Fort Myers Beach

Wednesday 28th
After four days of having to drive we decided to pay attention to The Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail, but remain local to where we are staying on Estero Boulevard at Fort Myers Beach. A short distance away is the Little Estero Critical Endangered Area that lies between the apartment blocks and the ocean. It has sheltered lagoons, but only one of any size and on this water we saw a female Red-breasted Merganser. It was a first for this trip. There was nothing unusual here except that we saw four Sanderling fly.
Beach access is only possible in some places and the easiest is through the Wyndham Hotel where parking is a mere $5 all of which is refundable is you spend over $25 dollars in the bar on the beach.

In the afternoon we visited Bowditch Point at the northern end of the island. On the edge of the surf Sanderling were feeding within feet of ours. There was a solitary Willet, a Black-bellied Plover and one Dunlin. Pelicans, Laughing Gulls and Ring-billed were around as usual. It is a joy to be so close to the birds that you don't even need binoculars.

I think both these locations must be exceptional places during the spring and fall. If you intend coming to Florida it is advisable to study the web site of GFBWT