Sanibel Island

Sanibel Lighthouse shares the beach with sunbathers and beachcombers.

Our stay in South Florida gave us the opportunity to revisit one of my favorite places, Sanibel Island.
Sanibel  and it's sister island Captiva are part of the Gulf Coast's barrier islands. These tiny crescent shaped pieces of land off the coast of Fort Meyers are some of the most beautiful real estate in Florida.
Sanibel is only 12 miles long and 3 miles at it's widest. Captiva is smaller at less than 5 miles long and it's widest point is only half a mile. The islands are pretty easy to navigate since there are only 2 main roads on Sanibel and one that crosses over to Captiva.

The Visitor Centor is located in a small building on the right side of Causeway Road. We stopped to get the Lighthouse Society stamp in our Passport Book since the lighthouse itself is not manned. They were great about suggesting parking areas for the places we wanted to visit.

Causeway Drive and Periwinkle Way meet in a 4 way stop intersection that is manned by a traffic officer during high use hours.  He signaled us through with a wave as we turned left on Periwinkle to visit Lighthouse Beach, home to the historic Sanibel Lighthouse. There was parking available in the beaches automated pay by the hour lot. The parking lot has multiple beach access points over wood boardwalks to protect the dunes.
We took advantage of the closest one to cross to the beach and walked along the water around the islands easternmost point where the Gulf of Mexico meets San Carlos Bay and the grounds of the lighthouse are located.

Sanibel Island Lighthouse

The iron skeleton tower was established in 1844. It sits 98 feet above sea level so you can easily see the rust brown superstructure as you stroll in the sand.
Sanibel Light has an interesting history that began in 1884 when its iron superstructure was made in the North in Jersey City and shipped to site. The ship carrying the structure sank just 2 miles from Sanibel's shores. It was recovered from the floor of Gulf and took its place on the Island later that year.
As we got closer to the lighthouse we could hear the high pitched whistling cry of a bird.  There was a large Osprey perched on the railing at the top of the lighthouse. From that vantage point it could look down at the chimney of the keepers cottage where it had built a nest and warn us all to stay away.

An Osprey nest on the chimney of the keepers quarters

You will never be lonely on Lighthouse Beach.  Sanibel and Captiva  are known for their abundant seashells. The combined length of these barrier islands runs east to west blocking the current and providing a perfect place for shells to wash ashore.
Lighthouse Beach is full of them.  During our short stroll we saw dozens of angel wings, augers, scallops and tiny conchs  We even took the time to dig a starfish out of the sand. I don't bring shells home anymore, but still love to touch them and marvel at their delicate beauty.

Beachcombing posture here is called the Sanibel Stoop. You can't help but look around your feet to see what treasures can be found.

Brown Pelican taking a rest from fishing.

The current in the channel is strong so swimming is not recommended at Lighthouse beach, but the current makes this a great place to watch for dolphins.  There were 2 pods feeding close to shore on the afternoon that we visited. I was happy to see my favorite brown pelicans fishing in the same area.

Sanibel Lighthouse is an iron skeleton tower.

 Sanibel lighthouse is a fully automated active aid to navigation and is currently lit with a drum lens.It's former third order Fresnel lens can be seen at the Sanibel Historical Museum and Village.
We enjoyed walking around the lighthouse, it's restored oil house and 2 hip roofed keepers cottages which are not open for public viewing.

Oil House

It was hard to leave such a beautiful beach but we wanted to make one more stop before heading home. We left the beach and drove Periwinkle Way through town stopping for a quick lunch of shrimp and fish sandwiches  before cutting over to Sanibel-Captiva Road which brought us to the J.N. Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge.

Sanibel and Captiva are unique in that they have a source of fresh water, a river that runs through them, creating an estuary where salt water meets fresh in a brackish combination that attracts hundreds of birds.
More that 250 species have been identified by birding enthusiasts in the J. N. 'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge.
Mr. Darling recognized the significance of Sanibel's watery environment and advocated for the creation of the Wildlife Refuge.  The 7600 acres of mangrove filled wild areas were saved from development in 1945 by the order of President Harry S Truman. It is now part of the largest undeveloped mangrove ecosystem in the United States and comprises a large portion of Sanibel Island.
Darling, a Pulitzer prize winning cartoonist, was a conservationist and was involved in the creation of the National Wildlife Federation. The name of the refuge was later changed to bear his name.

