Life in Florida

Another Turtle

2010-04-29T21:08:00.002-04:00

Debbie and I were walking back to the building on break, when we noticed a turtle in the drive. (Sorry about the picture. I should remember to take my camera, rather than the cell phone.) Debbie volunteered to stand in the middle of the road, to keep a car from hitting it. I tried pushing him, but this stubborn little bugger, just hid in his shell. I picked him up just in time. As I was taking the horrible picture, a car raced by us. Debbie thought it was Deb, but she said all she seen was a blur. I only felt the wind blowing through my hair and the roar of the engine. (I doubt it was Deb. I don't think her car has that much muscle.)

Breaking for Turtles

2010-04-21T18:36:00.002-04:00

I'm turning into a Floridian. I noticed people driving on the shoulder of the road. Then I noticed the big oval thing in the middle of the road. No one was behind me; so I stopped, turned on the hazard blinkers, and jumped out of the truck, on a mission to save a turtle. Sorry no pictures. By the time I got the, 12", algae covered common cotter to the side of the road, I had people behind the truck.

Florida Wild Life in the Parking Lot

2010-04-20T21:17:00.003-04:00

As the weather get hotter, I will start parking in the back parking lot, because there are more trees. I park the Ranger under a tree, and set my lawn chair up in the bed, under my beach umbrella. (I use an umbrella, because a squirrel pooped on my head one time.) It's quite pleasant way of spending my 40 minute lunch.

Yesterday, a critter showed up by the area I usually park. As one person put it, this guy is probably the most photographed gator in Pinellas County. I would say he's between 5 and 6 feet long. It's hard to tell exactly how long he is. I'm not about to walk up to him and measure.

Juanita asked me what I would have done if he charged. I said, "I would have pushed Debbie towards him, and ran the other way."

I've heard there are a few co-workers that wanted an escort to their cars. He wasn't bothering anyone. Just seemed to like the sun.

Spring Training 2010

2010-03-27T10:31:00.006-04:00

A couple of weeks ago Linda and I decided to buy a Wii. Target had the console in its weekly circular. I hopped in the car early Sunday morning, only to find the shelf bare. When I got home, Linda asked where it was. After I told her of the empty shelf, she said, "lets go to the Super Target in Clearwater."

After picking up the Wii, we headed for Dunedin to to catch a spring training game, the spring home of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays were playing the Tigers on a beautiful late winter day.

We used to go see the Rays, but they moved out of their home in downtown St. Petersburg for Port Charlotte. From what I see on TV, it's ugly. The Field in St. Pete was down on the water, next to a small airport. You would sit and watch the game, the planes, and the boats. Then there was the heritage. As you walked into the stadium, you spotted plaques of Babe Ruth, DiMaggio, and etc. I'm digressing back to the Jays and Tigers.

The first inning the Jays were slaughtering the Tigers. The Tigers did get runs in the second to make the game interesting.

Johnny Damon is now a Tiger. He didn't get a hit in the first, but in the fourth he did.

We didn't stay past the fifth inning. The shadow had moved over our seats, and goose bumps began to develop on our arms. We weren't alone freezing. You could easily determine which people lived in Florida from those that didn't. Those from the northern states were eating ice cream in the shade.

Sandhill Cranes

2010-02-11T20:04:00.012-05:00

I was on my way into the office after break, when KD met me at the entrance. "There are Sandhill Cranes out front." I think that's what she said. I only slept a few hours last night, and I had to have KD repeat herself. Yes, I had my camera, for the first time all week. We had to make a dash for the office to grab it.

On the way down the hall, we passed Cathy. She informed us that she had to shoo Sandhill Cranes away from the front door. They were pecking on the glass. She also told us what direction they had gone, but of course I didn't hear. I was too intent on grabbing a picture. I've seen them in captivity, but never in the wild.

I get to my desk, and Katie informs me that she told KD, "she always has her camera."

KD and I arrive in the lobby to only to hear Cindy say, "they're gone." Cathy had done a very good job in ridding them from the font door. I think KD was ready to give up, but I was ready to go forward. And hidden in the tall grass there they were. I kept snapping pictures in hopes I would get some movement out of them, but these guys didn't flinch at my presence. I think someone along the lake has been feeding them.

It wasn't until I was napping in my truck at lunch, that I realized that the camera was still set for my moon shots. Whoops. A little over exposed.

It Stinks Out There

2010-01-27T20:50:00.002-05:00

We has some very cold weather a few weeks ago. My Bird of Paradise had just bloomed, and now it's brown. The neighbor had a beautiful palm that I hopes recovers in the spring. But the worst are the fish in Lake Seminole. The wind blows off the lake and all you can smell are the dead fish.

Christmas Ornaments

2010-01-14T20:02:00.005-05:00

For Christmas this year Mom sent us some home made ornaments. The wood is cherry, a tree Harvey cut down, milled and waited for the wood to dry.

It's Been Too Long

2009-11-15T20:03:00.007-05:00

I'm in trouble with my Mom. I haven't posted any of her pictures. I'm her official blogger.

When I first stepped out the door, I noticed two large birds in the pine tree on the next block. My eyes aren't what they used to be, but I knew they weren't the usual crows. I went into the sun room to look for binoculars, and couldn't find them. (It takes awhile for the cobwebs to clear out of my mind in the morning. I then thought of my camera.) It was the neighborhood hawk and friend. Only got one picture of the two of them together.

A few weeks ago, I saw the dragonfly on the clothesline. I liked the dew on the wings. I just needed another excuse to take a picture of a draggon fly.

The clothesline offers all kinds of wild life. I see Blue Jays, Mockingbirds, Woodpeckers, and this lizard on it. There are a few of my friends that won't appreciate the picture of the lizard.

I know most aren't going to like the snake. I was in the bedroom watching TV one morning, when Charlie started barking. I looked out the window and see an snake looking right at me. Good thing Linda wasn't home. She would have freaked.

OK, so you've had it with the reptiles. I end this post with a female cardinal.

Hawkeye Linda

2009-09-30T20:26:00.006-04:00

When we drove across the country, Linda didn't see a thing. I always kid her about not seeing anything. I guess I'll have to stop that. Tonight I arrived home from work, and as I got out of the truck, I heard Linda say, "come back here."

I thought to myself, "what's happened in the back yard, now?"

As I approached the fence, Linda pointed to the power pole and said, "look at the bird." There was the neighborhood hawk.

I quickly made my way to the house for the camera. This guy didn't seem to be to pestered by me getting close. He also didn't seem too annoyed by the daring little Mockingbird at first. The little one would swoop down, and the Hawk just gave a a glance that said, "get real."

The Mockingbird would sit on a wire for a little while to gather her wits, nerve, or strength and have another go at the Hawk. She got a little too close and caused the Hawk to ruffle his feathers.

I just stood below the two of them, enjoying their show. Linda finally understood why I'm late for work in the mornings. I told her I see stuff like this all the time, but the lighting stinks. Then the Mockingbird got a little too close to the Hawk, and they moved their show further down the road. Yes, that crazy Mockingbird followed the Hawk.

Mornings in the Backyard

2009-09-15T22:01:00.003-04:00

Mornings aren't always the best time to take pictures. It seems the wild life has a habit of being in front of the sun, or the sun is just coming up. To sum it all up, it just means bad lighting.

Sometimes it's amazing that I make it to work. I sit outside and watch the birds and squirrels. The day I took the picture of the hawk, I was surprised that the birds didn't go into hiding. The jays were dive bombing him, and the Mockingbird was harassing a squirrel.

This morning a wood pecker decided to sit on the power line. The one of the backyard Mockingbirds didn't like it, and tried to pick a fight.

Speaking of Mockingbirds, there is a campaign to replace them as state bird with the Osprey. I like Osprey, but I think the Mockingbird should stay. One will get up in the elderberry tree and imitate the frogs. I've also seen a pair dive bomb a cat that got to close to their nest.

Reminds Me of Night Witches

2009-08-20T21:24:00.004-04:00

Earlier this month, on a clear night, I was fooling around with the white balance on the camera. The picture of the moon isn't my best. It does make me think of the Night Witches.

The Soviet Union used young women to fly bombing missions, using biplanes, during WWII. It's be written that those women in the crop dusters drove the Germans crazy.

A Bad Feather Day

2009-08-20T21:15:00.003-04:00

I'm finally taking some pictures off my camera. At the end of June I spotted this little guy out side the front door. It's amazing the Mockingbird is everywhere here in FL. The little one could barely stand on the concrete block.

Mom and Pop weren't too happy me being so close. I retreated back into the house. I could only take pictures from the window. The problem was the blind was down, and I didn't dare lift it, in fear of scaring the family. That's why the picture looks so strange. The white portion is the reflection of the blind.

Been Bummed Lately

2009-07-13T23:05:00.006-04:00

I have pictures to post, but watching people being walked out the door at work, has left me a bit down. It's not that the company I work for is decreasing its operations, they're just sending jobs out of the country.

I still haven't figured out how this "consumer economy" of ours is supposed to right itself, if the consumers don't have jobs.

I was having the above conversation one afternoon with one of my co-workers, when I noticed a strange bird. Finally something different to shoot. It turned out to be an immature little blue heron.

