Return To Sanibel Island - 2011

On the road again…

Phaedra here - back in Sanibel.   

I’m sitting under a wonderful open canopy watching crazy Zoe chasing that tennis ball. She finds people, anywhere she goes, to throw, throw, and throw for her.  I chase it, also, but I’m not OCD about it! There are so many new smells to explore, and I can’t waste my time doing the same thing over and over again.  I think there might be a bear near here.  Both Zoe and I get some strong vibes when we walk on the Fire Break Trail.  One day, when we were walking down San-Cap road, a car pulled up and a man told Papa he had just seen a Black Bear crossing the road behind us and going into the forest near our campground.  It's kind of spooky to think about it - especially at night!

 
We arrived on Friday the 16^th after Papa’s thumb got a release to travel. He still has to wear his brace but was able to drive the truck with the camper, and Mama didn’t have to yell at him toooooo much!

The other resident volunteers from Ding Darling were so happy to see me and even enjoyed Zoe a bit, too.  And, we  saw our site for the first time. Our site is huge and there is a level, cement pad to park our camper on with a cover over the top.  Papa and Mama hope that there won’t be any leaks this year.  Me, too!!! The roof of the structure must be 15 feet high.  I kind of like the white, crushed seashells all over the campground. We don’t have to worry about ants and other crawling things. Our friend, Woody has worked really hard packing it down with a roller. We really have a fancy campground.

Judy and Woody, friends from last year, came over right away and there are two other couples here this year so far.  They ALL throw balls for Zoe. Spoiled brat!!!!!!

Papa and Mama have been gone a lot. They spend all of their time out on Wildlife Drive looking for birds. They saw their first gator on the drive the second time out, too. (They never saw one last year.) They went on a sunset cruise with new friends and they saw dolphins and Magnificent Frigate Birds chasing an osprey to steal food from its talons. They were so excited.  Big deal!!!!!

They never take us anywhere. Poor puppies!

Now, the bad news.  

Nooooooossseeeeeeeums!!!!!!  With the weather being in the mid 70’s to low 80’s those little bugs are bothering all of us in the late afternoon and early evening. There was a great party Monday night to say good bye to our great friend and wonderful ball thrower, Joe, who is heading off to other exciting places.  Because of the no-seeums they kept coming back for long sleeved shirts and long pants and Repel. Serves them right for leaving us in the camper!

Oh, yeah, and then there’s The Sanibel Bean…  But, I’ll save that for next time.  Plus, maybe that time you will get to see pictures of us, too!

Hope you all have a great holiday and all of you are as happy as we are at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

Wags and kisses to y’all!

Phaedra (and my sister Zoe)

Sanibel Story Comes To An End For This Year!

Zoe here, along with hundreds of shore birds, wading birds, feeding frenzies (not mine), new friends, and my sister, Phaedra.

We can’t believe that on Monday, we are getting up early and beginning the journey north.  All this week, it has been so hot that WE even got to go to the beach.  If you remember, Papa and Mama spent a lot of time on the beach while we waited patiently at home for them to return.  We love all of the Sanibel beaches.  Did you know that dogs are welcome on every beach on the island?  That’s right, every beach!  We do have to stay on our leads, but sometimes I escape from Papa’s hands and charge down the beach after my ball.  Phae loves to put her feet in the water, but since it’s only 75* now, I think I’ll wait for a later time and warmer water.

Phaedra and I have learned so much this vacation that we are qualified to teach about birds and their behaviors, alligators and crocodiles, manatees, and plants that surround the Education Center.  I really think I learned too much.  My brain is so full of Latin names for plants and trivia (about things like how big baby manatees are) that sometimes I can’t remember where I put my ball.  Sometimes, though, it’s not because I can’t remember, it’s because Papa has hidden it in the truck just so he doesn’t have to throw it for me.  That’s not very fair, is it?

We will miss our “Gated Community” a lot.  There are some really great Interns who live right along with us.  Joe came here from San Francisco and is a BIG sports fan.  His team is Louisville.  Papa goes over to his place at the end of each game and they talk and talk about it as if they can change the end of the games.  Rachel, from New Hampshire, is another intern, and she and Joe work together in the biology department.  They are always going out in kayaks or boats to count alligators, roosting birds, bobcats, and a bunch of other critters.  Joe has set up motion sensor cameras in the mangroves and sanctuary to see who is out there.  One night Papa and Phaedra and I walked across the street into the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) lands to see if we could find any bobcats.  We only found Joe’s camera.  He loved our pictures along with a pair of legs.  He guessed who had triggered his camera!  Then there is Jenny.  She is a biology education intern and always has a wonderful smile every time she visits our deck.  It is so much fun having all these people around.  I have a new uncle, too.  His name is Von.  He loves to tease me with my ball.  I go looking for him every time I go outside. If Mama won’t throw my ball, Uncle Von will. 

Bailey, our doggie friend, took her people, Woody and Judy, and left two weeks ago to return to Colorado.  Bailey was obsessed over anoles.  They are lizards.  Mama really likes them and even got a book so she could identify anoles.  Bailey would spend hours chasing them around the deck and up the palm tree trying to catch them.  She never did!  I bet I could have gotten one of them.  I wonder how they taste.  My ball is better, I bet! 

