Carolina Wild Photo (the blog)

The glowing reports from other photographers about Estero Lagoon tempted me to include this unique location on my list of stops during my 9-day photography trip to Florida in early March, 2019. But, it seems Fort Myers Beach does not see fit to provide any public access paths to the beach for its visitors near the lagoon. So, unless you rent a room or condo next to the lagoon, you must deal with a rather circuitous, roundabout route to reach this highly touted location.

Thankfully, one of the articles I read pointed out this problem, and gave advice on how to overcome the issue. From that advice and my own experience, I prepared a map and detailed information to make it easier for others to find their way. You can find the map and info in my Estero Lagoon article at CarolinaWildPhoto.com. Traffic and toll roads, however, were issues no one warned me about for any of the Florida locations I visited, including Estero Lagoon. (continue reading…)

The fabled “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge was in my sights as we left Titusville, Florida on the morning of Day Six of our 9-day photographic expedition across Florida in March, 2019. Having spent a day and a half at Merritt Island NWR with some modicum of success, I was excited to be on my way to what it seemed was the Mecca of bird photography in Florida, if I was to believe everything I’d read about Ding Darling NWR.

Soon though, the tedious stop and go of continual toll booths around Orlando began to wear on the upbeat spirit I’d started the day with. Eventually that passed, as did Tampa, and we reached Fort Myers about 3:00 pm. With daylight to spare, we skipped checking into the motel and headed straight for Sanibel and the refuge. We paid the $6 toll to get onto the island at Sanibel, and arrived at the wildlife drive at 4:00 pm. With my national parks lifetime pass in hand I skipped the modest fee at the entrance booth and drove along the smoothly paved, two lane wide, one-way drive with plenty of time and daylight left to scout out this bird world wonder. After creeping along for the first 2 miles of the 4-mile long drive we had yet to find a single bird….. clearly not a good sign.
(continue reading…)