Godzilla and other Critters

2009-06-03T22:43:00.005-04:00

Not much has been happening. As you can see I got a picture of a family of ducks at work.

The girls barked at a Wood stork.

I couldn't figure out why my camera was taking so long to focus. Then I looked at the lens filter, and noticed it was dirty. It had brackish water spots on it. I cleaned it, and found cloth was black. No wonder I couldn't focus on the Giant Swallowtail Butterfly that visits the back yard.

Tuesday, I arrived at work to find an email from K.D. She wrote that there was "Godzilla" outside the accounting conference room. (10 years of working in the place, I didn't know there was an accounting conference room.) A half hour had passed since she had emailed. But it didn't matter. He was still outside.

I told Katie I was going to break, as I grabbed my camera. Her replay was, "but you just got here".

The picture doesn't show the real size of this Tokay Gecko. He must have been 10 inches long.

Life Has Gone to the Birds

2009-04-15T22:27:00.005-04:00

Walking to my car tonight I spied a woodpecker. (Actually there were 3 of them, but this one wasn't a shy as the others.) I put down my bag, and retrieved the camera. As I was pulling it out of the bag, Kim drove by and asked, "is everything OK?"

How couldn't it be OK. I'm a bird brain. There are birds everywhere around work. Everything is wonderful when I'm outside.

I like this one. The little guy looks like he is going to take a nap.

I forgot to post the Osprey.

Last month before I went on vacation, Kathy and Deb were coming in from break. K.D. says, "there's an Osprey eating a big fish, on a light pole, in the parking lot." I walked briskly back to my desk to pick up the camera. Even though I have Osprey pictures up the ying yang, I just couldn't help myself.

Fort De Soto

2009-03-31T21:15:00.005-04:00

We had always stayed away from taking the canoe to Fort De Soto, because of the heavy boat traffic there. Since we're on vacation, Linda and I decided to give it a try. We were pleasantly surprised to find that they have a 2.5 mile canoe trail. Either no combustion motors or low wake in the area. It is not an area that the personal water craft people will be seen.

We seen the usual suspects like the pelican.

I had no problems getting close to this Blue Heron in the Mangroves or the Dobule-Crested Cormorant. I couldn't say the thing about the King Fisher that was flying from one tree to the next. I would get close, and off that nervous little bugger would fly. One day I will get a good picture of those obnoxious little birds.

Another bird that drove me crazy was the Red-Breasted Merganser. I would aim the camera, and down into the water she would dive. She would reappear 10 feet away from the original spot. I finally got a shot.

The day was topped off by the manatees. No pictures.

Charlie Treed a Squirrel

2009-03-22T17:59:00.008-04:00

I haven't had any pictures that have thrilled me lately. As I was making chili, Linda came into the house. "You have to get Charlie in here. She has a squirrel in the tree." It is a photo opportunity!

If you look at the photo closely, you can see the squirrel in the Macadamia Nut Tree. He tried to stay as still as possible. I'm sure Charlie's jumping ability frightened him.

I was so excited to see what I had shot, I forgot to put the meat in my chili. Now I have to wait for the pressure to go down in the pressure cooker.

It takes forever to upload video.

I’ve Become a Kindle User

2009-03-01T19:45:00.005-05:00

The Decision to Purchase a Kindle

I showed Linda the demo at the Amazon store. She asked about prices.

I showed Linda some price comparisons. Since I purchased James Patterson’s Run For Your Life today at Costco (Art Linda’s stepfather likes his books.), I’ll use it for the price comparisons. Costco sold it for $15.09. Amazon sells the hard cover for 16.79, and the Kindle version for $10.00. That’s a five dollars savings from Costco.

More importantly, I don’t have to buy a book right away to get the savings. I have Traitor to His Class by H. W. Brands, Nothing to Fear by Adam Cohen, American Lion by John Meachem, The Coldest Winter by David Habertam, and Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, sitting on my book shelf waiting to be read, because Costco had them at such great discounts. Most of the books above could have been purchased for the same price or lower via the Kindle store.

Then there is The Panic of 1907 by Robert F. Bruner and Sean D. Carr. I purchased it at Borders, for 30% off the $ 30.00 cover price, using a coupon. (I have to go to my Hotmail account and print the coupons). That still doesn’t get close to the $10.00 at the Kindle store.

I figure in most cases, we would save approximately $5.00 per book. At the rate I read books, the Kindle will pay for itself in approximately 18 months. Linda liked the idea.

Kindle Blows Books Out of the Water

I’m reading Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. It is over 700 pages of small print. It weighs almost 3 pounds and is 2 ½" thick (it can be used for a weapon or a bar bell), versus the Kindle’s 1.5 pounds and less than ½" thick. If it were on my Kindle, I would be able to increase the size of the print. If I don’t know the meaning of a word in the book, I have to go to my iBook and look it up, or one of the two volumes of my 1968 World Book Dictionary (I can now use the dictionary that comes with Kindle). The ebook version would allow me to move the cursor in front of the word, and the definition would appear at the bottom of the page.

It’s easy on the eyes. I can read outside, without the sun reflecting of the page, causing me to see spots.

Oh yea, you can download a sample of the book. That would have been a blessing, before I purchased Debby Applegate’s The Most Famous Man in America: the Biography of Henry Ward Beecher. I seen her speak on Book TV, and she made her subject seem captivating. The book could be used in lieu of sleeping pills.

The Down Side

The price, bye bye 2 or 3 person Kayak.

The magazine selection. We can get Time delivered to the house for 20.00 a year in color, why pay 17.88 a year for a black and white version? (Why pay any amount for the magazine?) If they had The Economist, I would get a subscription.

Amazons shipping. They sent this via United States Postal Service in conjunction with FedEx. Pony Express would have gotten it here faster. It shipped from Campville, KY on February 22nd. It arrived in Orlando (approximately a 2 hour drive from here) on the 24th around 1300 hours. It didn’t leave Orlando until approximately 0200 hours February 26th. It was delivered here on the 27Th. They charged me approximately 10.00 for this “service”.

I took measurement of the box, gave it a weight of 10 pounds, and checked UPS. This would have taken 2 days to reach me, and it would have cost the same amount of money in shipping.

Conclusion

I’m so happy with it, I even read the instructions that come loaded on the devise.

Trip to the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary

2009-02-07T19:43:00.004-05:00

On January 25th Linda and I took a trip to Indian Shores (not much a drive) to visit the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary. It was started in the the early 70's to help save birds. I wish I could have gotten better pictures of the pelican nesting on top of the pelican cages. The best view of them were facing the sun. No pictures turned out. As you can see, the wild birds such as this Black-Crowned Night Heron seem to like hanging around the place.

The name is sort of a misnomer. They take care of more than just seabirds. You can see hawks, owls and wood peckers. Recently they took in a Bald Eagle that was shot in Seminole. Unfortunately, they weren't able to save the bird.

Speaking of eagles, I was downloading some pictures of the eagle, who I photographed over Lake Seminole, for K.D., when I noticed this picture.

Road Trip

2009-02-01T16:35:00.009-05:00

Yesterday started out normal enough. We’ll maybe not too normal. It was 43 degrees when I took the girls for their morning walk. By the afternoon, Linda and Harriet, a former HR person where I work, were having the day of their lives.

While Linda and I were driving back from Longboat Key a few weeks ago, we were taking the Tamiami Trail back, when we passed Jungle Gardens. It’s just south of the John and Mable Ringling Museum. I showed Mayra it on the internet, and the two of us decided to explore another part of “old Florida”.

(While were on the subject of Old Florida, I’ll tell you something about the Tamiami Trail. It is a highway that was built to connect Tampa and Miami. It was supposed to help everyone along the highway, but it was finished in time for the stock market crash of 1929. It took a little time for prosperity to be found, and then came interstate highway system under Eisenhower’s administration. And like most highways, the businesses along the highway suffered because of the freeway.)

Jungle Gardens is the “Area’s only zoological garden”. We arrived when most of the exotic birds were in covered cages, with heaters. It was so cold, not much was moving.

We stopped at the flamingo café for hot chocolate, where we met a friendly flamingo. According to the woman behind the counter he usually comes up to get popcorn. We didn’t have any, but that didn’t stop him from trying to become chums with Linda. We stated on the patio for a few minutes watching this guy. Then we decided it was time to go. He followed.

Actually he followed Linda, which kept the woman at the café from having to take him back to the other flamingos. Once we reached the pond, you can buy food to feed them. Mayra tried to feed him and others tried to feed him, but he didn’t want any. Guess he’s a popcorn addict.

Mayra did finally find flamingo plus another that would eat out of her hand. She was so exited.

After the flamingos we continued to walk around the garden. This place would be great in the spring or summer, because to the shade. We hit the bird show. The parrots to tricks. Most of the shows are geared more for children.

As we were headed home, the decision was made to stop at Ted Peters Famous Smoked Fish for lunch. (It isn’t much to look at, and if you eat there, be sure to bring cash. They don’t take cards or checks. ) As we sat down, Linda and Harriet were all aflutter. “Guy Fieri from the Food Network is over there”.

I asked, “who?”

