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Post by Kimby on Dec 22, 2010 18:35:23 GMT
View of the Gulf of Mexico from the beach near our Sanibel home. The beach is narrower here than many beaches on the island because Sanibel is boomerang shaped, and this beach is on the outside of the curve, making it vulnerable to waves that sweep away sand. However, it also makes for good deposits of THESE:
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2010 19:25:55 GMT
What a beautiful beach and area. Just love the shells..
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Post by Kimby on Dec 22, 2010 19:34:55 GMT
(the house is still available for April... )
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2010 19:43:56 GMT
Oh really? I'll keep that in mind...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2010 9:08:47 GMT
All the years I lived on the Gulf Coast, I always wondered why it didn't have waves. (Actually, a few places do, but most of the water is totally flat everywhere.)
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 24, 2010 14:59:55 GMT
Can I place my order for a nice big mirror, heavily framed in shells.
I have always wanted one of those!
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Post by Kimby on Apr 28, 2011 8:33:21 GMT
Can I place my order for a nice big mirror, heavily framed in shells. I have always wanted one of those! Sorry, bixa, I didn't see this in time and missed Christmas this year. Maybe next year! ;D
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Post by Kimby on Apr 28, 2011 8:35:19 GMT
The Sanibel Lighthouse. Perhaps not the world's prettiest lighthouse, but the setting is lovely. Though you can't see the beach from this angle.
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Post by Kimby on Apr 28, 2011 8:46:52 GMT
The native palms are the cabbage palms. The larger coconut palms are not native. Alligators bask on the shore on either side of the clumps of Spartina grass.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2011 11:04:21 GMT
Looks like the perfect getaway, Kimby. I'm seriously thinking about renting it off you for a while. Just a thought though, how far do the alligators go once out of the water?
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Post by Kimby on Apr 29, 2011 15:14:09 GMT
I have yet to see one leave the sloped ground along the edge of the lagoon where they lie motionless in the sun. However, they ARE capable of moving quickly when they want to, so one always has to be cautious near "alligator-infested" waters. Particularly with small kids and pets.
Fortunately people are learning that wild alligators must not be fed by humans, EVER! Because once they associate humans with food, they will become more aggressive and will have to be destroyed. In our subdivision, there is a strong live-with-nature ethic, and we like our wildlife, including the alligators.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2011 17:19:31 GMT
Where my parents lived in Florida, there were regular reports of finding alligators in garages, swimming pools or in the middle of a golf course. And then of course, the various missing pets.....
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Post by Kimby on Apr 29, 2011 17:26:46 GMT
and the occasional gardener. Or the photographer angling for a better view...
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Post by Kimby on May 16, 2011 16:29:35 GMT
It's sea turtle nesting season on Sanibel. The female loggerhead turtles (and the occasional Ridley's and leatherback) come up out of the sea every other year to dig a nest and deposit their eggs. It is the only time they ever leave the sea, and the males never do. Four or five times during the mating season, a female will lumber up the beach to the high tide mark, laboriously dig out a nest with her flippers, deposit 50 - 150 eggs and cover it over, never to see it again. Exhausted, she drags her 30- 45 inch long carapace back to the waters edge and slips into the sea. Sixty days later, the little ones dig themselves out - at night - and navigate to the sea by the light on the horizon. Which is why beach front homes must not leave outside lights on during turtle nesting season: the babies will head the wrong way and get dessicated when the sun rises. Or eaten!
We watched a nesting loggerhead turtle a couple nights ago. What a privilege to see such a thing, and this is the second time we've been lucky enough to witness it.
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Post by Kimby on May 27, 2011 6:26:29 GMT
One of the great fascinations of Sanibel is how radically different the two sides of it are, from heavily canopied and fringed with foliage to the the bright expanse of the Gulf. Do you have more photos, perchance? As per your request, bixa, I brought my camera on our recent canoe trip through the mangroves lining the Ding Darling NWR. The mangroves have air roots that drop down and get established, allowing the trees to take root and anchor the sand. Over time, the trees seem to "walk", thus creating land where there was once water. It is crucial to preserve the mangroves for hurricane protection, as these low barrier islands could be washed away, condos and all, during a major hurricane.
