santamonica

Absolutely compelling bird and tree discussions. I laughed, I cried. The Village Cafe was across Tarpon from our rental house and had a jazz show one night. We visited for coffee, bagles, and the NYT. Nice place. I did not mention my support for free plastic bags at grocery stores while visiting the Village Cafe, discretion being the better part of valor.

jubilada

wise choice, santamonica.
A friend of mine who goes to Sanibel this week every year for the last 20 saw manatees in the water for the first time ever this year, and another friend said dhe saw some near Flamingo Cay. I don't want to drive all the way to hermosa, I have long commutes to work and driving is something I try not to do too much of on vacation. So we shall see.

OO

I don't blame you for that, jubilada! It would be a long drive. I hope you see one. More often than not you will hear one before seeing it--hear them taking a breath, like the dolphins, then turn in time to see the rings in the water where their snout broke the surface, or catch sight of a rolling flipper or their back. Fun! Heck, I'll never even get over the excitement of seeing dolphins and they are almost daily occurrences.

jubilada

I love seeing the dolphins too, and the rays and all the birds. I am not knowledgeable about the birds, but I so enjoy them. One of the reasons we like renting right on the bay is that the deck reaches essentially to the water's edge, so we see everybody up close. There is an osprey hunting perch in a tree right by the deck also, so lots of action. Last year a wood stork wandered by etc etc. It's funny, people tout Sanibel because of Ding Darling, but the birds are a much more integrated feature of AMI.
We'll look at Palma Sola for the manatees.
We are leaving in the a.m.; it is snowing here. We are beside ourselves!

OO

Santamonica, your trip report has taken on a life of its own!

Jubilada, hope you got out OK and are winging your way out of the cold. It's warm here but the weather for the next few days won't be the best, sadly. It's trying it's best to rain as I write.

Bay views are beautiful and ever-changing, aren't they? There is an osprey hunting perch near us too and the other evening one flew past our balcony carrying a fish that was as long as his body! I'm sure his family was happy to see him. Their call is odd, isn't it? So sweet, high pitched and innocuous sounding for such a bird of prey!

We are on a bay too, Boca Ciega, on the 2rd floor of a building that is just yards from the water, so between our elevated perch and the clear water there is some terrific viewing. In July there was a manatee that came past every morning on his way somewhere. Never saw it go back but it must have at some point as we always saw him, but only swimming in that one direction. They can stay submerged for an impressive period of time. One other tip we learned for spotting them: as he swam he often came close to, but did not break the surface of the water so we would then see evenly spaced large oval spots (think their body size) of water where he'd been close enough to the surface to disrupt the little ripple action or wave action the water normally has. There would be smooth large oval shaped spots on the water surface, regularly spaced along a path as he moved along. Watch it long enough and evenyually you'd see him break the surface for air. Happy hunting and I hope the weather improves quickly!

santamonica

i hope jubilada doesn't wait until after her trip to report back. She's certainly had enough time to have a grouper sandwich and a red stripe at the rod and reel. We need to be patient.

OO

Patience? Ha! Taptaptap I'm waiting! . Jubilada I hope you can read here because I just overheard a lady saying she just saw a big manatee swim right under her as she walked out our pier, so they are still here! Double up your efforts...you really do have every chance to spot one!

jubilada

Ok,ok, I will post, but I warn you we are doing nothing at all!