Tag Archives: Florida: Fort Myers

J.N. Ding Darling Wildlife Preserve Bicycle Birding

Year 9

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

Red-Shoulder Hawk Bicycle Birding

Year 9,

I often mention I always take my Canon Sx-70 Super Zoom Bridge Camera on my almost daily bicycle rides. Yesterday was no exception, and while on over 95% of my rides I never see anything that warrants interrupting my exercise, yesterday was the exception (read more about my bicycle birding setup). In fact about the only time I do not have a camera with me is while I am cross-country skiing (unless wearing a GoPro). Normally while skiing hard I definitely do NOT want to be encumbered with any backpacks or hip bags. A super zoom camera makes for an excellent choice for bringing equipment along. If not in a car, the light weight and small size is a great advantage; yet one still has reach given the zoom lens.

Anyhow back to yesterday’s ride … it was late afternoon with perfect light when as I approached the end of my route I noticed a Red-Shouldered Hawk looking for dinner. The raptor was amazingly docile in terms of letting me watch its hunt. In the first set of images, I had noticed the pine tree in the background with blue sky gaps … the perfect backdrop for my photos. Enjoy.

I normally do not like to take photographs of birds on power lines, but these conditions demonstrated there are no hard and fast rules. More Red-Shouldered Hawk.

Why did the Monk Parakeet cross the road? To meet the Burrowing Owl!

Year 9

Yes, the age old question was answered shortly after sunrise yesterday at the Pelican Ballfields in Cape Coral. The parakeets wanted to say hello to all the Burrowing Owls! While the uninformed might believe the answer was really to find better seeds, I knew better!

Monk Parakeets Crossing the Road

Monk Parakeet Crossing the Road Video (video link for email subscribers)

Burrowing Owl Couple #1

Burrowing Owl Couple #1 Video A (you can actually hear the parakeets in the background!)(video link for email subscribers)

Burrowing Owl Couple #1 Video B (video link for email subscribers)

More pics of Burrowing Owl Couple #1

Burrowing Owl Couple #2 (outer eyelid is closed on one owl … protecting against sunlight and dust)

Burrowing Owl Bachelor

Monk Parakeets. These birds are from Argentina, but over years and years so many parakeets have escaped from captivity (think pets) there is now a large wild population in Florida, and even colonies in locations such as Chicago and Brooklyn.

One might wonder why I am posting early in the morning rather than birding. My plan today is to head over to the Ding Darling Wildlife Preserve on Sanibel Island and bike the wilderness drive. Normally the best birding is right at sunrise, but with shore and wading birds, low tide should be your target time of day. The retreating tide creates shallow tidal pools where small fish and other yummies are easier pickings for birds.