Florida has a reputation for beaches lined by high-rise condos. Ugh.
Not this beach.
Though there are high rises to the south, Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park is a mile-long bit of preserved beach, no buildings behind you. It’s one of my favorite places to run on the beach, and you’re also pretty much guaranteed to see all [...]
A visiting friend was game when I dragged her to the beach and asked her to count birds. You can read about our adventures for Audubon’s Great Backyard Bird Count here.
Then, as a thank you gift she sent me a new book: “Florida’s Birds – A field guild and ference” by David S. Maehr and [...]
It’s a park, and also a natural filtering system.
A new park opened last fall in Naples, and it’s unique because along with being a place to enjoy being outside, it’s also a water filtering area. Storm water passes through the park and gets filtered before it dumps into the Gordon River and then into Naples [...]
A twisting, winding boardwalk rises above the inland waters and leads you to an island, where you can lay on the beach.
Sounds like fun, right? Best of all, it’s handicap accessible and there’s even a golf cart to transport you there (or back) if unable to walk (or too sunburnt).
Clam Pass park is a 35-acre [...]
People move south to Florida for many reasons, but the story of the Koreshans might be one of the most unique.
In 1894, a religious man from New York arrived in Estero to found a new religion called Koreshanity and a settlement he called “New Jerusalem.” The dream lasted awhile, and about 250 followers of Cyrus [...]
They call us “citizen scientists.”
I’m not sure if I qualify, but I gave it my best shot. My friend and I walked along the beach at Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park on Sunday and counted birds, joining the tens of thousands of people who count birds each year for the Great Backyard Bird Count.
Last year, 93,600 [...]
Researchers at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington are doing a study on painted buntings, and they’ve added Florida to their observation area — so if you’ve got them in your yard, you could sign up.
(I’ve still never seen one . . . they’re on my list!)
They’re studying the population to get a handle [...]
There are many places I have yet to visit in South Florida, so I thought I’d make a to-do list so you can see places I plan to visit (and write about) in the next year.
Here goes:
Shark Valley: This is a place in Everglades National Park that’s about halfway between Miami and Naples. You rent [...]
Many Florida islands don’t feel like islands at all — they’re covered in homes, shopping centers and carefully-made canals.
Not Sanibel. It has quite a bit of development, too, but nearly half of the island is a national wildlife refuge, named after J.N. Darling, a Pulitzer-prize winning editorial cartoonist. It’s worth a visit.
The 6,400-acre refuge includes [...]
I’d never seen an alligator before.
So when the volunteer guide at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary told my parents and I that there was one up ahead on the edge of one of the lettuce lakes, we set out on our alligator hunt. In the three years since then, I’ve seen dozens and dozens — in captivity [...]