Roseate Spoonbills 

We followed the refuges 4 mile Wildlife Trail which allowed us several viewing opportunities for birds and other wildlife. We were lucky enough to see White Pelicans, Roseate Spoonbills and Yellow Crowned Night Herons in addition to the more common Hawks, Osprey, Snowy Egrets, White Ibis and Great Blue Herons. We were lucky enough to meet an experienced bird watcher who helped us to identify the less obvious species we were looking at.

The creepiest creatures of all, climbing mangrove crabs.

We spotted the creepiest creatures on the Mangrove Boardwalk where tiny crabs climb up the trunks of the Red Mangrove trees. They moved slowly along the branches like spiders with suits of armor. Not my favorite sighting of the day.

J. N. Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge has opportunities for bike riding and walking as well as small boat launches for kayaks and canoes. The Wildlife Trail is a shared use space for cars, bikes, and walking. There are many vantage points for watching birds and amphibians. Fishing is permitted.

Sanibel Island Lighthouse
112 Periwinkle Way
Sanibel, Florida
(239) 472-3700

J. N. "Ding" Darling Wildlife Refuge
1 Wildlife Dr
Sanibel, Florida
(239) 472-1100

The Sandpipers are Here

Semipalmated Sandpipers to be exact.   They are yearly August visitors to the Fundy coast as they continue their  migration from the Arctic to the South America.

The Sandpipers stop in Fundy to feed on small shrimp that are abundant in the mud of the Bay at low tide, and stay until they have consumed enough to double their weight and energy stores for the long flight south.  They will not stop again until they reach their Winter home in Brazil.

Millions of birds will stop in region of the Hopewell Rocks. We saw the leading edge of the migration, a small band of Sandpipers resting on the mud in the salt marsh at our camp ground.

Their soft murmuring to one another was musical.

When they took flight, their acrobatic swoops seemed choreographed.

I can only imagine the delight of seeing thousands at a time.

 

RV Park review: Eagle Hammock SUBASE King's Bay Georgia

USS George Bancroft on display at the bases main gate

 

Eagle Hammock RV Park is located on the Navy's Submarine base in Kings Bay Georgia.

Fred is a retired Air Force/Air National Guard Master Sergeant.  One of the benefits of his service is that we can stay at Military campgrounds called MWR Fam-camps across the country.

We stayed at Eagle Hammock for 9 days.
It is a a quiet park that is well maintained.   The sites are neat with concrete pads, metal picnic tables, and fire rings. Sites are separated by shrubs that camouflage the hookups for water, electric, sewer and cable TV.

Amenities include  excellent  free wifi, free laundry, clean bathroom and shower areas and a large clubhouse.

Sunset over the lake

The RV Park is adjacent to a small lake that is populated by alligators and a variety of birds including cormorant, wood stork and egret. We never did see an eagle.

There is a fishing pier and small boat launch.  We enjoyed watching the sunset from the pier.  It is a little disturbing  that when you walk out on the pier alligators start swimming toward you.  We came to the conclusion that people must feed them and that they were looking for a handout.

Looking for a snack

The roads in the park are loose gravel, making them difficult to navigate on a bicycle.  Outside the park the base contains 14 1/2 miles of running/bike trails for riding.

King's Bay is a full service base with Commissary, Base Exchange, Mini Market/Package Store and gas station.   It has its own Post office and a recreation area that offers a bowling alley, large gym, 18 hole golf course and a pool.

We would definitely stay here again.

The location gave us easy access to Jacksonville and to Florida and Georgia's Barrier Islands.

My only disappointment  is that the submarines are off limits and so carefully guarded that we didn't even catch the glimpse of a periscope. The only sub that we saw was the USS George Bancroft, a  static display at the bases main gate.

 

It was nice to enjoy a campfire after the burn bans in Florida all Winter.

Paynes Praire State Park

Fred looking out over the wetlands

There is a Savannah in Central Florida.It's name is Paynes. Prairie.
It is a Florida State park, part of the real Florida.
The 22,000 acre preserve includes a pine forest, fallow fields, ponds, scrub growth, wet prairie, open water and marsh.

Great Blue Heron

Moorhen

Glossy Ibis

You can see large expanses of the Prairie while driving on Route 75 between Gainesville and Ocala.  It is an unusual landscape for Florida and made us want to investigate the area.