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Post by Kimby on May 27, 2011 6:30:17 GMT
One phenomenon I can reveal is "The Sanibel Stoop" - the posture of all the tourists (and many of the residents) - as they walk the beach, constantly diverted by those things on the ground.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 17:25:55 GMT
Everybody always looking for the perfect shell.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 6, 2011 18:53:04 GMT
Thanks for those wonderful shots of the mangrove waters, Kimby. I lived for a year in a marina in N. Fort Myers, and that reminds me so much of that area.
We went to Sanibel, but I believe conditions have to be right for there to be a good deposit of shells. I was crushed, as I'd long dreamed of shelling there.
The pictures are so good, but I want to rush up to that couple and put sun protection on them.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 12, 2011 17:03:10 GMT
The pictures are so good, but I want to rush up to that couple and put sun protection on them. Yes we see many pale tourists who become lobster-red by the end of the day. That's why this native tree, the gumbo limbo, is nicknamed the "tourist tree":
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Post by Kimby on Jun 15, 2011 17:45:12 GMT
This is what has tipped us off to the presence of a nesting loggerhead turtle, both times we've witnessed the event. Though we saw the tracks in moonlight instead of sunlight.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 22, 2012 19:00:52 GMT
So last time we were on Sanibel, in November, the eagle nest (see reply #26-28 previous page) fell out of the tree in a rainstorm. The weight of the rainwater apparently was too much for the dead tree, and pulled the whole branch down. The eagles rebuilt (2 nests in different locations, which is typical behavior, I hear), and were frequently seen sitting on the new nest, when another storm brought that one down too. I hear there are plans to plant a nesting platform near the eagle's favorite tree so they don't have to go through this again. But meanwhile, they relocated to the other nest which is not so easily seen. (Unfortunately, the website with the nest photos was re-done and the links became corrupted so I had to remove them from the eagle post. Here's a newer closeup, but doesn't really show the tree: gulfpinessanibel.com/docs/articles/69/P1000108.pdf)
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Post by Kimby on Feb 25, 2012 15:57:18 GMT
For detail-oriented folks who love minutia: gulfpinessanibel.com/docs/articles/9/City_Demographics_2010.pdfOf special interest: age of island: 5000 years average temperature: 74 degrees F average elevation: 4 feet above sea level (maximum 13 feet) miles of road: ~80 miles of bicycle trails: ~23 Number of single family homes <4000 total land area: 11,600 acres conservation lands: 7200 acres (62% of total) miles of shoreline: 24.5 number of vehicles across the causeway per year ~3 million length of causeway: 3 miles causeway toll : $6
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Post by Kimby on Feb 25, 2012 16:20:32 GMT
Humans aren't the only ones who forage along the shore: These are white ibises (the Jimmy Durantes of the bird world) Unidentified shorebirds, dunlins perhaps? (Winter plumage birds are so hard to identify)
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Post by lola on Feb 25, 2012 17:00:00 GMT
Fun, kimby. Love the turtle tracks and the tourist tree.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 25, 2012 17:04:29 GMT
Getting itchy to go back. More than 2 months to go...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2012 17:08:40 GMT
Is it rented regularly by snowbirds or is it usually empty?
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Post by Kimby on Feb 25, 2012 17:43:44 GMT
Lots of demand for rentals during the high season, so no trouble renting it February and March. Some years December and January get rented too. April is almost always available, and we are there in November and May. During hurricane/air conditioning season it is closed up and unavailable. (You could not find anyone willing to pay enough to be in Florida during the ungodly hot and humid summer to make up for the AC bill and the wear and tear on the place!)
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Post by Kimby on May 10, 2012 13:03:34 GMT
We watched a nesting loggerhead turtle a couple nights ago. What a privilege to see such a thing, and this is the second time we've been lucky enough to witness it. dittos, 2012. Although having seen it twice before, and knowing how agonizingly slow and drawn out the process is, we left her in peace and went on our way while she was still depositing eggs. Next day the nest site was roped off and marked by the Turtle Patrol. And 3 crab tunnels were excavated down into the nest. Crabs gotta eat too, but this makes me sad.
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2012 18:17:59 GMT
I'm considering a visit to the Florida Gulf coast before too long, although I would probably go north of Tampa Bay rather than south of it. As "ordinary" as it is, it felt like home to me after so many visits to my parents there, and I still miss it.
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Post by nycgirl on May 11, 2012 3:12:22 GMT
It's really special that you got to see nesting loggerheads several times. Have you ever seen the eggs hatching, too? That would be a sight to see, but also sad since so few of them live. It is a shame how fragile their survival is.
Very nice photos, Kimby. Those shells are real beauties.
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