Late Thursday morning I drove over to Sanibel Island and the J.N. Ding Darling Wildlife Preserve. I timed my arrival to two hours before low tide. As the tide retreats finding food becomes much easier for wading birds. Per my norm I parked at the Visitor Center and then bicycled. Wildlife Drive is one way, has a very slow speed limit, and there are many other cyclists. Taking the entire drive yields an 8 mile ride, and if one breaks off at the bathrooms the loop is one half distance for  4 miles. I took both loops for a total of 12 miles. However, if you bicycle just past the bathrooms at two miles into your ride, and bird the open flats on either side of the road … and then WALK you bicycle back a couple of hundred yards back to the washrooms (do not ride against the one way traffic unless you wish to have US Park Rangers get very mad at you), one may pick up the shorter four mile ride but still visit the best open vistas. Download a PDF map of the preserve for more details.

My target birds were Roseate Spoonbills and Yellow Crowned Night Herons. Neither species disappointed me. I saw six Spoonbills and an unbelievable number of Night Herons. I am way behind on processing photographs. Lot of cool places to visit, bicycle and bird.

Roseate Spoonbills

Yellow-Crowned Night Herons