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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.) Good news and bad news. The good news: Our central Florida winter has not had any days below freezing. That means we have been pretty comfortable as we explore. The bad news: Our central Florida winter has not had any days below freezing. That means mosquito larvae have not suffered much degradation and there will soon be many hungry adults looking for a feast…. 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

Header Image: Brown Pelicans Our morning at Fort DeSoto Park had been wonderful so far. Birds in the mud. Birds in the water. Now that I was clean and dry less muddy and no longer dripping, Gini and I headed for the Gulf fishing pier. The park consists of a little over 1300 acres. Although not a huge area, it is ecologically diverse and attracts a multitude of wildlife. Over seven miles… Read More