Mayra and I refused to ask for a picture, until he finished eating. Once he stood up Mayra, Harriet and Linda headed towards his table. I finally recognized him, but had no interest in meeting him. His assistant used Mayra’s camera to take the picture.

Harriet kept trying to get Mayra to stop at a Walgreen’s to download the picture. She wanted a 8X10. I’ll find out tomorrow if she got it. I’ll have to upload the picture Mayra emailed to upload to Walgreens for Linda. I’m sure everyone at her work will her about this. She was kept saying all the way home, “we have to call your Mom. She’ll know who Guy Fieri is.”

We got home to find another surprise. Mom’s goat Lady had given birth to two kids. Their picture is on “Trips Away From Florida”. The link on the right.

Looking Back

2009-01-31T22:13:00.006-05:00

We don’t know when Charlie was born. I found her on the street in May of 2007, and she had a mouth full of puppy teeth. She has this mischievous personality, much like a certain Cookie Elf we loved, and gave her the birth date of January 31, 2007.

Joan would have been 75 today.

Saturday, the 25th of February 2006, we received a call from Art, telling us to meet him at Morton plant Hospital in Clearwater. Jo had taken a turn for the worse. The doctor told us that she most likely wasn’t going to make it through the night. Art, Linda, and I stayed all night in that hospital. We didn’t want Joan to die alone.

As I sat with Linda in the ICU, listening to the ventilator helping Jo breath, I asked myself, “am I only going to remember her like this?”

Sunday afternoon, Art told the staff to remove the ventilator. He went home. Linda, Nancy and I stayed with Joan as she took her final breath. I found the answer to the question I had asked, as I held Joan’s cold hand. Things from the past came rushing back to me, as if they happened yesterday.

We went to Disney World in 1998. Joan screamed all the way down Splash Mountain. When we go to Space Mountain, I assured her she had nothing to fear. “It’s like a child’s roller coaster in the dark.” She believed me. The first few seconds of the ride scared her. Then she was told the ride was just beginning. She yelled at the top of her lungs, “I want off.” In between the blood curdling screams, she pleaded for the ride to stop, s she could get off. She then vowed she was never going to listen to me again.

She trusted me enough to have me drive her to Clearwater Beach one afternoon. As we were leaving, I took a wrong turn. Instead of going home via Gulf Blvd., I took US 19. I new that largo was in between Clearwater and St Petersburg, and so I followed the sign to St. Peterburg. I explained my strategy to her, and she started in on me, “You’re going to St. Petersburg! We’re lost!”

“We not lost. We’re sight seeing.”

“We’re lost!”

I turned onto East Bay and asked, “do you know where we are now?” She instantly transformed from Chicken Little to Captain James Cook, navigating us safely back to her home.

Her kids like to give her Life threatening surprises. It is a wonder the woman didn’t have a heart attack in 1999 or 2001.

In 1999, Linda didn’t tell her we were moving from Washington to Florida. When we arrived at Steve and Lisa’s Seminole home, Steve called his mother and told her and Art to come over for dinner. Linda waited at the side of the road for them. When Joan seen Linda, she jumped from the moving car. (I correct myself. We shouldn’t have worried about a heart attack. We should have worried about her becoming road kill.)

In the fall of 2001, Bruce and Rose came down for vacation without giving her warning. Her son knocked on the door, like he lived down the street fro her. She made us all promise her that we wouldn’t spring anymore surprises on her.

She was a bit too generous. She almost lost her fingers to a ferrous beagle one Thanksgiving. She dropped her roll, ans Susie immediately snatched it from the floor. Joan tried to retrieve it, and Susie snapped at her. I asked, “what are you doing?”

She replied, “I wanted to butter it for her.”

She was the keeper of dates, the letter writer, the foundation of the family, the cantankerous cookie elf with a very forgiving heart. (See the smirk on her face. She was telling me, “I’ll get even with you, you little shit.” And she did, I picked up one of her rum balls. I don’t drink.)

Now I’ll put on a Garth Brooks DVD and I’ll cry. She loved that man. She almost wore out the video she had of him in Central Park.

Yes I still remember her struggling to breath on her, during her final minutes on this earth. But I also remember that smile, the laughter, her ribbing me, and the way she felt when she hugged me.

Bald Eagle at Work

2009-01-28T20:13:00.003-05:00

I'm sitting at my desk, engrossed in my work. I didn't even see K.D. walk up to me. I hear, "do you have your camera?"

"Huh?"

"There's an eagle outside the front door. Get your camera."

I reached for the camera, and tried to digest what she was telling me, when I said, "hold on, I have to put myself on break." (When we leave our phones, we have to click on a reason.)

Katie tells me, "don't worry about it, Go!"

I followed K.D. out the door. And as you can see, what was going on over the lake was impressive.

Red Tailed Hawk at Work

2009-01-25T15:49:00.007-05:00

Katie did it to me again. Just like Thursday, she came back from break all excited. "Pick up your camera. The hawk is on the light pole in front of the building." (I knew what pole she was talking about, because usually it is where the Osprey eats.) I grabbed my camera again.

I knew going out the front door wasn't an option. That would get me there faster, but it would also scare him off. (Osprey down here, will sit on a pole an look at you like you are what is to be observed. Hawks aren't like that. These guys are very skittish.) I headed out the lunch room door. Turned the corner, and again he wasn't where Katie said he would be. I then looked at the tree that he likes to perch and no luck.

I seen Kim and Angie smoking, and wandered over to them to talk. "Katie did it to me again. She tells me there is a hawk out here, and he's no where to be found." Then for whatever reason, I looked over my shoulder, and there he was, in his favorite tree.

I usually see him in the tree, when the sun is directly behind him. But at 3:30 PM the sun was headed to the west, and I could get a few shots of him. As you can see from the above I got him screeching at me or the little birds trying to get him out of the area.

Trip to Anna Marie Island

2009-01-11T16:43:00.005-05:00

Linda and I had planned to take a trip to Honeymoon Island, not far from Clearwater Beach to check out the owls. They should be nesting now, but we decided to make a trek south instead. At first I was a bit apprehensive about crossing the Skyway bridge. No, I'm not afraid of heights. We had fog this morning, and I was afraid visibility would be low. Strangest thing. It was one of the few areas that didn't have fog.

There isn't much to see on Anna Marie. Like most of Florida, the rich have been allowed to build gigantic condos and homes that block the view of the road. It was too early to stop and have lunch. So we decided to head little bit further south.

John Steinbeck was right. In his book, Travels with Charley written approximately 1961 or 62, he wrote that one day we wouldn't be able to tell one American Town from then next. Longboat Key wasn't any different from any other coastal town in Florida.

We found a nature preserve on out way out of town. Not much nature going on in it. A Blue Heron and another bird in the mangroves. That was about it.

I have to admit it was a nice Sunday drive.

Florida Botanical Gardens

2008-12-31T20:58:00.007-05:00

Linda and I took off for the Botanical Gardens last night. I couldn't stop her from wanting to have her picture taken. Usually she hides from the camera. I even told her there was a rat in the bushes, when she posed in front of the heart. It didn't stop her from wanting to be in the picture.

Click on the picture in the slide show,and you will be directed to the album. On the top left hand side it will read slide show. Click on that and see bigger pictures.

Linda wanted me to use the flash and take a picture of this plant. I have no idea what it is. Might have to go there in the morning, but knowing Katie she'll tell me. She's the one that told me the green grasshopper is named Katydid.

Green Grasshopper in the AM

2008-12-28T09:13:00.004-05:00

Susie and Charlie have a routine. They get up a 5:00 AM every morning to do their morning business, and then have breakfast. As Charlie was finishing her breakfast, I headed out to the drive to retrieve the paper.

As you can see, there was a fairly large bug on the screen door. What can I say? My camera is always near, and even the bugs catch my attention. I should modify my last statement. The "Florida State Bug", isn't fascinating at all. It being the cockroach, creeps me out.

When we first moved here, we were standing in the garage with the door wide open, at night. Something flew in and hit Linda in the head. It was the size of a hummingbird. Turned out to be a Palmetto Bug, a cockroach with wings. It was one of the reasons I used to refer to this state as, "this God forsaken state!"

A bit of odd ball news. People are actually importing cockroaches to Florida. To either feed their exotic reptiles, or keep as pets. One of these, is the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. Just what we need, a cockroach that gets up to 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. If the size doesn't freak you out, the hissing will.

Where's Charlie?

2008-12-27T16:41:00.004-05:00

I'm not a very good dog owner. I let the dog dig in the back yard. She's so cute. She'll dig so deep that you can't see her head. Lucky for us, she doesn't dig near the fence. I just have to remember to fill the holes. With Linda's new hip, I don't want her stepping in one of them.

I think Charlie would have a great time in my home state. We always had moles in Bellingham, WA. On the other hand, I probably wouldn't have such a great time. When there is something in the star fruit tree, she won't come in until she's tired of jumping and barking.

Largo Central Park

2008-12-23T07:44:00.007-05:00

Every year Linda and I look forward to the Christmas Decorations in Largo Central Park. I believe the park is 70 acres, in "downtown" Largo. (I used quote marks on the word downtown, because this city looks like a giant strip mall. I lived in Bellingham, WA and they had a real downtown.)

