Website design By BotEap.comIn winter, Florida’s beaches fill with snowbirds enjoying the sand and surf while escaping the snow, ice and sub-zero temperatures. In fact, I used to be one of them. But now that I’m a year-round Florida citizen, I’ve discovered that the best time of year to enjoy the beaches is summer. The crowds are gone and the Gulf waters are as warm as an August rain shower. Most importantly, the turbulent swell is transformed into a gentle lullaby, easy to handle for a lake swimmer like me.

Website design By BotEap.comMy husband and I drive to the beach, which is only ten minutes from our house, two or three times a week after dinner, when the sun is low on the horizon and a lovely breeze keeps us cool. We take a long walk along the water’s edge and then I swim while my husband watches the sunset from a deck chair. I usually join him in time to see the sun disappear over the horizon and the sky fill with a spectacular panorama of colours.

Website design By BotEap.comWe go to the beach in winter, but only to walk, since the water is cold, the waves are high and the beaches are full of people. During a walk last winter, we passed a family who seemed to have been there most of the afternoon; two large umbrellas stuck firmly into the sand, several blankets and a cooler scattered around him. But what caught my attention was a girl kneeling in front of a cormorant just a few meters from the family. The bird had its wings down and did not move as the girl inched closer. This was not normal behavior.

Website design By BotEap.comWe kept walking but I kept worrying about the cormorant. When we passed the group on the way back, the family was still there and so was the bird. I asked them how long the cormorant had been there. For a couple of hours, they said. Initially, the bird had spread its wings to dry, then closed them and had not moved since. I walked across the dry sand and knelt down a few feet from the bird. He blinked at me but didn’t move. It appeared to be a young cormorant and obviously something was wrong. I took out my phone and looked up the number of the bird rescue that was located on the island. After leaving information about the bird and directions to this place on the beach on the message service, we left, but I was tempted to stay and make sure the bird was taken care of.

Website design By BotEap.comAs we resumed our hike, my husband reminded me (again) of my first bird rescue attempt shortly after we moved to this area. We were walking along the beach when we passed a shorebird standing on one foot. I, of course, worried that something was wrong with the bird’s other foot and walked around looking for a cell phone so I could call bird rescue (I had left mine at home). We then walked some more and came across several more birds that were also standing on one foot. When we got home, I searched for ‘Florida Birds That Stand on One Leg’ and found dozens of pictures of birds in this position. My husband will never let me forget this!

Website design By BotEap.comIn fact, I was involved in a bird rescue not long after we moved here. I was writing stories for a local newspaper and had the chance to tag along with a couple, Donna and Bob, who were running a bird sanctuary and responding to calls about endangered birds. They took me with them to a marina where someone reported seeing a young pelican that appeared to be entangled in a fishing line, all too common for shorebirds. We walked up to the main dock and Donna, who was only five feet tall and almost my age, began throwing handfuls of bait across the dock from a bucket she was carrying. About twenty pelicans flew in to collect the fish, most of them mature birds but also some young ones identifiable by their brown feathers.

Website design By BotEap.com“There it is,” Bob yelled.

Website design By BotEap.com“I see,” Donna replied.

Website design By BotEap.comAnd then I saw it, a young brown pelican nibbling at its food, a meter long fishing line dangling under its wing. Donna put down the bucket and dove down the dock for the bird, clutching it firmly in her lap, displaying a skill that came from long practice. While she held it still, Bob reached over and carefully spread the wing with the fishing line, exposing a fishing hook lodged in the bird’s chest next to the wing. Carefully, he removed the hook and they both examined the wound. After deciding that the pelican was not seriously injured, Bob sprayed the wound with a disinfectant and Donna let him go. We watched it fly away. Then more handfuls of food were thrown, and the young pelican, having made his ordeal no worse, flew back to join the feast.

Website design By BotEap.comThe pelicans were also the stars of a walk on the beach another day. We were walking along the beach at the southern end of Anna Maria Island, past the remains of old piers, when a flock of more than two hundred pelicans landed near us, on the beach and on the pieces of the pier that jutted out of the water. . Dozens of birds dove into the shallows at once, turning up little fish that swarmed by the thousands near the pier. We watched, transfixed, as the birds dived over and over again. We wanted to record this incredible sight, but we knew it would be a long time before we could go home to get the camera and come back. We would have to be content with our memories.

Website design By BotEap.comSeveral years ago, we met up with friends on Sanibel Island and decided to take a walk on the beach. As we started our walk, we all noticed that the sand was covered with unusually large and beautiful shells. As we got closer, we realized that the shells were moving. Each was a living animal (or a mollusk), washed ashore by some force of nature. We started throwing as much back into the surf as possible, but soon gave up, the amount was too immense.

Website design By BotEap.comI later found out that collecting live shells (any specimen that contains an inhabitant) is prohibited in Florida. Sanibel and Captiva Island are favorite islands of refuge and shelling locations, although people are urged to limit their collections of empty shells as these shells replenish the beaches. For me, the incredible opportunity to see the live shellfish crawling on the beach was more than enough; I had no desire to take any home with me.

Website design By BotEap.comIt’s fun to watch people fish on the beach, their lines stretched out into the waves as they recline in folding chairs enjoying the view. More often than not, there is a great blue heron standing nearby, waiting for a snack if the catch is too small to support or if the fisherman (or woman) shares a few baitfish with the bird when she is ready to go home. . The chance of a free meal lessens your natural fear, which isn’t always a good thing.

Website design By BotEap.comOn Friday nights, Manatee Beach has a different attraction: the drum circle. Locals bring drums, cans, tambourines, and other percussion instruments that beachgoers can shake, bang, or bang to celebrate the sunset. Drum circle members arrive with chairs and instruments about an hour before sunset and invite anyone interested to join them. Of course, children are especially excited to have this opportunity to play a drum and some adults (like me) are also drawn to the circle. The drumming reaches its peak as the sun melts on the horizon, yet another week on the beautiful beaches of Florida.

Website design By BotEap.comI was telling our neighbors about our afternoons at the beach and how beautiful it is to swim at that time of night when I caught them exchanging glances. Did you know, they asked me, that sharks go into the shallows to feed at dusk? I did, sort of, but I hadn’t really given it much thought. I had to admit that hearing it out loud was a little scary for me. But I had never seen one and never heard of a shark attack on the beaches of Anna Maria. So now I’m a bit more cautious, swimming before our hike instead of after, and always picking a spot in the water that has a good amount of people nearby. I’m sure they would know better than me. It will take more than sharks to keep me off the beach and out of the water during the Florida summer months.