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(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) Sea breeze. Invigorating. Gulls calling, mullet jumping, the unique aroma of low tide, fiddler crabs scurrying for cover. Gini and I grew up with these sensations along Florida’s Gulf of Mexico coast. It feels like home. Today we are visiting the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island just west of Fort Myers, Florida. Sanibel is a barrier island jutting into… Read More

(Click images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) In the near-dark, Common Gallinules were gabbling and the calls of distant gulls confirmed we were near the coast. Weather reporters, excuse me, nowadays they prefer to be known as “Climate Experts”, advised it would be chilly and nearly calm this morning. “Chilly” to a native Floridian is below 70 F/21 C. The prediction of 42 F/5.5 C was accurate. The wind was ripping… Read More

(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.) There is something to be said for sleeping in. It feels good. Especially when the days are cold. Lounging about sipping hot coffee thinking about how your lazy self should have been up and out the door while it was still dark because how else are you ever going to encounter Nature in all its glory when it’s common knowledge there is nothing… Read More

(Click to enlarge images. Click again to zoom.) It was mid-November and plans were in progress for Thanksgiving. Family and food. Not enough of the former and too much of the latter. Such is life. We continue to be thankful for both. For a small break from thinking about all that shopping and planning and shopping, Gini and I made an early morning visit to one of our local patches. The area… Read More

Watching a sunrise is special. Sharing it with someone you love – priceless. We have an established routine at this spot. Begin near the boat ramp, walk along the lake shore until we reach the canal, check the big trees near the footbridge for warblers and vireos, traverse the open grassy area stopping again to inspect the scattered oaks, linger around the low wet area, look at the small pond for ducks… Read More