I won't write too many comment. Most of the night I was changing shutter speeds, ISO, and white balance to see what I could come up with.
Santa wants to be Elton John?

Usually I have to beg Linda to get in the photo. This time she suggested it.

Gingerbread house.

Getting Closer

2008-12-19T07:46:00.003-05:00

I don't know why, but the cardinal seems to like to perch in the tree with the sun behind him. On the 13th I caught him in the morning, just east of me. Wouldn't you know, I forgot to change my ISO setting. I had been fooling around with night shots, and it was set at 3200.

Boat Parade

2008-12-14T21:50:00.004-05:00

Joan invited us to her 9th floor condo in Gulfport to see the boat parade. Every year members of the Boca Ciega Yacht Club decorate the boats with lights. This year there were many participants.

We've had a cold front move into the state, and I thought I would need more than a sweat jacket. But it turned out quite pleasant, even down near the sea wall. We got a break, because we didn't have any wind.

Can hardly tell that this is a sail boat.

Little Grasshopper

2008-09-26T21:15:00.003-04:00

I heard something above me. Then I seen something leap onto a branch. At first I thought it was a lizard. (There everywhere down here) Then I looked again. "It's a bug." A grasshopper on steroids. In Western Washington, the grasshoppers I grew up with were approximately 1" long. Here in Florida they are monsters. This guy was about 4 inches.

What's For Lunch

2008-09-14T20:56:00.004-04:00

I had just finished eating my lunch (yogurt), when I spotted a hawk fly into a tree. It wasn't the frequently spotted Red-Shouldered Hawk. Its markings looked more like that of the Red Tailed Hawk. As I tried to get myself into position for a picture, he spotted me, and took to the air.

I walked the edge of the water to see if he had flown to some tree close, and that's when I spotted two dragonflies. I thought that they may be mating. The two landed, and I began to snap pictures. That's when I discovered I wasn't the only one on a lunch break. One dragonfly was devouring the other.

The dragonfly book I have doesn't mention anything about them being cannibals.

On a brighter note. I also spotted this Gulf Fritillary. I have a lot of pictures of these guys, but I really like the angle of this one.

By the way Gerry, I took your advise, and fixed my comment settings.

Cardinals and Turtle Eating Egrets

2008-08-28T22:48:00.008-04:00

I've come to believe that Cardinal think like Crazy Horse, the camera still souls. I'm on a mission to get a really great picture of one of these beautiful birds. I take my camera out to the back yard at all times of the day, in hopes of finally getting that shot.

The first picture at the top was taken in the morning. It' like they know the sun is in the wrong spot.

The second picture I took of one trying to hide in the Elderberry tree. Whoops, I should say one of the Elderberry trees. Once you have one, the birds will make sure you have a few more as the years progress. Also be very careful of sitting in lawn furniture. One morning while waiting for the girls to do their business, I say in purple goop. Oh yea, I was writing about cardinals.

I'm still not happy with the third picture. It too was taken in the evening, and wouldn't you know the little guy was to the west of me.

I couldn't tell what the Great White Egret was spearing, until I down loaded the pictures, and started cropping. Deb, don't look at this picture! He was too far away from me, to get a clear picture of what he had in his beak, but after looking over the 20 shots I took of him, I've concluded his lunch today was turtle.

I like this picture. It is like he is saying, "Look, I don't have anything."

I Can't Decide

2008-08-18T20:16:00.005-04:00

I heard a voice, "hey Mick".

I looked around and didn't see anyone. I asked, "did I hear my name?"

Mayra popped her head out of her office space and said, "the hawk is out there." She had a few feathers in her hand. "I wish I had my camera."

"I have mine."

Off we went. I don't think this is last years hawk. This guy just posed for me. Unlike the one I photographed last year at work, this one didn't get vocal as I got closer. He just looked down at me, or completely ignored me.

I've really had a real hard time picking the picture to post. Because he wasn't afraid of me, he let me walk closer and closer to the tree. Only the retention pond and the sun in the south keep me from taking pictures from more angles.

Ibis in the Pine

2008-08-11T22:30:00.003-04:00

I was barbecuing last night, when I spotted Ibis in the a neighbor's pine tree. I've seen one, but never a flock of them in the the tree. Most of the time I see them walking down the road. I can always here Shelly Manne's song Clarence from Daktari in my head.

Left the nest

2008-08-06T22:13:00.005-04:00

The little ones have left the nest. One stayed behind, while two others moved to the bushes in front of the bedroom window. We also have a neighbor's cat that has taken an interest in them. It was something to watch Momma and Papa bird dive bomb him.

The birds in this neighborhood have attitude. I used to be able to tell when the hawk was around by the silence. Yesterday morning the birds in a neighbors Oak tree started making a racket. Other birds flew into the tree, and the hawk flew out. It's like they were saying, "it's our tree, get out of it!"

A Trip to See Winter

2008-08-03T22:35:00.021-04:00

The Clearwater Marine Aquarium is about a fourth of the size of the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. It isn't very pretty either. But then it isn't meant to be just some tourist attraction, all though Winter is causing their attendance to increase. Not only does Winter bring in the tourists and local media to the CMA, she brings in the national media.

Winter is one of many dolphins that have come to Clearwater for medical attention. Unfortunately this young dolphin, will only experience two of the three R's the aquarium tries to live by. She has been Rescued, and she is being Rehabilitated, but she will never be Released. She lost her tail after being caught in a crab trap a few years ago.

It's amazing to watch how well she swims without it. But that what causes the dolphin experts concern. She swims like a shark, and it may cause injury to her spine. She has been fitted for a prosthetic, but they are gradually working on her wearing it. As you can see from the picture, she wasn't wearing it on Saturday, when we visited.

She is the star. "Look! Winter!" I heard one woman say to her husband. I doubt the woman knew the name of the large dolphin in the tank with Winter. (I know I can't) You can buy caps, T-shirts, mugs, and even a stuff toy of winter in the gift shop.

Honeymoon Island, was our next destination for the day. Linda had never been there. Mosquitoes (we've had a very rainy July) and a darkening sky, kept us off the nature trail. I did learn that I should come back in January. The owls are nesting around then.

I did get a picture of a different bird. It's a Juvenile Gray Kingbird.

Florida's State Bird

2008-07-30T20:58:00.003-04:00

For the last couple of years, I've watched Mockingbirds fix up a nest in the bush outside the living room window. But I never seen any little ones. This week I have awaken to the soothing sound of little ones asking for more food. Their poor parents rarely get any rest. Although, they may have been resting while I was trying to get a picture.

It wasn't an easy task. This nest is well hidden. It isn't very high in the bush, I would say my eye level, but the branches make it hard to get a shot. I had to grab a step ladder. Change the camera to flower setting, so I could focus, and get my shots very quickly. I watched on mockingbird take on a cat, and another take on five blue jays. These birds have the mentality of terriers.

This little guy decided he didn't care that I was watching or not. He wanted it to be known he was hungry. He's a bit blurred because he was moving, when I had a slow shutter speed. That was another problem I encountered. Not much light inside a bush.

Tarpon Springs 2008

2008-07-13T12:03:00.009-04:00

It was a month ago when Linda, Mayra and I headed for Tarpon Springs. I had always wanted to catch on of the boat rides, but never got around to it. Mayra liked the idea, and for less than 20.00 what a value. We parked at the Sponge Factory, bought our tickets, and headed down the street for lunch.

Linda and I like eating at Santorini's. It sits right on the water. Most of the Greek restaurants in Tarpon Springs don't have water front views. The waitress thought we were nuts for wanting to sit out side. The temp. was just up in the upper eighties. The breeze off the water and the overhead ceiling fan keeps you from roasting. (I always prefer to sit outside. If I wanted to freeze I would have stayed in WA. I've never experienced anything like indoor living in Florida. You where your jacket at you desk, and remove it before leaving the building.)

Tarpon Springs used to be famous for sponges. The 1953 movie Beneath the 12 Mile Reef with Robert Wagner was filmed there. Today, the boats are used to take site seers out to see dolphins, manatees, and other wild life. Like the osprey family on the channel marker.

If you want to see dolphin up close, and don't have a kayak or canoe, go to Clearwater Beach, and ride The Little Toot. It's not a very big boat and the captain usually get the dolphins to swim in the bow stream.

Our little dolphin encounter wasn't too disappointing. We seen a pretty large group of them. I just used this picture because you can see the spray from one of them.

The Lighthouse on Anclote Key State Preserve was built in the late 1880's. Only a few years ago was it restored.

Like to buy a boat? It has air conditioning.

The old sponge docks may have been turned into tourist traps, but some of the water front property is used for a cannery and boat yards. Some of the boats in the slide show could use some work, or be towed out to the Gulf to be used a reefs.

Largo Nature Park July 2008

2008-07-06T21:26:00.009-04:00

I know what your thinking more dragonflies.

I headed out for the park early this morning hoping to get a picture of the otters. I had barely left the car, when I spotted them. The four of them were there, and then they were gone. I didn't get a focused shot. The ran into the brush, and didn't come back out.

