Visiting CROW

It took us quite a while just to get over the causeway and onto the island, traffic was bumper to bumper.  It's $6/car...imagine how much money they take in every day...

ka-ching, ka-ching

The view is really spectacular...

Looking the other direction, smoke from the Picayune Strand State Forest brush fire is still clearly visible.  

The Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife covers a 10 acre tract of land on Sanibel Island.  This is the center that cared for the baby eagle, E8, twice in 2016.  Although they predominately handle birds, they care for all different species of wildlife, including but not limited to, raccoons, possums, sea turtles, rabbits, snakes and so on.  They have a veterinary staff, as well as interns and volunteers.  

The tour was $20, which provides food and supplies used exclusively to treat animals in the hospital.  It included the Visitor Information Center, a 45 minute presentation (this one was about raptors) and a tour of the hospital building.  The outside enclosures can be seen but visitors aren't allowed to get close to them because it stresses out the animals, completely understandable.

They did have several animal ambassadors that we were able to see and photograph, including Lola the Kestrel

Shelldon, the gopher tortoise ...

 Bill got to feed him a hibiscus flower.  Apparently they are like crack for turtles.

FYI...gopher tortoises do not swim.  Shelldon got caught under a car and subsequently is missing "toes" on one of his feet, which would not allow him to dig a burrow for protection, as well as sections of his underside.  

Sidney, the alligator...

She is just a baby and will be raised around people so that she can be used as an ambassador, helping people understand the species and how to live with and protect them.

Our plan was to eat lunch on our way and take the 2:00 tour but since it took us such a long time to get there, we skipped lunch, so by the time the tour was over, it was nearly 4:00 and we were starving.  We stopped at out favorite deli on the island for a sandwich and a beverage and strangely enough, it was "raining" ash from the fire.  

Unfortunately, from the time we got back on the road, it took us nearly 1 1/2 hours to travel 2 miles just to reach the road that goes over the causeway.  Ugh!  Honestly, if we never travel to Sanibel again, that's okay with me.  Otherwise, it was a good day.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Sanibel and "Ding" Darling

Sounds like it could be a love story, huh?  It takes us a little over an hour to get to Sanibel Island and the J.N."Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge.  We have visited here twice before but each time we see something different.  You can read about one of our other visits here.

Although it looked like we might get rained on, it turned out to be a beautiful day.  We took Titan for a walk before leaving Punta Gorda and decided to bring him along so he didn't have to spend most of the day alone.  Beside, he loves a good car ride.  We stopped for lunch at the same small deli we stopped at last year, the Sanibel Deli and Coffee Factory.  I can't speak for the coffee but the sandwiches we had were very good and reasonably priced.

 

"Would you like condiments with that doggie?"

The wildlife refuge covers 7,608 acres and according to their brochure, is home to...
35 species of mammals
102 species of fish
14 threatened and endangered species
272 species of birds
60 species of reptiles and amphibians

It is visited annually by 750,000 visitors but is an inexpensive trip, with an entrance fee of only $5.00 per car and only $1.00 if you want to walk any or all of the 4 miles instead.

We saw some of the usual birds and fish but we also enjoyed a few surprises, including the alligator, which apparently wasn't hungry,

and the wood stork, which is unusual here according to the information volunteer.

 

Some of the usual suspects...

white pelicans

little blue heron

big spider that I could see from the road...yikes

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

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)