Our condo on Longboat Key, Florida, sits on a shallow inlet of Sarasota Bay. While the gulf-front homes, with their view of the surf and sunset, are more "desirable" and expensive, I prefer our view of the bay, with its fabulous diversity of wildlife.
Brown pelicans, ospreys, cormorants, anhingas, laughing gulls and various terns fish on the open waters; during the colder months, they are joined by American white pelicans, common loons, horned grebes, red-breasted mergansers and bald eagles. Dolphins explore the boat channel throughout the year and manatees are especially common in winter, when the bay waters are warmer than the Gulf. At low tide, shallows and mudflats rim the inlet, attracting mixed flocks of herons, egrets, ibis, roseate spoonbills and wood storks. Without these wild creatures, our place in the sun would feel empty.
