Oh, Darling!

That's "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island.  We checked the tide schedule in order to get there during low tide, which is supposed to be the best bird watching time.  Last year we went at high tide but I think we saw about the same amount of birds.  Then I read that low tide, coupled with sunrise or sunset is best.  It took about 1 1/2 hours to get there so I don't see us arriving for sunrise, ever.

There is only one road to the island and it costs $6 to cross the causeway.

It was an absolutely beautiful day with a high temp around 84* and the gulf was picture perfect.

We had a good view of some of the shacks on the beach.

The wildlife drive through the reserve is 4 miles long and there is a $5 fee per vehicle.  If you choose to walk or ride a bike, it's only $1.  We took Titan along, so we didn't do a lot of walking away from the car.  There were plenty of places along the drive to get out and sightsee while keeping the car in sight.

We were rewarded at our first stop by these cuties.

The mom had several babies but somehow they got separated, so mom had to go and retrieve the wandering one in order to reunite her family.

Let's stay together this time.

That was really cool.  

There's a very nice overlook along one of the flats where the birds congregate.

Other than the raccoons, we saw lots of birds.

Male Anhinga

White pelicans

White pelicans

We stopped for lunch at the Sanibel Grill & Coffee Factory.  We enjoyed a turkey wrap with cheese, spinach and tomato at an outside table.  After lunch we drove to one end of the island to see the lighthouse.  Honestly, I didn't think much of it, compared to the ones in Maine.  Parking was $2 an hour but we didn't plan to spend an hour so we just drove around and I took pictures out the window.

Seriously, does that look like a lighthouse?

We stopped on our way out to use the restroom and found these cool plants.

It was a nice, lazy day and everyone had a good time.

Yes, I'm having a good time.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)