Sanibel's Hallelujah Day!

It was only 48 degrees last night, but today the high was 71. Since today turned out to be warm and sunny, it seemed like everyone on the island had declared this a 'Hallelujah Day' and were out enjoying it. What a pleasant relief it was! My aching joints are feeling better already from the sunshine. That will probably last until morning, since I was out riding a bike this afternoon. It was so pleasant that I got a little carried away and probably went too far on my first ride in quite a while. I may have to pay for that tomorrow. :-) But, it was sure worth it! I wore a short sleeve T with Bermuda shorts and tied a very light weight hoodie around my waist.

We had just started riding down the street when we noticed a hawk sitting on a mailbox. I rode right beside it, as I passed by, and it just looked at me and didn't move. I've noticed it there before when I have been driving past and it didn't move then either. It's nice that the birds seem to feel safe here. There were a lot of other people out walking and riding bikes today too.

On the ride today, went from Dixie Beach Rd to Periwinkle Way, then turned left and rode to Donax, made right turn and headed for the beach at the end of Donax St. I was pretty shocked at the amount of people there. The tourists are thrilled with the warm weather. It was nice seeing them getting some pleasant time on the beach. I even saw one lady out in the water, above her waist. I'm thinking that had to be cold, since the water is 51 degrees, but she was still out there when we left the beach. Shelling didn't look very promising in this area.

From Donax we made a right turn and followed the gulf drive until Lindgren Blvd, where we went left toward Periwinkle Way. Going over a canal, we noticed a big school of snook. It looked as though they were just hanging out, trying to warm up.

Next was a left turn at the 4 way stop on Periwinkle, then a right turn onto Bailey Rd. Since I still had a little energy left, we decided to cut through on a path to the back of the Visitor's Center, and on up to the area by the causeway. After seeing a break in the traffic, we hurried across Causeway Blvd to the Sanibel Boat Ramp. All of the new trees planted on both sides of Causeway Blvd. are looking great! Near the water, there were some picnic tables and an inviting place to sit and rest for a while. This turned out to be a very relaxing place to sit, and listen to the gentle lapping of the waves, watch two hawks sitting in a tree, birds fishing for their dinner, and a sailboat gliding by. I really like that spot! The only thing missing was a picnic basket.

I'm happy to report that I didn't need that hoodie at all. In fact, I was pretty warm by the time I got back. But, I didn't work up a sweat, just a glisten. :-)
I can't wait for another nice day tomorrow.















Fish in the canal.

New trees by the causeway.



Picnic area at Sanibel Boat Ramp.

The water was clear in this area and I could see fish swimming by.

There were several of these sea worms laying on the shore.

There were still some dead fish there. I hadn't seen one like this before. It had two sharp, pointy horn like things on it's head. I'm thinking if you were wading in the water and one of those things hit your leg, it wouldn't feel very good.

Another... I don't know...from the shape, makes me think cowfish?? Anybody???

I also noticed this fish because of the teeth. Uuh, don't think I would want one of those grabbing a finger or toe.



This picture is just after the two hawks had mated.