Gabi On The Go: February 2011

On our last day in Florida, Mike and I decided to do something different than just sit at the beach. We headed to one of the most visited US Wildlife Refuges: the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

We got there at 8:30 hoping to do the breakfast in the boat tour, but since nobody else showed up, it was cancelled. So, we waited until 10am for the Tram tour, by land. But the place is so beautiful that time flies when you are right there, admiring the nature!

Although there is a large diverse population of different animals, birds are the most seen here. There are about 200 species that migrate here every year.

It is common to see poles with bird nests on the top. These two are a couple of ospreys. We were told that they come here every year to have babies. The city put up the platform on the top of the pole and they do the rest.

FROM: http://www.fws.gov/dingdarling/

The J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge is located on the subtropical barrier island of Sanibel in the Gulf of Mexico. The refuge is part of the largest undeveloped mangrove ecosystem in the United States. It is world famous for its spectacular migratory bird populations.

This is Don, our tour guide. He told us that he is a retired photojournalist who's decided to live here and work with tourism. He sounds very passionate about the wildlife here and was ready to answer any question.

These trees are called Mangrove. They have adapted to the salt water and can be found in tropical regions. They dominate three quarters of tropical coastlines.

This was the first nice bird we encountered. Forgot his name, sorry!

And then we started seeing white pelicans everywhere. According to Don, they can migrate from northern areas as far as Edmonton, in Western Canada.

FROM WIKIPEDIA:

The J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United State National Wildlife Refuge System, located in southwestern Florida, on Sanibel Island in the Gulf of Mexico. It is named for the cartoonist Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling.

The 5,200 acre (21 km²) refuge was established in 1976, to protect one of the country's largest undeveloped mangrove ecosystems. The refuge is well-known for its migratory birds populations. Hurricane Charley struck the refuge on August 13, 2004, causing major changes to the topography and ecology. The J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge Complex consists of the following: the Darling Refuge itself, and the Caloosahatchee, Island Bay, Matlacha and Pine Island National Wildlife Refuges. The northern part of the refuge is designated as the J.N. Ding Darling Wilderness Area, and consists of 2,619.13 acres (10.6 km²) or 41.0% of its total area.

While doing the tour you can see lots of people on bikes or walking. I think that would be the best way to really enjoy this place. If you are planning to come here, I recommend a full day, if possible - but bring your own food, of course.

Cool Mangroves!

The picture is a bit blurry, but YES it is a snake that you're seeing.

This little guy is called tree crab. You can see tons of them hanging around trees.

The tram tour lasted about one hour and half, with one stop to learn more about the Mangroves.

These lagoons are very shallow, some like this one are less than a foot deep.

This is a Mullet Fish, one of the most common fish harvested in Florida.

FROM http://www.fl-seafood.com/species/mullet.htm

Mullet are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters including the bays and estuaries on Florida's Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The primary commercial fishery area in Florida is along the Gulf Coast. The body of the mullet is elongated and rather stout. The color is a dark bluish on the top and silver along the sides. It has a small mouth with closely set teeth and widely separately dorsal fins. The large scales along the sides of the striped mullet consist of a dark center giving a distinct illusion of horizontal stripes. The average weight is 2 to 3 pounds, but can be in excess of 6 pounds.

Mullet swim in large schools and are commonly seen jumping out of the water, hence the name jumping mullet. This makes it easy for fishermen to spot the fish even in the dark. Mullet feed on aquatic plants and algae found floating, attached to the bottom or mixed in with surface sediments. The mullet is considered a vegetarian and is the only fish that has a gizzard, much like a chicken, that is used to grind up and digest plant material. Commercial harvesters use a cast, beach or haul seine net to catch mullet.

You can't see it too well here, but this is a tiny little spiky red spider.

More interesting species of birds. Enjoy...

We signed up for this tour hoping to see our friend gator, but obviously we just t00k home a picture of the sign. BTW... if you DON'T want to see a wild animal, take me in a tour with you!

If you know Gabiruga, you know I had to take this picture!

These trees are everywhere in Florida.

They look like a pineapple.

We were told by Don, our tour guide that those love birds are actually Bald Eagles...

...so we came back and photographed them. Aren't they cute?

These are "Pneumatophore" or Aerial Roots. They are above ground and penetrate the sand around the Mangrove tree. Cool, eh?

Bromeliad Plant.

What an elegant guy!

OK, we didn't see any alligators, but I will go home happy.

Look what we found: a turtle!

We ended our tour around noon and headed back to the beach to get Mark, who was tanning away at another beach of Sanibel Island, not far from the refuge.