Papa and Mama finished their research on insects and plants for this year.  Ranger Jeff asked them if they wanted someone else to work on it or if they wanted to take up the research next year.  I am really surprised that both of them said they wanted to keep the project.  You should have heard all the bellyaching and kvetching that Phaedra and I had to hear.  Ranger Jeff even threatened to get out his stick and hit Papa with it if he didn’t work on the project.  Guess what?  Papa began to enjoy bugs.

It’s going to be different when we get home.  We look forward to seeing our friend, Parker, and her family.  We can’t wait to have out back yard to run in, but here we’ve had a really big area to run in, too.  We’ll sure miss all the people.

You know, Sanibel welcomes dogs out on the patios of all restaurants.  We never got to go; we just heard all about the cute and well-behaved dogs they met.  They met lots more people than dogs, too.  Who would believe that Papa and Mama would meet so many new friends on Sanibel?  They just seemed to get “picked-up” by so many interesting people.  They were always going out to dinner or playing bridge with their new friends.  They saw beautiful homes, were offered kayaks to use, invited to parties, and now they have a long list of people that they are staying in touch with until they return.  I overheard that they are kind of worried about keeping busy when they get home.  They have gotten used to being so busy that hope they’ll still find things to be involved in.  There’s no worry, though.  I will make sure that every waking moment they throw me a ball.  That’ll keep them busy!

So, for now, Phaedra and I say farewell to Sanibel, to the birds, to the people from far and wide who make Sanibel home.

Zoe

Phaedra coming to you from beautiful Sanibel!

Can you believe it?  January is almost gone and we are halfway finished with our “tour of duty” at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge!  Zoe and I are really happy to be here with sunny skies and warm temperatures.  Today, I think it is going to be in the upper 70’s with blue skies, fair winds and following seas.  
 

So, you ask, “What have all y’all been doing down there for all this time?”  I’m so glad you asked.  Mostly staying in the camper.  However, there have been quite a few times when we have been able to go to the beach and run all over.  Lately, though, it’s been a tad too cold to do that so we just beg to get Papa to take us out and throw the ball.

On the other hand, Papa and Mama have been so busy that they are begging for the quiet solitude of a beach chair and a book.  There were actually several nights when Mama was so tired that she couldn’t read in bed after the 11:00 o’clock news.  That’s such a rarity, I can tell you!

They are really getting

into this kayaking job 

to remove monofilament from the mangroves so that the birds don’t get caught in it.  Both of them have a group of 4 kayaks that go off in various directions and scours the landscape for lures, lines, bobbers, and lead weights.  This happens every Friday morning.  Then in the afternoon, they go back out by themselves and put in at the places where it is more difficult to launch but much closer to the birds. 

This past Friday, both Mama and Papa were within 3 feet of Tricolor Egrets and about 5 feet from a large group of White Pelicans.  They love it.  Mama also had to climb out over the water on a mangrove branch in order to reach hooks and a line that as Jeff, the Invasive Species Ranger, said - only a fool could have made such a bad cast!  I think I’d rather fish with my mouth instead of using a pole.  I had a friend, Cody, who used to “patrol” the beach by his dock and every once in a while he’d plunge his head under water and come up with a big ole fish!  I didn’t ever see Cody swallow the fish whole like the birds do, though.  He practiced “Catch and Release” quite well.

Yesterday, the folks were gone all day. They went into Fort Myers to help out their friends, other Resident Volunteers, who were hosting an outreach kiosk at the Florida Science and Inventor’s Fair.  They were talking about the Junior Duck Stamp Program for kids in school.  It is an art contest that involves doing scientific research about waterfowl and then the kids draw, paint, or illustrate a bird that they choose.  The art competition is in every state in the U.S. and the national winner has a stamp made of her artwork.  

 Ding Darling is where this competition originally began, and it is a really big thing.  (Mama even had a student at Chapel Hill High School who was one of the state winners and had a reception with President Clinton the year that he won.)  It sure is a small world with all the connecting threads in life, isn’t it?   
 
I bet I can paint ducks, you know.  You must all remember Jackson Pollock and his “drip period”, right?  Anyway, I thought I could use my tail and paint a duck that way if he could throw paint onto a canvas and become famous.  What do you think?

Every day, we take a ride out to the refuge to see the different birds.  Mama is trying to figure out all the shore birds now.  


She has a several favorites, the Black Skimmer, the Royal Tern, and the Sandwich Tern.  Plus they both really like the little Sanderlings that are the wave chasers.  They’re so fast that Zoe couldn’t catch them even if the folks let her go after them.  They’re such sticks-in-the-mud, though.  They say we can’t harass or chase anyone.  I hope to get free one day and go with gusto!!!

Drinks at a beach bar!

The people here are too nice.  So far Papa and Mama have been invited to a dinner party, have gone out to dinner with someone else and then returned to their home to play bridge, went to see The King’s Speech with a group of people after one of their new friends had bid at a charity auction and won a day at the theater for herself and 59 of her closest friends. They have, also, met up with many friends of a long-time friend whom they knew in Germany.  
 
