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Mike Landwehr
02-05-2009, 09:25 AM
After reading the Estero thread started by Joe Campanellie on Jan 26, I decided to drive up to Little Estero Lagoon Tuesday (the 3rd) on a scouting trip. Got there about 5:00 in the afternoon. It was a blue-sky day, a little chilly (upper 50's?), and windy. I left my camera in the car! The tide tables called for a low tide of -.4 at 1:00 that morning, and a high tide of 2.5 at 6:00 pm, so I assume the tide was near the 2.5 level while I was there.

The north end of the lagoon, near the Holiday End, looked the way I remembered it from a visit in April of 2007. The water level did look a little lower than I remembered it, but not markedly different. There were a few birds at the north end, and some along the bank on the far (west) side of the lagoon. Following the path south between the condos and the lagoon, I saw a total of perhaps 30 great and snowy egrets and white ibis, a handful of pelicans, a handful of shore birds, and one reddish egret.

On my visit two years ago, I stayed in the north end of the lagoon, so don't know how far the lagoon extended to the south. This time, I walked south past the grove of bushes and small trees which is located between the path and the water, about one-half mile from the north end of the lagoon. I was of the impression (perhaps mistakenly) that the lagoon took a little bend to the east at this point, and continued south. Instead, I found that the lagoon narrows to a small channel (perhaps five feet in width) at the south edge of the bushes. The channel winds across the beach, and out to the Gulf. This was the only inlet/outlet I saw from the lagoon to the Gulf. I didn't walk out to the point where the channel emptied into the gulf, but from where I stood, the channel appeared to be rather shallow. I wondered if the lagoon could even drain to the Gulf at low tide?

Adams Serra commented in the earlier thread that storms changed the geography last year. I didn't walk any further south, but didn't see any sign of a lagoon as I looked in that direction. If the lagoon stops where I stood, then the total length of the lagoon, from north to south, is a short half mile. However, in the prior Estero thread, Fabs mentioned photographing after Christmas near the small pier by the condos. I didn't see a pier on my walk. Does the Little Estero Lagoon resume at some point further to the south? Perhaps someone who lives in the area can help me find the rest of the lagoon!

Fabs Forns
02-05-2009, 11:00 AM
This is the pier in front of the condos. No clue how you could have missed it.
There's a long way between the Holiday Inn parking lot and the other ens, and you need to go over water a coupple of times, depending if you go by the shoreline or by the ocean side.

Alfred Forns
02-05-2009, 03:40 PM
Mike from one end to the other is just over one mile !!! You normally work the Holiday Inn side during the afternoon and the other side in the morning !! Its a spectacular place !!!

Shape wise its always changing, the cut on the Ocean side makes the greatest difference. Tide wise you need to factor wind since it can push the water out faster or keep it from coming in !! btw we visited on Dec I saw the lowest low tide ever, there was little water... lots of birds !!

Adams Serra
02-12-2009, 09:31 AM
FYI:
Holliday Inn is charging $5.00 to park there every friday afternoon from now until june. If you are going there, plan to sit in traffic for a while.

Adams

Rocky Sharwell
02-12-2009, 06:44 PM
FYI:
Holliday Inn is charging $5.00 to park there every friday afternoon from now until june. If you are going there, plan to sit in traffic for a while.

Adams
What about other days of the week for parking?

I always come from the Bonita Springs end of the Island--it seems to be a bit quicker...

Adams Serra
02-12-2009, 07:33 PM
Hi Rocky,
the others day no charge.