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J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge

(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

Category: Birds, Flora, Florida, Photography Tags: american white pelican, button mangrove, ding darling nwr, goatweed, great blue heron, grey plover, least sandpiper, little blue heron, osprey, red mangrove, red-breasted merganser, sea grape, white ibis, yellow-crowned night heron

Wading For Inspiration

Header Image: Reddish Egret A small mound of sand just under the surface of the water turned out to be a good spot to sit. My knees supported the camera lens and I had a good field of view toward the shore where moments ago I had been prone in the mud. The sun was now rising behind me and as long as I made no sudden moves, birds went about their… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Photography Tags: fort de soto park, great blue heron, marbled godwit, red-breasted merganser, reddish egret, short-billed dowitcher, snowy egret, willet

Beach In Winter

Header Image: Sandbar With Pelicans and Shorebirds Mid-January. Cold front scheduled in a couple of days. Where to go birding? If you happen to be native Floridians who love to bird-watch, there is only one place to go in winter. THE BEACH ! We made it to North Beach at Fort DeSoto Park in St. Petersburg, Florida just after sunrise. The glow of the early morning sun gives everything a very special… Read More

Category: Birds, Florida, Photography Tags: american white pelican, bunces pass, dunlin, forster's tern, fort de soto park, great egret, lesser scaup, little blue heron, loggerhead shrike, osprey, red-breasted merganser, reddish egret, royal tern, sanderling

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