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Sanibel Island | Ding Darling NWR, FL

When there aren't any hurricanes, Sanibel Island is a beautiful, relaxing place to visit. There are bike trails all along the island, it is a premier seashell collecting destination, and more than 1/2 of its land is devoted to the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. At Ding Darling you can see some amazing birds and alligators closeup, especially if you bike through it! Sanibel Island is only 4 hours from Orlando and worth the detour if you can spend more than one day there.
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MickTravels World Travelog - Antarctica, Alaska, Australia, Galapagos, Peru, Maui, Greece, Israel, USA, panoramas

This little guy hung out in a wall-mounted pot at our hotel on Sanibel Island. He only came out at night, but we saw him here every night. This is a good reason why even if you're going on a bird watching trip, you should always bring your external strobe.

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Map of Sanibel Island depicting how much is really occupied by the Ding Darling National Wildlife refuge.

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Entrance to the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Note that it is closed on Mondays. Many wildlife sanctuaries close on one or two low-traffic days to give the animals a break from all of the humans.

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This alligator was directly underneath a footbridge at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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A brown pelican hangs out in one of the bays at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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A brown pelican peeks out from a small mangrove island where they breed. Tarpon Bay, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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Two brown pelicans hanging out on a small mangrove island in Tarpon Bay, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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A brown pelican comes in for a landing at Tarpon Bay, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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Brown pelicans hanging out on a breeding mangrove island. The island has no land - it is simply a close collection of mangrove trees coming straight out of the water. Tarpon Bay, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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A puzzled brown pelican on a mangrove island in Tarpon Bay, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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This brown pelican enjoys some privacy on a water guidepost. Well, at least until our boat pulled up. Tarpon Bay, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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I was surprised to see so much cactus at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. This species was climbing up a large tree, similar to how a vine does in the rainforest.

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Cormorants are very skilled hunters. More skilled that these 3 jealous and hungry gulls who find the probability of a meal higher stealing it from the cormorant than diving for it themselves. They lost. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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Crabs scurry up a tree so that the birds have more trouble finding them. I guess if I were a bird I really wouldn't think to look in a tree for a crab. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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Crabs scurry up a tree so that the birds have more trouble finding them. I guess if I were a bird I really wouldn't think to look in a tree for a crab. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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Sanibel Island has a wonderful bike trail system, and a wonderful bike rental system to go along with it. You can rent by the half-day, day, week, or even month. We rode our bikes into the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. There is a shortcut back to the entrance at about mile #2 if you don't want to ride the entire 8-mile loop around the refuge.

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Cormorant tries to get some rest at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. He is not successful.

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Cormorant complaining that the racket we're making is keeping him awake. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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Cormorants have feathers that take on water. This enables them to dive very deep for food. The problem is that they then have to dry them out in the sun. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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Closeup of a cormorant at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Check out his turquoise eye.

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I'm pretty sure this is an eastern willet. If you are certain otherwise, please send me an email. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel Island, Florida.

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I'm pretty sure these are eastern willets. If you are certain otherwise, please send me an email. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel Island, Florida.

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This female pileated woodpecker was very busy ripping the bark off of this dead tree looking for insects. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel Island, Florida.

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This female pileated woodpecker was very busy ripping the bark off of this dead tree looking for insects. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel Island, Florida.

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This female pileated woodpecker was very busy ripping the bark off of this dead tree looking for insects. I maneuvered my way around just a little bit to get the crescent moon in the background. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel Island, Florida.

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I was surprised that I didn't see too many great blue herons on Sanibel Island. This one we easily spotted on a pier in Captiva at the west end of Sanibel.

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A great egret preens himself on a pier in Captiva. I think their necks are so long because their bills are so long... else they'd never be able to reach their necks.

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A great egret sits atop a cover on a pier at Captiva.

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This great egret needs a little more preening work. Captiva west of Sanibel Island.

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This little blue heron might have been waiting for an accidental food drop. Tarpon Bay, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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Easy to get close to the little blue heron when he's only about 12 feet away. Tarpon Bay, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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Easy to get close to the little blue heron when he's only 5 feet away. Tarpon Bay, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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We didn't see very many little blue herons at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

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Towards the end of the wildlife drive loop at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, you can park your car and walk a very short loop trail.

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A space between mangrove islands lets boats come and go. Boats and dolphins and manatees, none of which we saw that morning. The mangrove trees grow right out of the water - there's no land beneath them. A mangrove is a type of tree that gets its nourishment from saltwater instead of fresh water. There are less than 50 species of mangroves in the entire world. Mangroves loose 7 tons of leaves at a constant rate over the coarse of a year, and all of that dead foliage feeds the life cycle around the refuge.

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View from the mile #2 observation tower at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Great elevated view of 2 lakes - one you can see in this photo, and one off the picture on the other side of the road. In the distance on the road you can see someone parked and fishing. Get beyond the road and lakes and it's dense mangrove forest.

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There's a handy bike rack at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge observation tower.

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At about mile #2 you can climb an observation tower. Sometimes the birds make some very close fly-by's. Ramps make it handicap accessible, and there are free binoculars on 2 levels if you didn't bring your own. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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Preening time at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

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The unused portion of the pier is well-used by the birds. Pelicans, cormorants, plovers, and gulls abound.

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I'm not sure what type of bird this is. I think it's a type of plover. Please email me if you know for certain.

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Raccoons are abundant at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. This one was playing with his siblings by the side of the wildlife drive road.

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Raccoons are abundant at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. This one was playing with his siblings by the side of the wildlife drive road.

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Inside the ranger station at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge there are a lot of excellent exhibits. One of the better (funded) ranger stations at a refuge I've seen.

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Inside the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge ranger station, they have a table full of dead things for the kids to touch. If they're tall enough!

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Inside the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge ranger station there's a fun game you can play with velcro bird pieces on the wall.

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The reddish egret can only be found in this area of the country. I forget if it's threatened or endangered. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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A roseate spoonbill hangs out at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

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A roseate spoonbill breaks from hunting at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

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A roseate spoonbill resumes hunting at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

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A roseate spoonbill breaks from hunting at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

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A royal tern hangs out on a pier post on Captiva Island.

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A royal tern hangs out on a pier post on Captiva Island.

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A royal tern hangs out on a pier post on Captiva Island.

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A sandwich tern rests on a pier post on Captiva Island.

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This beautiful snowy egret landed on the porch fence of the Tarpon Bay general store and hung out for quite a while. Tarpon Bay, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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Easy to get close to the snowy egret when he lands about 8 feet away. Tarpon Bay, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

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Here's our morning tour boat. All electric. You can also rent small motorboats or canoes if you want to go fishing. The water is shallow enough in most of the bay such that you can just stand up in it.

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This tricolored heron didn't care how close I was because he was in a mangrove tree and I was on a pier. From about 12 feet away I got to watch him walk among the mangrove roots, preen, hunt, and relax. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

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A tricolored heron preens from about 12 feet away. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

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This tricolored heron didn't care how close I was because he was in a mangrove tree and I was on a pier. From about 12 feet away I got to watch him walk among the mangrove roots, preen, hunt, and relax. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

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This tricolored heron didn't care how close I was because he was in a mangrove tree and I was on a pier. From about 12 feet away I got to watch him walk among the mangrove roots, preen, hunt, and relax. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

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A white ibis breaks from hunting at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

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A white ibis catches a crab at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

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A small white ibis flock at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

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