Sanibel Island Day 2

We had a fairly lazy day today.  We walked on the beach, of course, and I just had to take yet another photo of one of my favorite birds, a royal tern.


A gopher tortoise walked by as we were sitting on the lanai.  I didn't want to disturb it by getting close so the photo isn't great.


This afternoon we went on the cruise with Tarpon Bay Explorers to see the birds roosting on the islands in Tarpon Bay.

Sanibel Island Day 1

We walked on the beach a bit this morning and I took this photo of Sandy Bend, where we are staying for 2 weeks.  Ours is Unit 3 on the lower left.


We grocery shopped and got settled this morning.  This afternoon we took the drive through Ding Darling and took the requisite bird photos.  This snowy egret was begging for bait from a fisherman.


This is the more usual view of lots of birds out on the flats.


Including the huge white pelicans.


And a group of roseate spoonbills.


So far we have seen the following birds, and I've probably forgotten some.

• Osprey
• White Ibis
• Double-crested Cormorant
• Little Blue Heron
• Great Blue Heron
• Tricolor Heron
• While Pelican
• Brown Pelican
• Great Egret
• Cattle Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Reddish Egret
• Willet
• Ruddy Turnstone
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Roseate Spoonbill
• Turkey Vulture
• Laughing Gull
• Ring-billed Gull
• Lesser Black-backed Gull
• Anhinga
• Black-crowned Night Heron
• Blue-winged Teal
• Fish Crow
• Royal Tern
• Sanderling

Sanibel Island

We started our drive to Florida yesterday morning with temperatures in the single digits.  But it was sunny and the roads were clear.  The drive was thankfully uneventful.  We took the western route on 81 then down 77 because the coast was still snowed in.  We spent the night in a Residence Inn in Charlotte, NC.  At that point the temperature was still in the teens.  There was still a bit of snow on the ground in South Carolina.  The temperature did not get above freezing until we got to Georgia and didn't really start warming up until central Florida.  It was about 60 degrees when we reached Sanibel about 8:30 PM.

Snow

We were supposed to start our drive to Florida today, but the weather had other plans.  We had a blizzard yesterday that dumped quite a bit of snow - hard to tell how much because of the drifting - and very cold temperatures.


We weren't sure how the roads would be today so decided to wait to leave until tomorrow.  The temperature during our weekend drive will not get out of the teens until we are nearly in Florida.

Quilt #52

I just finished this quilt that will hang on the railing at camp.

Manasquan Reservoir

We all went to Manasquan Reservoir this afternoon to look for birds.  We didn't have a lot of time before it got dark.  But we saw a few in the distance, and this great blue heron fishing right beside the path.

Brass Band

We went to Laurita Winery this afternoon to hear the Atlantic Brass Band.  It was great.

First Snow

We are getting several inches of snow today.  I made sure I had enough food out for the birds, and they called all their friends.  I may not have much variety - these are all house finches - but I sure have a lot.

NJ Symphony Concert

Another great concert by the symphony, at NJPAC on Sunday afternoon.

• Rachmaninoff - Vocalise
• Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, with pianist Stephen Hough - WOW
• Prokofiev - Symphony No. 6

Rockettes Christmas Spectacular

We took the train to NYC today to see a matinee performance of the Rockettes in their Christmas show.  It was quite a spectacle.


But I sure can do without the New York crowds.  It was particularly bad when we got out of the show.  We hadn't realized when we bought the tickets that this evening was the lighting of the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, which is near Radio City Music Hall.  The police were out in droves and there were road blocks everywhere.  So it was a bit of a challenge to make our way back to the train station.