Thursday - Weather: high 85 (tied the record high), low 62. Mostly sunny. Wind SSE 12 mph. Almost exactly the same as yesterday.
We went to Lovers Key beach today.  It costs $8 to park, and then you ride a free tram to the beach area.  We set up our umbrella and chairs, but it was tricky in the wind.  We took a long walk on the beach, Linda found some olives (the only seashell she is collecting now), and we saw lots of osprey in their nests, flying around, and eating fish.  Also lots of pelicans diving for fish.  We had a hot dog (Linda) and a hamburger (Bob) for lunch.  There is a small sandwich stand on the beach, and we wondered how the food would be, but it wasn't bad at all.  We sat and read, watched the pelicans, watched the boats, and watched the people.  Came back to the resort about 2:30, and at 3:00 the resort had ice cream around the pool.  We sat with a couple from PA and had a good visit, talked a lot about birds. Watched the sunset, but did not take any pictures this time.
Friday - Weather: high 78, low 57. Rain showers in the morning, mostly cloudy in the afternoon.  Wind SW 11 mph.
Our last full day at Ft. Myers Beach.  We had lunch at Rodes, which is on Bonita Beach Road near the RV resort where we used to stay in our camper van. Linda had fried shrimp with sides of onion rings and cole slaw. Bob had fried oysters with sides of black beans and rice, also cole slaw.  We agreed that this was the best seafood we have had since coming to FL.  Attached to the restaurant is a small market with fresh seafood, including one of my favorite signs on 6 inch long shrimp - big ass shrimp!
After lunch, we went to the Coconut Point mall and walked around looking at the shops.  We stopped at the Apple store to look at the iPad 2, asked about the third model that is rumored to be out soon, and was told they no nothing!  Linda bought some clothes, and then we spent some time at Barnes and Noble, ending with (YES) a Starbucks coffee and a scone.  Next we went to see the movie The Descendants with George Clooney.  It has been getting good reviews and has several Oscar nominations.  We got there several minutes early and were surprised to see the theater almost completely full!  Only the first 3 rows had empty seats, but that's too close to the screen for us, so we split up and sat one row apart.  By the time the movie started, it was full.  The movie was very good, very sad, and Clooney does a really good job, maybe an Oscar for him.  Home for a lite supper.
Saturday - Orlando Weather: high 77, low 53. Mostly sunny. Wind NNW 6 mph.
Packed up and checked out by 9 a.m.  Sad to leave the beach, but the units we stay in at Cypress Palms are much nicer - newer and larger.  On the way out of town, we stopped one last time at Sun Harvest for a free juice sample, coffee and a cinnamon roll.  (No ice cream today, but some people were getting cones at 9:30 in the morning!) Lunch at Bob Evans near Bradenton, checked in at the resort at 2:00 p.m.  Unpacked, went for a short walk, got some free popcorn at the rec center, lite supper in our villa.

Across the street from the resort at Ft. Myers Beach, there is a small pond.

This wood stork was standing there, posing for me.  They were very rare when we first starting coming to FL, but we see them now in various places, always a pond or ditch.

They look ugly on the ground, but are beautiful when flying!  You can see a little of the black wing-edge, and they stick their neck and bill straight out in flight.

AT LOVERS KEY STATE PARK

Fishing in the gulf.  He had no luck, but . . .

... this osprey did pretty well!

There are lots of osprey nests at Lovers Key, and this one is pretty big.

Two osprey in a huge nest!

I actually could see 4 big nests from where I am standing, taking this picture.

BROWN PELICAN SEQUENCE

They are just flying along until they see a fish . . .

... then they dive straight down to catch it . . .

... and the force of the pelican hitting the water stuns the fish, so they can scoop it into their pouch.  They have an extra air bag on their chest so they don't hurt themselves when they hit the water . . .

... Then they tip their head back and swallow the fish, next they sit and rest a bit.

Looking north toward Ft. Myers Beach.  Note the lack of people and all the shells. 

Sometimes there are sand bars that extend out into the gulf.  This was at low tide, so it show up pretty plainly.  Boaters have to be careful coming close to shore.

Looking south toward Naples and Marco Island.