Their great friends, the Coopers and the Drezners are here, too.  They went on another cruise with Karen, Sherree, and Herb one late afternoon.  I wish I could have gone, too.  As you see, I don’t much care for all this social life because, guess what, we stay at home.  At least we are getting our beauty rest.  And boy do we look wonderful!

So, the discussion lately has gone something like this:  "My favorite is the older one."  Or, "I like the young one the best."  After a few times of hearing this, Zoe and I wondered if they were talking about us.  We always thought they liked us both equally, but we started to get worried.  Come to find out, they were talking about Juvenile and Adult Night Herons.  So, now that we aren't worried anymore, you can decided for yourselves. 

Happy 2011 from Phaedra and Zoe!

Happy New Year from Sanibel!

Phaedra here wishing ya’ll the best for the coming year. For Zoe and me it’s the same ole stuff. Walks, food, play and sleep…

Geez, it’s the same for the folks except their time does not include US going with them all the time!  Plus, they get a lot more time to play.

Relaxing on the sand.

Buried in the sand.

Parker was down over Christmas with Anne and Dov, and we had a great time. The weather was nice when they got here, and they spent a little time at the beach.  Then, the weather turned cold, and we actually had frost one morning. I really missed it when the whole family went to the beach.  The first two nights, Parker talked Papa and Mama to take her to the beach to look for Ghost Crabs.  I guess they didn't see any of those, but Parker and Mama went bezerkers with collecting shells.  Parker loved the "Mother Pearl" shells just like Mama.  I think Mama can't wait until Parker attends "Nana Camp" this summer at Myrtle Beach and they can fill the whole camper with beautiful shells!  Me, not so much.  They hurt my feet when I step on them.  But, I do love to be on the beach.  Dogs are allowed at any beach on Sanibel.  All I have to do is make sure I wear my leash and Papa has the bags!

They slept in a tent next to the camper, by choice, except for the last night.  Zoe hated the time when they went outside because her playmates weren’t inside anymore.  I don’t think Parker missed her too much, though.  Parker was always trying to hide the ball from Zoe so that she didn’t have to always throw it for her!  In addition to beach time, they spent time at the Center, out on Wildlife Drive, and drove to Cypress Swamp near Naples to see alligators. 

Fire Ants!!!

Parker is really good with the binoculars.  Sometimes, she even turns them the wrong way and chases after Zoe who doesn't know what to think but loves it!  Binoculars come in really handy when out on Wildlife Drive.  Parker was able to call birds by name after the first day.  She'd say, "There's a Roseate, or look at that heron.  Papa didn't learn as quickly as she did, but don't tell him I said so, OK?  She's really observant, too.  When we visited the Citrus Grove in Naples, she was the one who told her mom to watch out for the fire ants!  Glad I wasn't there!

Baby Manatee

They did drive over to Manatee Park on the north side of Ft. Myers where a power plant is located.  Parker kept saying she wanted to see baby manatees and I heard Mama mutter under her breath that she was really worried there wouldn't be any babies to see.  Well, I heard that as soon as Parker got up to the waterway, the first thing she saw was a baby manatee.  She and Anne and Dov really enjoyed seeing the manatees in the wild.  The reason they are at the power plant, you know, is that it produces warmer water, which they need.  The gulf is 55*, which is 13* less than the manatees need in order to survive. So, up the river they go.  So far this year 700 have died because of the cold weather and its only January.  How sad!

Papa and Mama drove Anne and Parker down to Cypress Swamp to see alligators while Dov had some time to himself and went kayaking on Tarpon Bay.  In Cypress Swamp, Anne counted 27 alligators along the canals on the main road.  There were lots of them on the swamp loop road, too.  I never hope to see an alligator up close and personal.  They can move really, really fast and I'm just an appetizer for a big 'gator, don't you know!

Sunset Cruise with Mike and Mary

Papa hard at work.

We made some new friends, too.  Right after Parker and her folks left, Mary and Mike arrived from Chapel Hill with Kay and Bill, Mary’s sister and nephew.  We already knew Mary and Mike, but Kay and Bill were really nice, too.  Bill was so good to Zoe and threw and threw her ball over and over again.  She loved that.  They stayed in Ft. Myers but spent a lot of their time on the island.  We had a great visit with all of them.  Everyone went on a drive through the refuge plus had a sunset cruise on Tarpon Bay.  Of course, we stayed home.  Mom always tells us to “guard the house” and for me to keep track of Zoe.  She tells Zoe to do what I say.  As if that would ever work!!!  I think she really feels guilty about leaving us and thinks that a job will make it better for us.

Peace and quiet returned on Friday.  Mama and Papa went out in kayaks getting fishing lines out of the trees. We, all, spent the afternoon in the sun outside the camper and brought in the New Year in our sleep!

All loaded up to start working.

Looking for lines.

I don't know if I want to go kayaking with the folks.  It looks peaceful, but I think I'd want to go for a swim and they wouldn't let me.  This is a really good job for them what with being out of doors! They think they are going to like Ding Darling a lot.

May you have health and happiness in the new year.  Happy 2011!