A New Crocodile Moves to Sanibel

The holiday weekend sure livened things up on Sanibel, Captiva and the causeway islands. I don't have any beach pictures for you, since the crowds helped me make up my mind to skip trips to the beach for a few days. We did make a trip across the causeway to get some groceries and drive on over to San Carlos, near the bridge to Ft Myers Beach, to a fish market. The traffic was so heavy, and backed up on San Carlos, that we nearly turned around. But, we finally made it.

You can see from the pictures that the spoil islands were super crowded and there was a lot of boat activity in the bay.















Cars with kayaks on the top, are a common sight around here.




Key West Express has a fleet of vessels that ferries passengers to Key West on a day trip or to stay as long as you like. The vessel below is the Big Kat Express.



Further back, you can see the flags on the Pieces of Eight pirate ship.


More pictures on the way back across the Sanibel Causeway, in the 'Happy Lane'.













The big news event of the week:

'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge has a new female crocodile.

Turtle Walk Thursday

We're still having very pleasant nights, around 72 degrees. Today the high temperature reached 87, but with a NW wind, it was very nice on the beach.

When we first started our turtle walk this morning, just before daylight, there wasn't much air moving and it seemed a little warm. The Moonflowers were still in full bloom, but were closed when we returned.

As soon as we walked out onto the beach, we felt a nice breeze. The eastern sky was glowing from the approaching sunrise.


As we walked to the waters' edge, we were greeted by jumping Mullet. :) We walked along watching them for quite a while. There have actually been studies as to why Mullets jump like they do. Some think they are taking breaths of fresh air because the water has a depleted supply, to rid themselves of parasites, or simply playing. Whatever the reason, it's quite entertaining. I tried to catch a shot of one in mid-air, but with my little cell phone camera, that didn't happen. The one below, does show the water after the fish went under. :)


This one actually shows the water splash! :)


There were a lot of small shells on the beach.














This appears to have been a big fish.


Someone must have made and decorated their own beach umbrella holder.


A lone fisherman.


An 18" hole, just waiting for a foot. :)


It was a pretty uneventful walk. There was even a lack of trash. The only thing I picked up was one balloon. Yay!!! There were no signs of turtle activity in our zone. We only saw one Snowy Plover that appeared to be hiding a baby under her wing.


Shells I carried home.


After our turtle walk, we met friends for breakfast at the Sanibel Cafe, where we had great service, good food and lots of laughter.












Our laughter could be fleeting.............

What if the oil spill does reach Sanibel Island, an article written by
Eric Taubert.

Tuesday & Wednesday; Friends & Adventure

We've been having a lot of fun with friends during the past few days. The weather has been pretty warm, but there has been plenty of breeze to keep you cooled off.

We took a couple of lady friends to breakfast Tuesday and also made a stop at the Sanibel Bean, on the way back. We enjoyed a nice long visit with them, most of the afternoon, at the home the rent in East Rocks, just off West Gulf Drive.

When we left, we decided make a quick stop at resident access 1 to walk out to the beach.


There were lots of shore birds. I had never seen so many pelicans on the beach, usually they are bobbing around in the water, and seldom that many in one group. If people walked by, they would all take flight and immediately turn and return to the same spot.


I began to get a little excited as I began to find a few small shells.




All, except the white shells and the mac 'n cheese, came from a high tide line, and had probably been passed over by several people. The others came from the ankle deep water, as the tide was getting lower and lower.












Shells from the evening beach visit.


Later that night, we made a delivery of shell craft glue to the same friends, for a shell picture frame project that was in progress. I thought it was looking great!


After visiting for a while, we decided to go on a little adventure. We covered one flashlight with a red lens, put the red lights on a couple of caps and drove to Lighthouse Beach, where we went for a walk, to see if there were any shells. That turned out to be a total waste of time. As we walked the board walk all the way back across the tip of the island to the parking area by the fishing pier, we spotted lots of Beach Moonflowers in full bloom.


They were growing all the way to the top of some trees.


It was a little scary walking all through there in the dark, especially with spider webs and spiders hanging around everywhere, in front of you. But, we made the trip safely and had fun doing it.

Today we made a quick stop by the Bean, to pick up a refreshment again for our friend who is a Sanibel Bean addict. Then talked them into going for a ride with us to Ft Myers for lunch.

The clouds were very pretty this afternoon as we crossed the Sanibel Causeway and produced no rain. :)


Lunch at Big Al's. My shrimp was extra good! I like this place a lot.


There are flowers and trees blooming in profusion all over the island right now. There is a scent of perfume in the air that is very pleasant to those who are not bothered by allergies. In any case, you have to appreciate the beauty.

Variegated Ginger Plant with spicy smelling blooms.


lavender Dipladenia Bush


Light Pink Oleander


Red Double Hibiscus


Royal Poinciana


The little purple blooms you see on the limb behind the Poinciana are blooms on a Jacaranda tree.




A wonderful smelling Gardenia.


Did you know that Sanibel Moorings has 6 acres of gardens? Their Master Gardener and Naturalist, Anita Marshall will take you on a botanical garden tour every Tuesday at 9am. They meet in the butterfly garden and the tour lasts approximately 2 hours. The tour is complimentary to their guests. The public is also welcomed with a $5.00 fee per person. I have not yet attended one the tours, but I do plan to.

You can call toll free at 1.800.237.5144 or 239.472.4119 for reservations and/or information.