Esterro has always been one of my favorite places to photograph since coming here with one Of Artie's IPT's some years ago. Has always proven very productive with a lot of birds and a lot of photo opps with the lagoons up by the piers. Was here last year and got some great images.
This year my wife managed to find a condo for the week for $300. They usually go for about $1200. And...it's right where the second pier is. But...very few birds and the water is really low. Never seen it this low to the point that one of the piers is almost sitting on dry land.
Had gorgeous light this morning on the upper lagoon and the only thing there was one very lonely heron.
Hope things improve before we have to head home on Saturday. Guess I'll try Ding tomorrow and hope for better luck.
Little Estero Lagoon water levels are driven by the tides. We are at a new moon right now so the combined pull of the sun and moon mean that tides are fairly extreme (for Florida). Low tide for you the last few days has been mid-morning (10ish) with a corresponding high tide in the late afternoon (5ish)...hope you've been trying both morning and evening. I'd also suggest wandering quite a way down the beach as there is almost always something to photograph if you put in a little time walking. Good luck!
I understand that the water levels are controlled by the tides. Been coming here for a long time and never have seen the water levels this low. From the look of the two upper lagoons I would say that they are between two and three feet down with a lot of areas dry as a bone. Have tried in both morning and afternoon and have walked the whole beach and the population is definitely down. Even at high tide no water has been getting in the upper lagoons.
Maybe everyone headed farther south with that cold snap last week.
We were there with Artie's IPT after Christmas and water levels were extremely low also. There were numerous birds, though, mainly Waders, concentrating on both side of the small pier by the condos. Beach was terrific on one both morning I was there before sunrise, with one spectacular pink water like we've never seen. Lots of walking, though...from one side of the big lagoon to the condos.
From my experience it usually takes a high tide of close to a foot to push water into the upper lagoons...just looked at the charts again and the afternoon high tides have been around 0.6 feet (vs. 1.2 feet for the high high tide at 2AM). Based on what I see, I'd watch for higher tides Thursday/Friday in both the morning and afternoon. If you don't mind, we'd all love to hear what you find at Ding Darling. Enjoy!
Hi Joe,
The landscape of the lagoon was changed by last year's Tropical storms.
The lagoon is one of my favority places to photograph, I prefer to go in the afternoon. I was there last friday and saw a lot of shore birds. I have posted a few images on the ETL forum.
Went to Ding this morning and it was pretty empty. Most of the birds that were there were on the right side of the road so you had either very contrasty light or backlight. In either case it wasn't very photographic friendly.
Most of the birds that were there were very far away and not accesible for any photography.
Took a drive down to blind pass while were there. Not sure what is going on there. The parking lot as you cross the bridge is closed and there is some kind of big construction project going on. With all the sand that has been brought in it almost looks as though they are closing the pass.
Not sure why...but that's what it looks like.
Thanks for the info on the tides. Hopefully things will improve in the lagoons by the end of the week since I really don't know where else to go that would be close. Traffic in this area is crazy and hard to get around in during the daytime.
Joe, here are the tides for Estero...my previous estimates were from a Fort Myers station and were only moderately accurate. It looks like you'll continue to miss the high morning tide, but you should have higher water conditions in the afternoon...especially Friday with a 3:15PM high tide.
2009-01-28 01:09 EST 2.26 feet High Tide
2009-01-28 07:13 EST Sunrise
2009-01-28 078 EST -0.44 feet Low Tide
2009-01-28 08:31 EST Moonrise
2009-01-28 14:36 EST 1.55 feet High Tide
2009-01-28 18:07 EST Sunset
2009-01-28 19:31 EST 0.53 feet Low Tide
2009-01-28 20:24 EST Moonset
2009-01-29 011 EST 2.10 feet High Tide
2009-01-29 07:13 EST Sunrise
2009-01-29 08:21 EST -0.26 feet Low Tide
2009-01-29 09:02 EST Moonrise
2009-01-29 143 EST 1.73 feet High Tide
2009-01-29 18:08 EST Sunset
2009-01-29 20:21 EST 0.35 feet Low Tide
2009-01-29 21:19 EST Moonset
2009-01-30 02:37 EST 1.87 feet High Tide
2009-01-30 07:13 EST Sunrise
2009-01-30 08:44 EST -0.03 feet Low Tide
2009-01-30 09:32 EST Moonrise
2009-01-30 15:16 EST 1.92 feet High Tide
2009-01-30 18:08 EST Sunset
2009-01-30 21:16 EST 0.18 feet Low Tide
2009-01-30 22:14 EST Moonset
If you are willing to take a break from the coast, I think I'd probably head inland to the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp for a change of pace and no need to check the tides! http://www.dickbrewer.org/corkscrew.html
Think I'm going to head out to Cape Coral this PM for the burrowing owls. Water levels were a little higher last night. This morning I had some cooperative egrets in the lagoon with some nice light.
Last night the spoonies showed up but too late for any decent light. Six of them came into the lagoon that is closest to the gulf down in front of the Holiday Inn. Not too familiar with that area so I couldn't find a way in to get to them.
Some more came in in one of the upper lagoons too.
So many places to go around here and so little time. Have to make sure my wife gets her beach time in or it will be a very long drive home.
Esterro Update
Reply With Quote
8 EST -0.44 feet Low Tide