I like this Juvenile Little Green Heron. He just stood on the railing of the board walk, around the pond, and posed for me. As long as I didn't get too close he was willing to move around for me and give me diffent angles.

The pond had another willing subject. The gator didn't move. This guy is so big, that I would estimate that his head was about two feet head long. What suprised me was the common moorhens were swimming near him with the little ones.

.The water may be green, but you can still see the reflections. The little blue heron looked like he was checking out another bird.

I was still waiting for the otters to show up, but still they were a no show after hanging around the park for an hour.

The Park is one park that seems to have more people wandering around it with cameras, than just going for a walk. I ran into one guy that said he spotted a coyote. I met another that was looking for the coyote the other guy seen.

Me, I was taking pictures of Marsh Rabbits.

July 4th

2008-07-06T21:13:00.004-04:00

Charlie started barking at something outside the fence. I looked and seen this little guy. I didn't see mama. Don't know what age they are sent into the world on their own, but this little one looked a little to be out here on his own. If he was alone, what a day to be out. All that noise.

.Speaking of the noise, my neighbors were quiet this year. The economy must really be going down hill. There were very little fireworks going off in my neighborhood

Not Sure

2008-07-04T14:32:00.006-04:00

I was questioning myself if I made the correct decision. The Kodak has a very good lens on it. It's made by Schneider Kreuznach. Fuji makes there own lens. As I looked at some of my pictures, I wondered if Kodak supplied a better lens.

Today, I know I made a good choice. Even though this is just a picture of a lowly Mocking-
bird, it is a picture I would never have been able to make with the Kodak. The Kodak would have focused on the branches instead of the bird.

I still wish Kodak had come out with a version that is like the Fuji S100FS. Kodak's software is much better, and the camera set up is much cleaner.

Nothing New

2008-07-03T22:36:00.003-04:00

I love dragon flies. They are as interesting as butterflies to me.

One of my books for birdbrains says that the red on the Red Bellied Woodpecker is barely noticeable. It isn't so, when the bird is in my neighbors oak tree. I think the red is easy to see.

Lake Seminole looks "healthy". It's a wonder anything survives in that muck.

Stormy Weather

2008-06-26T22:21:00.004-04:00

The sky was threatening to open up, and the thunder could be heard in the distance, as I tracked this guy through the brush.

The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, helped me narrow it down as to what he is. He's a Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron. So much for foraging at night. Perhaps it was the dark sky that brought him out in the afternoon.

What's a post with out a Dragon Fly? And how often do you get to go eye to eye with one?

Like Mike

2008-06-23T22:28:00.002-04:00

Testing out my new camera and Charlie was pretending to be Michael Jordan

By 9 AM It's Gone

2008-06-22T18:08:00.005-04:00

The cactus in our back yard blooms at night, and by 9 AM its bloom is gone. It was about 7:00 AM when I spotted the bees flying in the flower.

Katie tells me that this is a Night-Blooming Cereus.

Back on the Water

2008-06-01T21:59:00.002-04:00

I was a bit bummed as I took another picture of a Blue Heron. I hadn’t seen any new animals. Then I started editing the picture. I noticed something. There’s yellow on the Egrets head. I hadn’t noticed it when I was trying to focus while bobbing up and down in my kayak. It’s a Cattle Egret.

The tide was coming in , and when going up and down doesn’t always make for the best pictures.

Sawgrass Lake Nature Preserve

2008-03-30T21:22:00.008-04:00

It was May of 2007 that I went to Sawgrass Lake. It's 400 acres located in St. Petersburg, FL. Not on the outside of St. Pete., in the heart of the city. It so odd to walk its 1 mile of board walk and to know it is surrounded by houses and I-275

I did a slide show of the butterflies and a spider I seen. The butterfly garden outside of the building that houses the restrooms. That doesn't make for easy picture taking. Butterflies are a bit skittish in the first place, but then add children running out of a building to the mix. I was so close to getting a piture of a tiger butterfly, when a child came running from the restroom. Yes, I'm like the fisherman, "you should have seen the one that got away."

Walking into the woods you could hear them, and then they would shoot between the trees like missiles. They being the Pileated Woodpeckers. These things are huge.

There's a tower that looks out at the lake. Just below was Momma gator and two of her little ones. (As you can see, I also found software that came with my camera. My iBook couldn't use it. Now I can make collages. I'm in sorry shape.)

This is something Linda wouldn't want to see. It looks like a Cottonmouth (or more common the water moccasin). She freaks out when she see the non poisonous black racer in the back yard. This deadly snake would really freak her out. It was also spotted near the lake from the observation tower.

I discovered we were near I-275 when we spotted the Gopher Tortoise.

I've taken a lot of picture of little Blue Herons, but I don't think I've ever taken a picture of one with a "hair do" like this one.

Ringling Revisited.

2008-03-23T22:33:00.004-04:00

I found a way to show you the Howard Brothers Circus I mentioned a few posts ago.

No More Hospital Trips

2008-03-21T22:33:00.002-04:00

Linda is finally out of the hospital. She was a little miffed that she had to wait until 10:00 am to get out. She was expecting to be released by 9:00.

Wow what a difference!. Yesterday she needed help getting out of a chair and to a walker. Today she popped out of the chair, grabbed the walker and headed for the door. The nurse let her walk to the elevator before getting a wheel chair.

Speaking of hospital elevators, I had a strange encounter a few days ago. I pushed the up button, and the door opened. I entered the elevator, and a thin, wrinkled, woman with huge sunglasses asked, “are you going down?”

“No, I’m going up.”

“What is wrong with this elevator. It won’t go down.” I then noticed she had pushed 1.

“We’re on the first floor.”

“We are? I’ve been riding up on this elevator.”

Please tell me she doesn’t drive.

What A Day

2008-03-17T22:18:00.001-04:00

Took Linda to the hospital this morning for her hip replacement surgery. I came home, since the hospital is 10 minutes away, and waited for the news. The surgeon called at 11:15 to say she did very well. 12:50 she called. I don't think she remembers making the call.

It was really hard seeing her hooked up to all those tubes, and lying immobile. I wanted to cry. Instead I came home and got the girls. We headed to the park.

But the park trip was almost put off. Susie got so excited, while jumping she hurt her front paw. I waited an hour to see if she could walk on it. She finally looked like she was walking it off. I decided to give the park a try. We made it all the way around the lake! Dogs must be like us. They can twist something and a few hours later show no signs.

As you can see Charlie has a new Frisbee. You can pick one up for a couple of dollars, but she would chew on them, and I would have to throw them away. This time for 13.00 I picked up a Kong Frisbee. If it is like the other Kong toys in this house, it should last a long time.

Sorry no pictures of Linda. I just couldn't do that to her.

Lowry Park Zoo

2008-03-16T22:15:00.016-04:00

Sunday we headed out for Tampa and Lowry Park Zoo. It is was Linda wanted to do today.. She goes in for hip replacement surgery tomorrow. (She had a 1000 pound machine fall on her 10 years ago. It is probably the reason she needs a new hip today.)

You pay for zoo admission and if you want to take the hour boat ride down the Hillsbourough River you pay additional money. We arrived at the park shortly after opening, and got tickets for the 11:00 boat ride. As you can see, the zoo spares no expense for a bus. The ride to the boat dock and public boat launch is only a minute away.

Sulphur Springs Water tower. It was built in the the 1920’s, and Sulphur Spring water was the first bottled water in the state. People thoutht the springs would bring them good health. A flood ruined the mechanisms that operate the water tower. Bats now make it home, and the City of Tampa has to figure out how to restore the tower, and not harm the bats. Bats in Florida are up there with the angels. They eat the “state bird”, the mosquito. (The sun wasn't in the right spot. I tried using black and white to get more detail)

Talk about picking the bones clean. Can you identify the bones? What ever it was the vultures were finishing, it was once a very big animal. (My mother isn’t going to like this picture. She doesn’t like vultures.)

We did get to see a couple of manatees while out on the river. But I don’t think I’ll be able to convince Linda to take the canoe out on the river. We seen 3 gators. One of them was approxiately 8 feet long. Linda will never go for taking the canoe out in water with gators.

This big gator was inside the zoo. He’s covered with bird poop. The giant white egrets have nests abouve him. Actually there are two nests above him. It doesn’t seem to bother the old guy that the the birds use him as a toilet. There was no movement from him at all. The picture really doesn't show what he looked like covered in white goop.

I'm a bit strange. You have all these exotic birds to be photographed and the last two pictures are of very common birds. The first is the Common Grackle. A wild bird.

Why is it that Pelicans provide me with some of my favorite pictures?

By the Way

2008-03-16T22:13:00.001-04:00

I posted some of the picture from the cruise I took in January..

There is a link to the right. flbeaglenut.blogspot.com

Otters at Work

2008-03-13T21:35:00.009-04:00

What a day. I was on my way to my truck after work. I looked at the water and seen ripples. The wind was blowing. I sat in the truck and looked at the water. Could the wind be blowing that hard? Something had to be in the water. Yep the otters were having a good time.

Not only did I get a still shot, I got them using the movie mode on my camera. And to top if off, I got the video to upload on to this blog.

Oh Happy Days!

