"Shelling" is spelt Sanibel

Last weekend, we went for a short adventure to Sanibel Island. Joan and I had a day short visit a few years ago while Chris and Peter have been here many times in the past. It's always nice to travel with people with local knowledge.

Sanibel is re-known for shelling and its reputation is well deserved: there are shells everywhere.

We stayed overnight in a small motel / cabins place and beach access was easy. At the south end of the beach there is Sanibel Lighthouse. Here are Cragen, Chris and Joan walking the beach at the point in front to the lighthouse.

Here are Cragen and Peter doing the Sanibel slump...

Sanibel also has a fantastic museum: the Bailey Mathews Shell Museum. One of the main benefactors was Raymond Burr of Perry Mason fame, but I digress. Here's a link to their web site.

Their main show consisted of trophy shells from different places. These next three shells are probably over one foot in length, with a curved reflector behind the shell so you can see the back of the shell at the same time as the front. Unfortunately, the whole display was rotating and the reflectors produced a fair bit of distortion. That's Peter in the background of the first picture and either he is badly distorted or just telling a lie to someone...

The museum has dozens of very high quality displays, here's one showing the variety of colours nature paints shells with. There are shellers who collect only certain colours and there is no shortage of choices.

One of the local restaurants had shells neatly arranged under glass at each table. Unfortunately, making pictures involved having serious reflections, like ceiling lights or my arms holding the camera. ... Still gives you an idea of what they did. Each table was different and most of the shells were fossils.

Next is a shot of the beach in sunset light.

The lighthouse has an old cistern that I thought was quite interesting.

The Sanibel light is also quite interesting since it seems to be a large central tube essentially suspended by a tower. Far from a charming old concrete or brick lighthouse...

Of course, the osprey's eat supper nearby.

And finally, sunsets here are over the Gulf of Mexico and sometimes you can see the green flash. Tonight was not the night for green flash... Maybe we'll have to return sometime soon.

Not to disappoint, here's a picture out of order, from the museum. I remember seeing the buttons, but never realized where they came from. Neat.

'Ding" Darling Nature Preserve, Sanibel Fl

Visiting the J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge was a fitting way to use my National Parks pass before it expires at the end of this month. It's a huge refuge on Sanibel island with few miles of road that you slowly drive, stopping here and there to see the birds on either side of the road. What a wonderful and exciting way to shoot birds, photography-wise. Chris, Joan and Pete all showed great patience as I jumped from pillar to post, grabbing shots everywhere. Remember to click on the pictures that you want to see enlarged.

Here is an American Egret in all its majesty and breeding plumage.

The next is an anhinga drying-out its wings. Question for the grandkids: what is really, really strange about this bird? You already have all the hints you need, so look closely!

The next shot is also an anhinga, in flight this time. I thought it unusual to get blueish colours on an essentially brown bird. Note also that this time, its head is not on backwards...

For a change of pace, here's a cut tree limb with interesting patterns.

Water was quite often on both sides of the road so the road had a few large culverts to let the tides reach both sides of the road. The next shot is of fish rapidly swimming against the tidal current, something neat to watch.

The next star is a white pelican.

The next bird is likely a Great White Heron in all its majesty, also in breeding plumage.

Here's another Great White Heron pretending to be a one-footed lighthouse...

To round out the herons, here's a Green Heron: what is lacking in size is more than made up by colour and attitude. This little guy was completely motionless, staring in the water waiting for some poor unsuspecting meal to swim by.

These mangrove trees grow at the water's edge and trap sand and detritus to 'manufacture' more land, nature's way.

Ponds and marshes often have pond scum, which many consider unsightly, what do you think?

This is a bunch of Roseate Spoonbills. The second bird from the left shows enough beak to explain the name; check it out.

This is a very sleepy immature Yellow-Crowned Night Heron.

A few minutes later, the same bird seemed to be practising his staring for food technique. I'm just not sure what he's expecting to find under his wing...

He kept this pose without any visible movement for quite a few minutes. Maybe he's narcoleptic? ... catatonic?

Next are some Snowy Egrets, some in the water, others roosting in the trees.

I've been to a rookery before but none so dramatic as this one.

These are white pelicans with a regular brown pelican in the foreground.

And lastly, two wonderful White Ibis showing off their curved beaks and graceful wings.

What a great way to spend a few hours, I hope you enjoyed this small sample of the very broad selection of the hundreds of birds that we saw.

Big Cypress Museum and Nature Walk

On our way towards a weekend in Sanibel, Joan and I stopped at the Big Cypress Campground to visit former Manotick neighbours, Dale and Dave Peters, for an overnight stay in their new motorhome. Old friends ensconced in camping luxury is always a welcome treat and a great combination!

We visited the local Seminole Indian museum and nature walk: both a very pleasurable experience. This first shot includes Dave and Joan, ahead of us on the very long boardwalk [a mile or so?]. This boardwalk snakes through a fairly untouched local swamp / forest that harbours great examples of the real Florida.

Somewhat out of sequence, this shot includes Dale and Joan inside the museum and one of the many displays of the Seminole Indian story.

Back to the boardwalk. This is essentially a rain forest with lush growth of ferns, palms, epiphytes, and as you'll see later, invasive non-native 'exotics'. The next picture shows the lush fern flooring, a few epiphytes on the central tree and a hint of the pink lichen that grows on trees and signifies a good and healthy habitat.

More of the lush forest floor: mostly ferns.

Invasive plants, bugs, and other nasties are a unavoidable by product of our global society. Even deep woods are not immune. Below are three shots of invasive vines slowly taking over; they will likely kill their host trees and change the landscape forever. So far, they have only touched a fairly small portion of this forest and I'm sure that forest management techniques are being used to limit the damage. In the meantime, these vines have created quite an un-eathly scene that I find quite magical and beautiful.

