The first showing of mom feeding her young! What an incredible photo!
Taken March 10, 2010

Pictured are owners Stu and Bunny Proctor celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. Family and friends from Ocean’s Reach helped to celebrate this milestone event. May they continue to celebrate for many more years

Our Osprey’s are taking care of their new family at Ocean’s Reach. The female has been off the nest since February 14th and both the male and female have been busy feeding their newborn. We have not been able to see them yet, however we will provide progress reports as our new family develops.

How about a special gift to send to a friend back home. The Sanibel-Captiva Nature Wall Calendar comes shrink wrapped and ready for gift giving and mailing. Attach your label and drop it in our mail box for daily pick up.

A monthly reminder of the wildlife and natural beauty to be enjoyed on Sanibel-Captiva–whether you are near or afar. Truly a work of art, featuring many famous photographers, that over the years have become collectors items. Start your collection today!

The calendar retails for $13.95 and is sold throughout Southwest Florida in book stores, gift shops and other retailers including Ocean’s Reach. Mail orders send $13.95 (plus $2 shipping and handling) to: Sanibel-Captiva Nature Calendar, P.O. Box 356, Sanibel Island, FL 33957. For the custom-printed Blind Pass Tide edition (available in the fall), send $16.95 (plus $2 shipping and handling) to the above address.

Congratulations twice to Alan Felkner, the winner of the blog quiz identifying the former major league pitcher, Bill “Spaceman” Lee. Alan is presented his prize by our own Dru Doyle.

Alan lives in Bloomington, MN and is very active in his Methodist Church. On “Methodist Night”, 8/19/10, Alan has been selected to throw out the first honorary pitch for the Minnesota Twins at their new baseball stadium.

We are proud to have our celebrity guest visit us again at Ocean’s Reach!

Say hello to the Snowy Plover! This beautiful Snowy Plover was captured on film by Stan Rubin.  Did you know that Snowy Plovers are found along the West Coast from Washington State to Baja, California and along the Gulf Coast from Florida to the Yucatan Peninsula. Their preferred habitats include sandy coastal beaches and shallow alkaline lakes. They are also on the endangered species list as a result of predators like animals, larger birds, humans, construction along the beach areas, and even kite flying. The reason for this is that they build their nests on the sandy beaches and when anyone is near they leave their nests to draw attention away from the eggs or young. This allows the eggs to get too cold to hatch and the process must start all over again. So if possible keep an eye open for the beautiful Snowy Plover.

What a great shot of the Osprey taking flight out of the pond at Ocean’s Reach.

Thanks again to Mr. Rubin for the photos. Ocean’s Reach loves to post vacation photos, so please don’t hesitate to share yours.

This lovely Osprey, along with it’s mate, is a winter resident at Ocean’s Reach while they await the birth of their young. The look that has been captured in the eyes of this osprey is quite incredible!

Our compliments and our thanks to Mr. Rubin for sharing!

Stewart Rubin, who has been staying in 3b4 caught this wonderful photo of three Black Skimmers coming in for dinner at the Ocean’s Reach pond at sunset! Black Skimmers have a very long thin black and red bill with the lower half of the bill longer than the top one. This allows the bird to skim the water as it flies and hopefully catch a few small fish.

They are in absolute perfect formation, and such a sight to see!

The Great Egret is the symbol for the National Audubon Society and was almost extinct as a result of the beautiful feathers they produced. These feathers were in such demand for ladies hats that the population of these birds plunged almost 95%. Thanks to the legal protection status over the last century, their numbers are increasing, and they are becoming a fairly common sight on Sanibel.