Sunday May 27th

Charlie got her first car ride with us today. She was a bit antsy. Linda had to make sure Susie stayed up front on her booster seat, and Charlie stayed in the back seat. I didn't want any dog fights on the way to Walsingham Park.

We didn't do our usual walk. We wanted Charlie to get accustomed to walking. She did pretty good for a first time on a leash. Yes, she did all the rookie mistakes. She tried to lead me, and choked herself. She also tried to bite her own leash. It wasn't as bad of an experience as I've had with previous dogs. I think having Susie next to her helped. She did make Susie growl once, when she bit Susie's leach.

Linda went to visit Art and swim. I grabbed the kayak and headed for Largo Nature Preserve.

Unloading the truck, one man starts to chat me up. "Good thing you have a truck."

"Yea, I wouldn't want to lift it on to a car."

"Do you need help?"

"I'm alright."

"Can I watch you launch it?"

" Do you think one could be stored in an apartment?" I suggested a inflatable kayak. "Don't you think it will puncture?"

"They make them strong enough for white water rafting."

He continued talking as I made my way to the little launch site. When I got there, another man was looking out at the water. He asks the first man about kayaking. Man one says, "it's not mine. It's hers." Man One and Man Two start talking.

Finally Man One leaves. Man Two asks questions like, how long it is, how much it cost, and how far I will go. "I don't go far. I spend most of my time taking pictures."

"This is a great place to take pictures. I have albums full."

Finally I'm on my way. Two women on the trail tell me to towards the golf course, "there's an otter over there." I missed the otter. (A Largo Police Officer didn't. Later in the day, while checking out the Osprey family at the pond, I stepped off the trail to let the police car pass me. He says, "I seen something like an otter over there."

"There are otter in the park."

He said, "I didn't know that they live around here. I guess you learn something new every day.")

The favorite son didn't show much but his wing span. Poor Mom is having to stand on the edge of the nest. Her three little ones are getting very big.

Didn't get to see the King Fisher. I got lots of pictures of birds flying, but always flying away from me. The heron came out pretty good. Always trying to get that perfect picture.

For all of you afraid of me out there with the gators. I did see one. He was sleeping at the pond, and I was on the board walk. So far I haven't kayaked past one.




On my way to the board walk I heard a really strange sound. I looked up in the tree, and seen a Hermit Thrush. My Kodak Z612 takes pretty good pictures. Actually I take better pictures with it than I did with my Minolta SRT201. The only problem is autofocus. This is the only picture I got of the bird that came out. The camera kept wanting to focus on the leaves and branches.