Slowly Getting Closer

2008-03-09T21:12:00.004-04:00

Any time I'm near water, I hear the voice of the Belted King Fisher. I swear he is mocking me. This bird is so shy. As I peeked through the bushes at work, I got off one shot. One day, I will get a good shot.

The John And Mable Ringling Museum

2008-03-07T02:50:00.016-05:00

John Ringling the youngest of 5 brothers made his fortune in the circus that bares his famous last name. He spent the fortune on art, the home he built for his wife Mable, which over looks Sarasota Bay, and a museum to house all the art he collected until his death. When he died in 1936, he left the 32 acre estate to the state of Florida

I used to wonder why so many Floridians I have met have never made the trip to Sarasota to see the Museum. After purchasing a small book titled A Museum Once Forgotten: Rebirth of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, I found the grounds were rarely open to the public before 2000.
The mansion was falling apart and partly covered in vines, and the museum’s roof leaked, putting the art a risk. Florida State University took over stewardship of the property, and with millions of money from the state, it has been restored the 66 acres estate.

Mayra and I hit the rose garden first. The local garden club was pruning them. I had told Mayra what a beautiful place it is, and she wanted to see it before the flowers were all gone. The woman a the desk when we purchased out tickets told us the flowers would be gone by afternoon. That garden club didn’t waste any time removing them early in the morning.

A few years ago, Linda and I had visited the estate, and one of the docents said Mable Ringling could only keep them alive for a few years, and then they would have to be replaced. I figured she over pampered them, or roses weren’t as hardy as they are today. My rose bush doesn’t know pesticides, fertilizers, or regular watering, and the thing refuses to die.

We then made our way to my favorite building, the Tibbal Learning Center. The building houses museum posters, costumes, and the Howard Brothers Circus. Howard Tibbal started building a model circus in his Knoxville home over 50 years ago. Today the model is approximately 3800 square feet. (I created a slide show for you to see more detail. But it wouldn't upload correctly. Back to the drawing board.)
I did like the detail he put into his model circus. He even shows the restrooms and the fact you have to tell me which way to stand, when they pee.

The building next to the Tibbal’s Learning Center is the Circus Museum. It used to be the Ringling’s garage. It now houses circus wagons, and a truck that used to be used to shoot a human out of a canon. (They may have the canon, but they don't have the secret as to how it works) The docent giving the tour a couple years ago, almost put Linda and I to sleep. Not this time. I didn’t want Dorothy’s tour to end. The little woman was so full of life, and really showed that she enjoyed talking about the museum. I wish we could have had her give us a tour of the entire estate. Some are original, and some are reproductions.

I believe she said this one was made by the craftsman who work at the museum.

Ca d’Zan what a home!! Mayra and I tried to bide our time until the next tour. You can’t see the second floor without going on the tour. After 30 minutes or more of wandering around the first floor and the grounds, we decided to head for the museum. We told ourselves we would come back for the last tour of the day. Two trips to Sarasota, and I have yet to see the second floor. We were just too tired.

The art museum is now one of the top 20 museums in North America. On the day we visited the courtyard was alive with musicians and clowns. The place makes me wish I lived in Sarasota. I would become a member. I took no pictures inside the museum. It’s all so breathtaking. It would be easy to spend the entire day inside the art museum itself. The exhibits aren’t just limited to Mr. Ringling’s collection . The Grandma Moses exhibitions will be running until April 13th, and the Jacob Lawrence exhibition can be seen until May 4th.
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New Year 2008

2008-02-02T22:23:00.000-05:00

No football games for Mayra, Linda and myself. We headed north for Homasassa Spring State Park. You park and pay to enter the park, and are shuffled onto a boat that takes you down the spring waters to the main attractions.

The manatees are probably their biggest attraction. The park has 6 full time residents that have been rescued over the years. Park volunteers will throw carrots into the water to get them to swim over to the gathering of park visitors. Once the manatees have made their way over, a small talk about them is given.

The park is supposed to be a habitat for native Florida animals, but you will find a hippo in the park. Lu has spent most of his life in FL. I believe we were told he was a regular on one of my favorite shows, Daktari in the 1960's. He was going to get the boot from the park, when Gov. Lawton Chiles made him a citizen of FL in the 1990's.

It was just heart breaking to see this Eagle try to fly. I don’t know how he lost part of his wing, but he couldn’t get it through his head, he was never going to fly again. The big guy would run back and forth in his area trying to take to the air.

The Flamingos and Sandhill Cranes made me laugh. The racket they made remind me of a story my Mom likes to tell. In 1964 my Dad and Mom took my brother and me to Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo. Back then animals were kept in hideous cages. As we walked past the bears, tigers, monkeys, and etc, I screamed, “they’re going to get me!!” The bird weren’t kept in cages.

As we approached the noisy water fowl, my cowardly father grabbed my brother’s six year old hand and scrambled out of the area. My pregnant mother stood in horror watching ducks and geese making their way towards us. She says she could have strangled my two year old neck, when I giggled and said, “Look at the pretty birdies Mommy.”

There are a few birds that seem to have free range of the park, like this black headed vulture. And why wouldn’t they hang out with the rest of the birds. Nothing like a free hand out.

In the Alligator Lagoon, you can look up in the trees and see nesting herons.

I just realized, we forgot to make black eye peas.

Christmas 2007

2008-01-26T20:30:00.000-05:00

Linda, Mayra, and I hit the water on Christmas Day. We decided on Veterans Memorial Park next to Bay Pines VA Medical Center. It was a really gloomy day, which made it look much colder than it actually was.

Since Jungle Prada is to the south, we decided to go north under the Pinellas County Trail bridge to Cross Bayou, to see what we could see. Mostly we saw joggers, bicyclists, and walkers. Oh yea the ever photo friendly pelican was spotted.

The tide was too low to make our way up Cross Bayou. We headed for the area around the marina. A dolphin was spotted. I would aim the camera where I thought he would surface again, and he would come up behind me. As you can see it looks like something tried to make him lunch.

Speaking of food, we headed to Mayra's for our lunch. After words, Linda made herself at home in Mayra's recliner. I stand corrected. I believe the chair belongs to Bo, the cat. He decided to make himself confortable in Linda's arms, as she took a little snooze. So much for Linda not being a cat person.

I'm Back

2008-01-25T22:40:00.000-05:00

I don't know what happened with Apple, but Google didn't like Tiger anymore. I went in search of Leopard, and found such crummy customer service out there, I bought a PC.

There is an advantage to ownng a PC. I'll be able to put video on this blog. My iBook wouldn't bring up the video icon.

I'll start the new year with Christmas. As you can see the Charlie received a new toy from Steve and Lisa. I think it survived an hour, before she had all of its stuffing ripped out of it.

On the other hand, Susie's toy still survives. She didn't think much of it. She turning into an old lady.

I'm Getting Closer

2007-12-04T21:14:00.000-05:00

I'm learning to take my camera every time I step out the door. Today I had it wrapped around my neck as I emptied the trash. A bird flew by me. I thought it was the feathered imp that teases me with his presence. As it zoomed past me, I realized I was seeing hawks everywhere, mostly in my imagination. I looked up from the trash can to the north, and perched on a tree top in my neighbors back yard was a very large bird. Could I be so lucky to finally get the chance to take a picture of him without the sun interfering? I made my way to Lee's drive way. It was the hawk. I snapped a few, but knew I was still too far away.

Lee's trash was out and his paper retrieved. I made up my mind. I knocked on his door. I just had to get in that back yard. My 94 year old neighbor became my assistant. He held the back door open; so the hawk wouldn't hear us. I only got a few pictures of him, before myself or the dive boming mocking birds scared him off.

The Elusive Neighborhood Hawk

2007-12-01T21:58:00.000-05:00

He's driving me crazy. I can sense when he is the neighborhood. It not only get quiet, it gets very still outside. I've walked out the back door and he flies over my head. Friday Morning I was chasing him down in the fog. He was on the power pole, a few houses down. As I got closer, the neighbor's basset hounds started to bark. That caused him to take off. I seen him later in the afternoon, and the neighbor shut her door. He took to the air once again.

Today, he was on the pole just Southwest of me. So was the sun. This is the best picture I have been able to get of him. It not that great. I can't tell what type he is.

Out and About

2007-11-24T21:53:00.000-05:00

We were going to take the kayak and canoe out on Friday morning. The weather didn’t look good. It was overcast and we had sprinkles. Linda called Mayra, and told her we would try next weekend. Linda then headed out the door, to do who knows what.

I prepared to work on the bathroom. An hour later, the phone rang. Mayra was calling. She wanted to hit George McGough Nature Preserve. She had never been to the park. I told her I couldn’t go, because I was working on the bathroom. Then I called back. Oh what the heck. What’s another day?

Should have worn a sweatshirt. It was 68 in the shade. Now I’m glad we didn’t hit the water .
Wasn’t much to see at McGough. The Laughing Gulls made themselves comfortable on the boardwalk. They weren’t frightened by Mayra or me.

Mayra hadn’t ever been to John Bonner Nature Park either. It is just a few blocks north, and we jumped in to her Jeep. We spent most of the time at the beginning of the birding trail. Didn’t see any birds as we walked further on the trail. It seems no one has told the birds that the trail is for them.

The Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher is a bugger to photograph. He is almost as fast as a hummingbird. The little thing finally stopped flying from branch to branch.

The Yellow-Rumped Warbler. One of the bird brain books tells me the Palm Warbler likes to forage on the ground like this bird was doing. But the half rings around the eyes say Yellow-Rumped Warbler; not Palm Warbler.

A Little of This, A Little of that

2007-11-18T09:44:00.000-05:00

The night before Charlie went in for her operation, we had to remove water dishes. We have one in the back yard for the girls, and as you can see, once I emptied it, she turned it into a toy. Sometimes I wish I could read Susie's mind. She must think Charlie is just nuts.

The vet said Charlie drove them crazy when she first arrived on Friday morning. I know she used to make a racket when we crated her. I can only imagine the sounds she made as other dogs came in and out of the office. Once she was spayed, she settled down. Yea, the sedative and pain killlers had to help.

I think Susie actually missed her on Friday

As the vet was telling me what to do, what to look out for, he informed me that there has been a tick infestation. He exterminate the builing himself, but dogs have been coming in with tick much more this year than in years past. I couldn't be informed about this before they took her? I think I should have had the option of leaving her or not.

Dr. Mike seemed a lttle miffed about the tick thing. All I could think was, I didn't bring in ticks. I chalk it up to a bad day. He has called to check on Susie, after we've taken her in to see him.

We are supposed to keep her from jumping. Yea right. She acts like she spent a day at the spa. The little bundle of energy has only slowed down a little.

Monk Parakeets. They aren't native to Florida, but the 1960's escapees have certainly made themselves at home. My neighbor likes to feed the birds. They sit on the wire waiting for their shot at the food.

I wait with camera waiting for a flight shot. This is the only one I got. As I was waiting with camera ready, my arm got tired. I let the camera down, and they flew off.

Hit the Trail Jack

2007-11-11T23:16:00.000-05:00

Mayra and I decided last weekend to hit Brooker Creek Preserve in Tarpon Springs. (Linda didn’t want to go. Her knees hurt, and I forgot to ask Deb. ) We were gawking at the osprey nest along US 19, that we drove right past state highway 582. We drove into Pasco county before we noticed our mistake. Whoops!!

8300 acres promised to offer otters, bear, dear, fox and etc. As we drove into the park, the vultures were circling along with the Osprey. After walking the 4 mile loop, you can see what we seen. Several Golden Silk Spiders. We heard the eagle and the hawk, but they were no shows. Nothing but mosquitos seemed to fly within our eyes. Of course I forgot mosquito repellant.

We then figured we’d check out John Chestnut Park on the way back home. We didn’t get out. Just checked to see if there was a good area to put in the canoe and kayak. The barbecues were making us hungry.

I tried calling Linda, but she wasn’t home. So we decided to head out in search of some place to eat. We ended up crossing the Dunedin causeway and found ourselves at the entrance of Honeymoon Island State Park. Mayra paid the $5.00 to enter and we headed for the cafe. Food!! Fish and Chips never tasted better. And you couldn’t beat the the view.

We then went in search of the nature trail. As we turned towards the parking lot, Mayra spotted a snake in the road. Mayra stopped the her Jeep in the middle of the road, and we jumped out to get a picture of it. Nothing like seeing an Eastern Diamondback Rattle Snake in the wild. Absolutely beautiful. Good thing Linda wasn’t with us. She would have screamed like a girl.

I was trying to take a picture of a woodpecker with my Minolta (I figured I should use up some of my film), when we a man walking his pit bull came upon us. “There’s two owls in a pine just to the right. Follow me.” We took of with him and with white pit bull, with the black patch over her left eye.

I’ll tell you the Great Horned Owls are hard to spot. He kept pointing and talking about the second one. “It’s in the same tree. See it?” Not really. It took a while to spot it.
The best picture I could get with the digital camera of the Great Horned Owl. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what I captured on film

I was taking a picture of the Monarch Butterfly, when the phone rang. Linda was calling. We had running water in the laundry room. It was time to come home.

Back to Jungle Prada

2007-11-04T21:54:00.000-05:00

Deb and Mayra had gone to Jungle Prada without us one weekend, and spent time with the manatees. Mayra wanted to go back.

We didn’t see manatees or dolphins this Sunday. We did see these bozos speeding through the area we had seen the manatees. No wonder the gentle giants have scars all over their bodies.

We decided on 9:00 AM. Linda realized, we hadn’t turned the clocks back. She didn’t want to wait another hour. I’ happy I bought hoodies in Raymond, WA, earlier this year. It was cold out there this morning.

I was taking pictures of the terns. I kept clicking in hopes of getting a bird in flight. I got the picture. But I also go this picture. I was focused on the bird, when I noticed something in the back ground. It is a fish in flight. Click on the picture and you get a better view.

I did get a picture of a tern flying.

A we got closer to the rockery that serves as a bird sanctuary, we could smell a foul smell. The turkey vultures were flying above. We didn’t see what they were trying to get.

We did see nesting Herons. Like this one coming in for a landing. The pelican didn’t seem to happy with him.

One would pick up twigs, and hand off to the other.

A Ruddy Turnstone. Gets its name from turning stones over to look for food.

Late for Work Again

2007-11-03T10:51:00.000-04:00

I was going to be on time. Then I noticed this guy in the parking lot. I should learn to leave my camera at home.

I thought finding the names of birds is difficult. You should give dragonflies a try.

I Wish I Had Four Hands.

2007-11-01T23:31:00.000-04:00

High tide wasn’t until late afternoon. What is one supposed to do? Hit the inter coastal. Right before you get to the bridge on Walsingham, there is a turn off next to George McGough Nature Park. We had planned to enter the inter coastal there, but Linda didn’t like the idea. She had a far better one - Keegan Claire Park in Indian Rocks Beach.

It’s not a large park. I think it has 4 parking spots. But it has beach access. We carried the canoe and kayak to the beach and off we went.

(I know. I was in my kayak on Sunday, and now on Thursday, I’ m just getting around to posting pictures. Hey it takes me a while. Sometimes to figure out what bird is which. I sometimes sit here with 3 different books, and still hit the internet to make sure I’ve named the bird correctly. )

One bird I didn’t have to spend time on was the Yellow Crowned Night Heron. He was every where.

Kayaking with a dolphin. That was just fun. I can’t row and take pictures at the same time. He was swimming right next to me. When I stopped to get the camera ready, he took off in another direction. I felt abandoned.

This little Snowy Egret wasn’t angry. It think he was just cold. I was wishing I had brought a jacket. It must have been in the lower 70’s when we first hit the water. (Sorry to offend all of you in the north. That’s cold when you get accustomed to 90 degree weather.)

I never realized how close the 3 nature parks are. We passed McGough, Bonner and Indian Rocks, and the birds were just having a great time. There must have been some good eats in all that mud. I snapped the Roseate Spoonbill swallowing something.

I don’t understand how so many pelicans can sit in the mangroves. I sat in the kayak as more and more of them continued to fly in. The little bird sanctuary had plenty a room in the mangroves for them to spread out, but they just wanted hang out close to each other.

I love the picture of them taking off. Some woman had gotten out of her kayak and walked the sand bar. She got a little to close for their comfort. She did me a favor. I’m always trying to get that shot of birds in flight.

Woodstork were on the prowl for food as we turned rowed toward the Indian Rocks Nature Preserve.

The Gulls were a little feisty. This one wouldn’t leave the poor Ibis alone. The other Ibis hung out together, and no gulls bothered them. This one decided to go it alone, and he was harassed.

I told you it takes me a while to figure out what some birds are. It’s these little shore birds that drive me crazy. The Spotted Sandpiper doesn’t look spotted. The non breeding feathers are just gray.

So are the feathers of the Willet. I’m not completely sure of this bird. But I can’t find anything else he could be.

The identity of this bird was easy. He fits the description. Non breeding: back speckled gray, short straight bill and big black eyes. He was very difficult to get a clear shot. Not that he moves too fast , or that he wouldn’t let me get near him. He blends into the mud. I use the view finder on my camera, and some times I would lose him. The camera’s auto focus often focused in on everything but the bird.

Once I again I left the water as a tormented soul. The call of the Belted King Fisher mocked me. Like the previous weekend, they flew past me at such speed, I had no chance of getting a picture.

My Picture

2007-11-01T07:49:00.000-04:00

For those who wonder what I look like, this picture is for you.

We dress up for Halloween, at least some of us do. I was the only one on the team. To me it is another opportunity to wear jeans. Just throw on a mask, off to work I go. No ironing!!!

Fred Howard Park

2007-10-21T21:08:00.000-04:00

We were all to meet at Panera Bread at 6:30 AM. Forget getting a bagel for the road. They don't open until 7:00 AM. But we were still in the parking lot at 7:00. Mayra had to rush home and retrieve her camera. It seems Deb showed up at Mayra's at 5:30 AM.

We hit the road shortly at 7:00 for Tarpon Springs. Driving through downtown Clearwater I got the creeps. There were men and women walking the streets, wearing white shirts and black pants. I kept thinking about the Charleton Heston movie Omega Man. It was about a group of people that all dressed a like, and could only come out at night, because radiation poising made the sun their enemy.

