterfly Aviary in the Children’s Garden. I was using my point and shoot camera - not the best choice for capturing images of butterflies.

zebra longwing butterfly

CLICK HERE for Naples Botanical Garden photos.

at Naples Botanical Garden

On my way back to my motel in  Ft Myers I decided I had time for a quick stop at the Calusa Nature Center. This was a place I visited last year so I knew I could get some pix and have another nice woodland walk. This nature center has some indoor exhibits, a planetarium (didn’t go there), some bird aviaries for rehab birds, and 3 nature trails.

caracara ~ beautiful raptor

After a quick pass through the exhibits I went for a walk. Almost lost track of time out in the woods because it was so nice to be outside.

MUSAP along the trail

CLICK HERE for photos at Calusa Nature Center.

pine cone along the trail

Last stop of my day was to see South Pacific at Broadway Palm Theater. This is a dinner theater in Ft Myers. Dinner was a buffet with plenty of choices, especially for dessert. The show was very good. I’d go to another show there in the future.

theater, located in a strip mall in Ft Myers

Here’s another ‘unexpected’ from the trip - an analog in my rental car.

analog clock - gotta love it!

Florida ~ Punta Gorda

Day 3 and I had the kind of weather the Florida Chamber of Commerce has to love.

MUSAP enjoys the beach in Punta Gorda

My GPS decided to take me way out of my way while driving to Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda. Note to self - look at map and have a general idea of where I’m going before starting the car. I was hoping to arrive at 9:45, after calling for proper directions and getting turned around I was an hour late getting there.

MUSAP checking out some vultures

Peace River Wildlife Center is another non-profit that I decided to visit on this adventure. Their mission is to rescue and care for native small animals. They have aviaries that are open for public viewing that house the birds that can’t be released because of the extent of their injuries.

hawk

When planning my trip I discovered Peace River offers a special opportunity for photographers. For a donation shutter bugs are given access to enter the aviaries with resident birds for an hour of picture taking. It’s supposed to happen before they open to the public at 11, but happily they let me still be a shutterbug even though I was an hour late getting there.

great egret

It was amazing to enter the aviaries with the birds of prey - bald eagles, a wide variety of hawks, vultures.

bald eagle

The burrowing owls shared their space with a kestrel.

burrowing owl

I wasn’t too excited about going into the pelican enclosure until I got in there. The pelicans were unexpectedly beautiful. This was the only enclosure that was open above, so there were many visiting pelicans in there too. I couldn’t tell which were which. The visitors are smart birds that have figured out where they can get a safe, free meal.

brown pelican

Also in with the pelicans were sandhill cranes, herons, egrets, and even a frigate bird.

sandhill crane

This is another place that I will visit again when I am back in the area. If I lived in the area I would consider being a volunteer there. It’s a very clean facility and everyone I spoke with was friendly and welcoming.

brown pelican

CLICK HERE to see the photographs of the birds at Peace River WIldlife Center.

black crowned night heron

The Wildlife Center is adjacent to Ponce de Leon Park in Punta Gorda so I walked over to take a look at the beach and the mangroves. Found a few things that attracted my eye.

wave and wood

CLICK HERE to see photographs

mangrove beach in Punta Gorda

I had a few possibilities of places to stop before continuing down the coast to Ft Myers. I decided to check out Octagon Wildlife Sanctuary another non profit that cares for exotic wildlife. This place is run and cared for entirely by volunteers… and it looks like they could use some more help. Their web page encourages you pack a picnic lunch because they have places for you to sit and eat. Let’s just say I didn’t sit in any of the sagging, broken chairs. In all fairness, I’d prefer they use their money for animal care.

picnic places

The lady at the entrance was sweet. She explained that Octagon is like a nursing home for these animals. They have no place else to go and they will get to live out their lives in the best circumstances that they can provide for them.

tiger playing with barrel

They have a variety of animals. Each enclosure had a sign with info about the species, but also had info about the animal who was there and the sad story that led to them coming to live at Octagon. Powerful messages and worth reading. Some people should never own animals. Big cats may be cute when they are cubs, but they will never be pets.

who keps a tiger in their backyard?

CLICK HERE to see Octagon Wildlife Center photos.

panther

along the way I found things that were unexpected ~ this is an address I would like to have.

Fiddlesticks!