Pine Island Florida is home to many birds These are just some of the birds you will see sitting in the back yard of Castaway Cottage.

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We often take our dogs to picnic island which is just off the southern tip of Pine Island. On this visit we met Caleb who is on a fund raising missing to raise money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Caleb is paddling and sailing his way through the great loop. Before leaving the island we loaded him up with ice and a few cold beers. We will try to meet him in NYC during the summer for a cold one.  Follow him online and make a donation pages.teamintraining.org/sd/yourway16/cbartleyski

We have had a few guests that have stayed at Castaway Cottage and told us they never saw a manatee during their visit. Despite their large size manatee's are very stealthy travelers. The tell tail sign of a manatee is the disturbance on the surface of the water from their large tail. You will many times see these boils 10 to 15 feet apart as these make their way down the canal. When they do come up for air it's very brief and only their snout is visible. So sit back and enjoy the manatee parade.