Sanibel Island Sunset

Karla and I are spending a week on Sanibel Island in Florida before returning home to snowy Minnesota. Sanibel is a beautiful island with many white sand beaches full of shells. This is something Karla really enjoys. The sunsets can also be pretty nice.

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Sanibel Island 001

At the end of this point is a historic lighthouse next to one of the prettiest beaches on the island.

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Sanibel Island 002

The trees grow right up to the edge of the water in some places.

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Osprey Nest 001

Across the street from our rental we found an osprey nest. It has been fun watching the family interactions. The office staff said that the hurricane this spring took the nest down but the osprey rebuilt.

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Osprey Nest 002

The adults were still bringing in sticks even though the babies are starting to fly.

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Osprey Nest 003

We got to watch while they brought in several fish for the babies.

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Osprey Nest 004

Here the young one called for food for quite some time before mom or dad brought dinner. Notice how the heads are eaten off the fish before they give them to the young. I’m not sure why the adults do that.

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Osprey Nest 005

There are several osprey nests on the island. Some are built on platforms but some right on the roofs of houses. I was told that this homeowner was not happy and put up lots of wires and deterrents on top of the roof to stop them from building it. It didn’t seem to work as they just used the wires to help keep the nest in place. I was surprised that this baby was so young compared to the others we saw.

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Great Egret

Great egrets caught fish along the beach. Egrets were almost wiped out in the United States in the late 1800’s, when its plumes were sought for use in fashion. They have made a great comeback after protections were put in place.

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Manatee 001

Manatees live in the waters around the island and we saw some in the canal behind our rental. I photographed this one in the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on the island.

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Manatee 002

Staff washed the pontoon boat and the manatee drank the fresh water coming off the boat. I didn’t know that manatees have to get “fresh” water to survive. Most of the water around the island is salty ocean water. The manatee has to look for fresh water springs regularly. The staff at the wildlife refuge didn’t know how long they can go without drinking fresh water and said that no one really knows the answer to that question.

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