Cape Coral Burrowing Owls and J.W. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge

 Before sunrise, we left the lovely home of our very good friends in Sarasota and headed to Cape Coral which has the largest population of eastern morph burrowing owls in the world. These cute and curious owls coexist with the residents of Cape Coral. Owl burrowing sites are marked with white pipes, signs, and t-shaped perches.

On the sunny Sunday morning of February 20th we saw a total of five early riser owls at various places in the city.

One owl kicked the sand from his burrow entrance gradually disappearing as the sand shot from the entrance.

The eastern burrowing owls, like these, are a darker feathered bird than the western ones like the owls we saw in the South Dakota Badlands. The western birds often use prairie dog burrows for their homes. The eastern owls (Florida is the only eastern place they're found)  have darker plumage.

We drive an hour away from Cape Coral to Sanibell Island and the J.W. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. It was a busy place mid-morning with people and with birds.

The refuge is surrounded by mangrove wetlands with a four mile wildlife drive. 

 

Lots of wading birds gave us great views as we drove the refuge. Here is a sampling...

Roseate Spoonbill:

Brown Pelican:

American White Pelican:

Greater Yellowlegs:

Spotted Sandpiper:

And Black-crowned Night Heron:

 

We also saw Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, and hundreds of White Ibis. 

We walked the Calusa Shell Mound Trail where the remnants of the ancient Florida peoples can be seen in the dense forest of mangrove and gumbo-limbo trees. 

 

We saw a fussy Blue-gray Gnatcatcher deep in the canopy and a Prairie Warbler near the trail entrance.

Can't wait to return another time!