Here's another shot out of sequence, 'my bad' as they say. The museum itself has many scenes depicting Seminole life, this one being a ritual dance by the fire.

Back to the good stuff. Many different species of palms and ferns thrive in this warm humid environment.

Next is some lush resurrection fern, so called for its ability to dry up completely and go dormant when it is without water, only to be resurrected by the next shower. Quite dramatic.

Our visits with Dale and Dave are always lots of fun. Dale is a fine cook and sets a beautiful table. Dave is somewhat of type A, and researches everything of interest so he's a great source of knowledge. It's hard to imagine, but maybe a sign of things to get used to: I forgot the wine back in Port St Lucie! Fortunately, Dave, who worked in emergency preparedness, walks-the-talk, and friends forgive friends, so my omission was only a source of much laughter. Good friends = good fun!

Carrabba's 4

I'm falling behind in my posts: our weekend adventure at the Big Cypress Campground, our shelling in Sanibel, and our quick reunion with Jan will appear soon.

In the meantime, I'm sorry that I forgot my camera yet again, so there will be no images of this weekly Wednesday visit to Carrabba's.

This week's menu choices for me were suggested by Kathleen: great choices! My starter was the Grilled Bruschetta with Chef's dressing. The bruschetta was lightly grilled, the sauce had diced raw tomatoes [not usually ingested by yours truly] but the spices made up for the raw tomatoes and the whole dish went down with great pleasure. Joan thought it was fantastic too. While we were waiting at the kitchen counter [our favourite 'table' and the best table as far as I'm concerned] we were offered a sample of the Goat Cheese and Spinach Sauce with bread for dipping, like you would a fondue. This will appear on next month's menu. We were privileged to an early sample [full dish, actually, but I digress].

Of course, it was wine-Wednesday, so I ordered a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc from Veramonte that Kathleen has suggested. Those who know me understand why I much prefer red wines: they are usually much better than any white, but that too is another story. At any rate, this white wine had a great nose [aroma] followed by a full bodied and rich taste that certainly did not overpower the appetizers or my main meal. To me it tasted like a powerful white Burgundy without overpowering anything. Good choice Kat.

My meal came with a choice of soups or salad and I chose the Lentil and Sausage soup, apologies to Kathleen, who is a vegetarian. The soup was spicy, tasty and had just the right texture. I could have stayed on the true and narrow and had a meatless dinner, but I slipped. Carrabba's does have lots of choices for vegetarians, much less for vegans but I'm sure it would be not only possible but delectable too to eat vegan here.

Back to the main plate: grilled Nocciola Trout. Joan ordered the same with a side of sautéed vegetables [new to the menu] while I had the garlic mashed potatoes. The fish was lightly coated with crushed hazelnuts, and then grilled on its skin, with a white sauce garnished with red peppers over half the large portion. Joan and I both enjoyed our meals and shared the excellent sides. The fish was well cooked, certainly not overcooked, peeled off its skin easily, had a light flavour of trout and the white sauce and peppers added a little je-ne-sais-quoi to the whole experience. Only catching and grilling your own trophy over an open fire in the northern wilderness could be more memorable. ... and that's saying something from a guy that likes 'fish and chips' but doesn't usually explore much further than that. Even with all the bread of the two appetizers, the soup and the large serving of trout, nothing was left behind. ... not any room for dessert though.

Chris and Peter raved about the Spiedino di Mare [shrimps and scallops] which will be my next week's choice. As usual, our plates were all sampled, and Chris and Peter keep insisting that their choice was better. How can that be?

This little challenge has worked out very well for me: I've ordered items I would not likely order [preferring the usual steaks which are simply the best at Carrabba's]. This week we sat at the kitchen counter and kept marvelling at the speed and efficiency of the chefs. They hurry without being rushed, they manage five or so different main dishes on the grill at the same time, and seem never to panic, or have mean words for each other. Each chef has a distinct role but pitches in to help elsewhere when necessary. And they have always find the time to answer our questions, or make menu suggestions.

The restaurant owner, Debbie Parolise, seems to always be on the premises, drops by each table at least twice during the meal, and makes you really feel welcome. I wish more restaurant owners kept in touch with their patrons and staff like this Lady does.

One of the items we talked about at the counter was that we only have another month here, maybe we should start going to Carrabba's more often than just once a week. Seeing as our friends Rick and Gloria will be coming for February, and Jan will be here for a couple of weeks, maybe we need to guide them through the menu... We can always diet later, right?

Isn't retirement fun?

Hutchinson Island

Today was an off-and-on again rainy day. Time to do cleaning, house stuff, and in this case packing since we're off on an adventure for the weekend. We're off to visit Dale & Dave Peters at the Big Cypress campground for Saturday with an overnight, then off to Sanibel Island to join up with Chris, Peter, & Cragin for a few overnights to do some great shelling.

Here's a shot of the pier at the end of the shelling beach we've been patrolling so far.

Grandkids can start looking for Grandma somewhere in these pictures, and let me know where Grandma might be...

Here's a shot of a little Ruddy Turnstone with his bigger buddy a young pelican.

Here's a shot of two pelicans, one young one mature. Note how their movements are almost identical.

Pelicans often fly by the beach using updrafts because they can. I've never seen them doing the V formation, nor have I ever seen so many in one pattern. Hope you enjoy this shot as much as I did.

Here's another diving shorebird whose identity escapes us for the moment. Beautiful flyer, great fishing skills.

Weather here can change fairly quickly and sometimes that has some magic involved...

We may not have Internet access over the weekend but we'll try to keep the blog updated if we can.