One of the places we like going to is Ding Darling NWR in Sanibel, Florida. Trouble is, with my work it is tough to get the time to go that far. Also with the lenses I bring, it is tough to fly. The last time we went was about 2 years ago, but I never really got the time to work on my images. I was going through one of my external back up drives and found my images, so I thought I would post some of them here. This is just a quick sampling out of about 2000 files from that trip. It helps to bring a long lens here, the longest you have. There is a lot of activity and interaction between the birds and long lenses help capture that. If patient though you will find quite a few close to the shoreline, you can even get some headshots with a 300mm to 400mm lens. I was using a Canon 400mm f/4 DO lens with a 1.4X Teleconverter or a Sigma 300-800mm DG Zoom Lens.  Also there are great sunrises and sunsets here. You just have to time Sunrise with when the Wildlife Drive opens, so certain time of the year you will miss Sunrise. Ding Darling is closed on Fridays so you have to plan for that also. There is also Indigo Trail which is 2 miles long and starts at the Education/Visitor Center. There are 2 other trails along the drive,  Wulfert Trail & Shell Mound Trail. Also off the main Refuge is the Bailley Tract, which is open every day. There are also many other areas to photograph wildlife on Sanibel & Captiva Islands. There are beaches, wildlife boat tours, lighthouse, and along the main bridge to get on the Island.