Continuing our journey south through Florida, we started our day with a trip to Turtle Beach, near Sarasota. Blue waters, near pristine yet gritty sand, plentiful birds, and few people — our kind of beach. Just down the road was the more popular white-sanded Siesta Key Beach, but we opted to avoid that, especially since all we wanted was a quiet walk along the water and not a lengthy stay in the sun.
The waters were stunningly blue.
Laughing Gulls and a Royal Tern, resting in the sun
The water was cool and refreshing, and while the sand might not have been what one would consider soft, it was quite comfortable to walk on.
We left our flip-flops on the shore and walked barefoot for a good distance, looking for small shells and feeling the sand between our toes. It felt oh so good.
I felt like a bird stalker, taking picture after picture of the avian residents, but the birds didn’t seem to mind.
Ring-billed Gull
Great Blue Heron
The sand wasn’t good for castles, of course, but it was good for digging.
Just barely into the water, the level dips down quite a bit, and the undertow is immediately apparent. Add to that a brother ready to push you in, and you’ve got a wet splash in the making.
Laughing Gull and Ring-billed Gull
Ruddy Turnstone, I believe
After leaving the beach, we continued our journey south toward Everglades National Park, our primary vacation destination. Of course, we got side-tracked as we often do, and we stopped at the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk, adding to our adventures of the day. Next post!
Some great bird photos, but I admit that I’m a bit disappointed about not seeing any turtle images.
I do love Herons though, so that makes up for it (somewhat). 🙂
Alas, we didn’t see any turtles on Turtle Beach. I do know that some turtles do lay eggs there, especially later in the year, but we didn’t expect to see anything in the bright daylight while we were there. I didn’t mean to mislead anyone!
Gosh. Your vacation down in Florida almost emulates mine! My boyfriend’s brother and wife live down in Cape Coral – and they take us ALL of the time to Turtle Beach [and Sanibel, Siesta, etc… but only during the off seasons!] and we went to the Everglades National Park, AND the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk!!! Creepy!!!
Great bird stalking photos too, I love the Heron! ♥
Great minds think alike, Donna! I hope you had as wonderful time as we did — we can’t wait to go back!
Gosh, I’ve never thought of Florida for a vacation destination, but your photos are enticing . . .
Cynthia, if it tells you anything, we are eager to go back. There is so much to do and see there. March was a great time for a visit, too. Summer likely means too many mosquitoes.
Meredith what a fabulous trip …so many destinations and you are still traveling to the Everglades…what beauty you are capturing!
Thanks, Donna — I feel like Florida just welcomed us with all its beauty!
Oh how I love the beaches of Florida! Thanks for sharing. My dad lives on Siesta Key, but their condo has it’s own small beach just north of the ever popular Siesta Key beach. I’ll make him show us Turtle Beach sometime.
How nice to have a condo right on the beach — Siesta Key is such a picture perfect place!
Hi!
My name is Jane and I’m with Dwellable.
I was looking for blog posts about Siesta Key to share on our site and I came across your post…If you’re open to it, shoot me an email at jane(at)dwellable(dot)com. We’d love to share your bird watching blog on Dwellable!
Hope to hear from you 🙂
Jane
Hi, Jane. Thanks for your request. But unfortunately I don’t know enough about Dwellable to connect my blog with it — thanks for asking, though!