It's Beachy-Keen on Sanibel!

Another glorious day on this island. Sunshine, clear blue skies, refreshing breezes, music in the air, unsung yet heard. "Oooh, la, la on the isle of Sanibel" as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young sing it.

After a dip in our condo pool, a nice perq with owning both the house and condo near each other, I headed over to the Blind Pass Beach.

As is often the case, the Gulf was an infinite view of blue-green calm waters. Barely a ripple to be seen.

Birds, as is also often the case, greatly outnumbered the humans on the beach.

So I walked the distance from Blind Pass to the Bowman's Beach public access with my feet at the water's edge and numerous plovers, terns, Ibis and even a heron keeping me company from a short distance.

Exiting at Bowman's Beach, I found a large crowd of bicyclists having a barbeque at two or three tables under the trees. Whatever they were eating smelled delicious.

The path from the Bowman's Beach public access to Toucan House is lightly traveled. I have never encountered another beach goer on the path, though it is a nice one and used as a recreation park.

There are places to stop in the Recreation Park where one can do pull ups, sit ups and vaults, if one were inclined. But after 25 laps at the pool, I did not feel inclined.

I arrived back at Toucan House feeling like this was one of the nicest beach days on Sanibel and that I was really lucky to have had the time to enjoy it.

Regret for an Egret Not Living on Sanibel

We did a 7 mile walk through Ding Darling this morning, and it was the best walk we have done on this vacation so far.

There are not a great number of people on the Island this week, and Ding Darling's darlings are visible in significant numbers.

On this sunny, breezy morning, we saw a small alligator of no more than 8 feet sunning, and just a few steps beyond, a grandfather gator probably measuring 15 feet in length.

There were several Anhingas on one branch drying out their large wings and in one clump of mangroves a cluster of 7 Roseate Spoonbills groomed themselves and each other looking like fluffs of cotton candy from an amusement park.

Further into the reserve we spotted an otter running into the water. The otter must have been approaching 4 feet in length and possibly over 75 pounds.

For a brief moment, and an unusual day time sight, a bobcat wandered out from a wooded swamp and and then retreated.

But one of the most amazing and amusing sights was a reddish egret cavorting on the water. Yes, on the water. The egret appeared to be on the surface, quite amazing and also amusing with his unkempt looking crown of feathers.

The reddish egret is not a frequently sighted bird in North America. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, there are only 1,500 to 2,000 nesting pairs of reddish egrets in the United States. That is not a big number, and my bet is that a good number of the pairs that do exist live in Ding Darling, safe haven that it is.

Which brought my thoughts to the other 6 species of egrets, all but one living in Florida and well represented in Ding Darling.

But the sixth of the egret species, the Chinese Egret, a beautiful, white and elegant bird, is declining rapidly in population. The prior hunting for its feathers, diminishing habitat and insensitivity of humans in encroaching on their colonies to photograph them have left the world with less then 3500 Chinese Egrets. They live primarily in Russia, North Korea, South Korea and mainland China. It is also a non-breeding visitor to Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Peninsular and eastern Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei. The Chinese Egret has only been seen in North America in the western Aleutian Islands.

It's too bad the Chinese Egret has not migrated to Sanibel Island. It would be most welcome here, as are all feathered friends, and would find a life free of molestation.

The Sounds of Sanibel

So much of the enjoyment of a stay on Sanibel is in the little things.

And much of it is not in what we see but what we hear.

The cicada singing, the chewk, chew, chew of the osprey overhead, the gentle sloosh of the Gulf ebbing and flowing all add, almost imperceptibly, to the Sanibel experience.

One more noticeable addition and one we have come to appreciate immensely during our stays on the Island is the sound of WAVV, 101.1 FM radio.

It's an easy listening station. We had one like it in WPAT radio in New Jersey. But the station changed its musical format at least a decade ago reflecting the changing demographics of the area. And literally, overnight as is usually the case with a format change, the easy listening sounds were transitioned to latino.

We love latino music and do still listen to WPAT in our musical mix, but we miss the old WPAT as well.

So we were delighted to find WAVV here on the Island and with a great reception as the station is right across the causeway in Fort Myers. We tune into it in the car as soon as we arrive in the area and keep every stereo/radio/ computer in Toucan House tuned to the station as well.

The gentle sounds go so well with the tempo of the Island.

It also goes well with Margaritas, Pina Coladas and fresh fish from the Gulf.

The Quality of Light on Sanibel Island

We have been at our vacation rental home, Toucan House, for the past several days.

To say it has been sublime would be a gross understatement.

The weather could not be better. Sunny, hot, with a touch of a breeze during the day. The sky is blue, the clouds are puffy and white.

And the quality of the light? Well, there is no describing it.

Much has been written about the quality of light in Provence and other locations around the world.

But I have yet to find a locale with the green, brilliant, clarity of a Sanibel landscape on days like this.

I have been following the light around Toucan House.

It comes in our eyes in our bright orange bedroom, though I have the blinds closed. It is persistent and sneaks into the cracks letting us know the day is beginning and it will be our loss if we do not get up and seize it.

By the time we sit down to breakfast on the lanai, the sun has swept around and though diffused by the palms, it sits on the breeze and comes with gentle certainty.

All day long, I feel the warmth of the light and at times smell the perfume of the light.

As it disappears with dusk, I watch it descend from the small porch off our loft. It colors the sky with its good night good bye.

I am sorry to see it go, but I know it will return in the morning and if, we are really lucky, it will keep us company all day. On our walks, at the beach, as we sit and read. There is no light like the light on Sanibel.