Wildlife on the Island

Upon check-in at our hotel, the lady at the counter informed us of some beach rules.  This time of year is sea turtle nesting, and anything left on the beach might get in their way.  We didn't see any sea turtles though.

This is a gopher tortoise having lunch by the pool.  There were traffic signs all over the island for "gopher tortoise crossing."

Mom was good at spotting manatees in the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.  We saw two while we were there, but this smaller one was the only one present when I had my camera.

I snapped this osprey one evening during a walk on the beach.

Sanibel Island, Florida

Mom and I recently returned from a vacation to Sanibel Island, FL.  We had heard that it was one of the top shelling destinations in the world.  This place sure lived up to the hype.  We soon discovered that June is not the peak time, as you can tell from the oh-so-crowded beach in the photo below.  The water was beautiful and warm, and there were so many shells that we had to wear our shoes almost the whole time. 

A white ibis hunting for food

Sunset on our first day

Looking for shells after supper

Mom doing the 'Sanibel Stoop'

I will post more photos tomorrow.  Blogger is being a little slow at the moment.