Fred and I drove to Micanopy yesterday and hiked two of its trails.
We walked the Wacahoota Trail from the Visitors Center.
The Wacahoota winds through a forest of pine and live oak draped with Spanish moss. There were many small birds, Blue Tailed Skink rustling in the fallen leaves and a Pileated Woodpecker that we could here but not spot as it was above the canopy.
The trail ended at a 3 story observation platform that allowed us to look out over the Savannah.

Paynes Prairie is home to 3 large species. There are small herds of Bison, Spanish horses and small cows called Cracker Cattle.
We were lucky enough to spot some of the horses from the Observation Deck.

A short drive out Route 441 took us to the Ecopassage Observation Boardwalk, an observation platform over the wetlands. This was a beautiful spot but in the middle of the day we only saw frogs, fish and turtles. I would love to go back at sunset to watch the change of colors over that sea of grasses.

We then drove into Gainesville to access the La Chua Trail a 3 mile round trip walk to the Alchua Sink at the center of the prairie marsh. The trailhead was a short distance from the parking lot. We crossed the Gainesville-Hawthorne bike trail, passed a sign warning us to keep our distance from the wild animals, walked under an old railroad bridge and across a cattle guard to gain access.

Wild Spanish Horses on Paynes Prairie

We hadn't walked very far when we began to hear the rumbling bellows of alligators. The marsh was full of them, swimming, sunning themselves warm on the banks, and lying very still almost hidden in water plants.   There was even one multitasking by sunbathing in the mud with a camouflage of Water Hyacinth decorating his back.

American Alligator on Alachua Sink

The La Chua Trail also gave us glimpses of many water birds such as Great Blue Heron, Glossy Ibis, Cormorant, American Coot, Moorhen and Snowy Egret.

American Alligator sunbathing

An old Railroad bridge leads to the trail

There were other people on the trail Monday, but voices were kept soft in respect for the beautiful environment and sounds of abundant animal life.

We didn't spot any large mammals on the La Chua, a pile of Bison poo was as close as we got to seeing them in the wild, but it was a great day.

To see more photos of Paynes Prairie visit our Flickr Photo Album.

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park
100 Savannah Blvd
Micanopy, Florida
32667
(352) 466-3397

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Oak Hammock Hike
 

Yesterday was a bright and sunny 80 degrees so we packed a picnic lunch grabbed the dog and headed out to one of our favorite places in this park of the country.
Merritt Island national Wildlife refuge and the Canaveral National Seashore are two of our countries treasures. We enjoy hiking and birding and swimming here whenever we get to the area.
We made a quick stop at the visitors center to pick up a trail map and then headed for the Oak Hammock Trail.

Oak Hammock is a short trail, about a mile, through Spanish Moss draped live oaks whose long limbs create a canopy of shade. 
We saw many butterflies and swarms of red and green dragonflies. Rascal even startled a tree frog.



Green Tree Frog

 

Done with Oak Hammock we tackled Palm Hammock a slightly longer, two mile trail, through cabbage palms and ferns. It always makes me smile to see the things we grow in planters up North growing so profusely here. Boston ferns line the trunks of palms and asparagus fern grows out of dead tree trunks. Bromeliads are everywhere.
I especially like all of the air plants that hang onto any surface they can find and get all the nutrients they need from the atmosphere itself.
Rascal got a little ambitious and found a 9 Banded Armadillo rooting in the mud so he and Fred sat on a bench while I completed the walk.  I had hoped to see some feral pigs but none were out hunting at the noon hour.  There were a flock of white Ibis, many fish and more dragonflies to enjoy.

After a short rest and having enjoyed our picnic we continued to the Canaveral National Seashore. We had been there before but mostly on the Atlantic side and the Manatee Viewing area. Yesterday we decided to explore the lagoons.

We were rewarded with the sight of Roseate Spoonbills!  The only other place we have seen them in large numbers was the Everglades.


Roseate Spoonbill

 There were so many, feeding in groups and sharing the mud flats with White Pelicans and Snowy Egrets.. 

Roseate Spoonbill in Flight

It is always startling to see such large birds in flight.  They are so ungainly when the take off and land but to see their beautiful colors against a blue sky is a treat.

We were also privileged to see a Tricolored Heron, a Great Blue Heron, many Egrets, White Pelicans and a squadron of ducks.



Tricolored Heron

Great Blue Heron

Our trip would not have been complete without spotting a couple of these guys sunning themselves.
  We are so lucky to have National Park areas to enjoy. These 140,000 acres snugged up close to the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are among our favorites.
We will be in the area for another week so plan to return at least once more.

American Alligator