Fred Howard Park has 2.5 miles of marked kayak trail. Deb, Linda, and Mayra decided they had had enough and headed in to St. Joseph Sound. (only one person can paddle throught the mangrove tunnels, and it seems both wanted to paddle. Which caused them to row into the mangroves. Linda didn't like the idea of fiddler crabs in the canoe.)

It was a really overcast day. The weather was the right temparature to be on the water, but the over cast sky caused nothing but trouble with my autofocus. I had noticed the camera's limitations when I was in Washington State, but I had thought it was me. It was a brand new camera back then. After today, I've come to the conclusion it doesn't focuw well with grey skies.

While trying to capture a picture of a Belted Kingfisher, I caught a picture of a Wood-Stork in flight. There weren't a lot of animails or birds. I thought early in the morniing on a cool days we would have seen more wild life.

I'll continue tomorrow. I can hardly keep my eyes open. Linda drank 1/2 case of beer Saturday, and her snoring was louder than my table saw. I need sleep

Frogs for Frank

2007-09-20T23:08:00.000-04:00

Frank is the lizard in the Rescuers Down Under. There is also a certain person that reminds me of Frank, but I will not mention her name. She doesn't like the nickname. She does like Frogs.

I can tell you, it isn't easy to take pictures of frogs at night. Even though the camera throws out a light, it is only for a second. I had to guess where to point the lens. I thought I was only taking a picture of one frog. Each time I took a picture, I was surprised by what was revealed in picture review.

Pig frogs are every where.

Frank I hope you like the pictures.

Strange Bedfellows

2007-09-19T21:22:00.000-04:00

Tonight Susie was chewing on her Kong Toy. Charle had already retrieved the goodies from hers. She was sitting on the love seat coveting Susie's Kong toy. Susie jumped up on the love seat and went after Charlie. Now Charlie won't leave my lap. It's really hard to type with a 12 pound puppy in your lap.

As you can see from last Sunday, they were just the best of friends.

Just Don't Do It

2007-09-15T13:59:00.000-04:00

If you have a few tiles falling off the wall, take my advice. Glue them back up, add a little grout and forget about them. My simple tile job, has be come a complete bathroom make over. It’s also the reason why have posted any pictures lately.

I did spot this big guy roaming around neighborhood. Strangest thing, Charlie will sit and watch the bushy tailed rats (squirrels) walking on power lines in the backyard. But this juvenile woodstork didn’t catch a second of her attention.

Weeki Wachee

2007-09-05T22:53:00.001-04:00

Blame it on Tim Dorsey or Carl Hiaasen. They both describe old Florida in their novels. Tim Dorsey’s main character in his novels is a history loving serial killer. Serge Storms travels around Florida pointing out historical points of interests to his drugged out side kick Coleman.

Blame it on the developers. In the eight years I’ve been down here, I’ve seen the view of the Gulf of Mexico disappear from Gulf Boulevard. Mammoth condo building are replacing the beach bungalows that were built in the 40’s, 50’s and 60. Indian Rocks and Indian Shores are quickly losing their beach community charm, while Clearwater Beach strives to be a clone of Miami Beach.

Sunday was just another beautiful Florida day. Steve and Lisa had told us they would be here around 3:00 PM. We had time to drive up to see the Weeki Wachee mermaids. We had talked about seeing them, before the park becomes another thing of the past.

Oh you are wondering about mermaids.

For the last 60 years, along US highway 19 you can stop and see a mermaid show. Today it cost 23.00 and an additional 3.00 for parking. (They also have a small water park. The yearly pass wouldn't be bad if you lived in the area.) It’s not only a chance to see old Florida, but to see a part of America before the interstate helped wipe out the Mom and Pop places along America’s highways.

Sunday the Production Was Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid. The story wasn’t as interesting as the athleticism of the participants. These young people even lip sink to the songs while they are under water. (I know Blogger is trying to make it easier to upload video to the pages. Video would really allow you to see just how amazing this show is.)

The Sea Witch made her appearance, and the little girl sitting next to Linda, grabbed Linda’s arm and didn’t let go, until the witch was gone.

We didn’t take the canoe, because we needed to be back by 3:00. We did take a half hour boat ride ride. The first one left at 10:15 AM. The park opens at 10:00 AM and there was a mad scramble for the dock. We passed a couple, when Linda said she needed to use the bathroom. I watched that same couple board the boat as were told it was filled. “next departure is 11:45, after the mermaid show”.

We walked around the park. Took a few pictures. Like this one of Linda. That took up about 20 minutes. Linda was determined we weren’t going to miss the next ride. She had us standing in line 1 hour before they would begin to load the next boat. At least I can say I wasn’t bored. The eastern sky gave us a lightening show, while the fish lazily swam around the clear water.

I couldn’t believe how clear the water was, or how shallow it is. Because of the drought, the river is 3 1/2 feet below normal, according to the guide. If you look at the black spot on the cypress tree's trunk, that is the water mark during normal years.

Missed Steve and Lisa. We were a half hour late getting home. Ask Mayra or Deb, we are never on time.

Saturday August 25th

2007-08-26T20:40:00.000-04:00

It was like rowing on glass. There wasn’t a breeze blowing if you exclude the wind bags in the canoe. (This will surely draw the ire of Deb and Mayra. Linda knows nothing of the internet. I’m feeling a bit impish tonight.) We had at 50% chance of rain, in the afternoon, and thunder claps in the distance of the Gulf of Mexico. The low tide at Boca Ciega was 1.8 and high tide would be sometime around 11:00 AM.

The wildlife was still also. Only seen a couple of Osprey. Usually in the mornings we see a couple in the air looking for food. Saturday it was the one in the tree that caught our attention. I don’t think he liked us being so close to his fishing hole.

He wasn’t the only want that wanted his privacy. Just below I spotted the Green Heron. I tried to gently maneuver myself into position for a picture, when I heard, “what do you see?” The solitary bird took for cover in the mangroves. I’d like to blame it on the people in the canoe, but I most likely drifted to close. I think I need an anchor.
I soon heard Mayra cry out, “look Mick.” I followed her finger, and a Roseate Spoonbill had just landed in the the Mangroves. I rowed over to the little island to get a shot of this juvenile.

The canoeists headed for the other side of the island, while I rowed towards a bird I spotted high in the mangroves. I finally got a good shot of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron. I also got spotted a very photo shy juvenile. None of the pictures came out very well. He kept moving deeper into the mangroves

One minute Mayra was rowing and the next the oar was in the water. Good thing it floats. Linda was feeling testy and refused to go back for it. (I don’t have a picture of the three in the canoe; so I thought I would use this picture to represent Linda. This bird looks like he was having a bad day too. Linda gets this way each year, when the seasonals at work get let go for the year.)

I’m renaming Mayra. She shall be called Hawk Eye. She spotted this lure hanging in the mangroves. The boater didn’t have a chance to get it. The nice thing about kayaks, you can get up close. Now I have to decide what I want to do with my little trophy.

No dolphins or manatees were seen.

A family of Double-crested Cormorants too a saturday swim.

Another Double-crested Cormorant takes to the air.

We were greeted at the canoe launch by a Cloudless Sulpher. He’s supposed to be yellow, but as you can see he picks up the green from plant. Yes Deb, another butterfly picture.

More Exotics in the Backyard

2007-08-22T06:59:00.000-04:00

The Black-hooded Parakeet was first seen in south Florida around 1973, and the first sighting here in Pinellas County was 1990, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. http://myfwc.com/bba/bhpa.htm

Looks like they like to hang with the Monk Parakeet.

Jungle Prada

2007-08-21T21:28:00.000-04:00

It's a small park in St. Peterburg. Really the only thing there is parking, 2 boat ramps, and a fishing pier. It too will dump you out into Boca Ciega Bay. Just a lot further than were we usually luanch, and we didn't have to worry about the tide. There's also a small island that is a bird sanctuary. It was only about a mile from the launch sight.

It was only myself, Linda and Mayra. Linda had told me if I was going to be in the canoe, I couldn't be bossy. She was also determined to take the bow. I had to sit in the middle. Right off the bat the rammed the pier. I wanted to be like the osprey on the left. I finally convince Linda to switch places with me one we reached the bird island.

The Great White Egret didn't seem to be happy. Maybe he wanted some peace an quiet when he at, and he wasn't getting in the mangroves that made up the island.

There were birds everywhere. Pelican, snowy egrets, Great Blue Herons, and tri-colored Herons, all trying to find a place in the mangroves. All making quite a bit of noise, especially when we rowed near the island.

We didn't get too close either. The are signs in the water that read, "no trespassing." Also the island is surrounded by oyster beds. The water wasn't that deap. If we had rowed close to the edge of the island, we would have harmed those oysters.

The pelicans were animated on Sunday. This one was coming in for a landing, and didn't care if another one was in the way or not.

This guy didn't like us getting to close. He decided he was leaving.

He wasn't alone. As we came near the sandbar, the race was one.

The Black-bellied Plover isn't supposed to be seen down here during the summer months. He truly is a "snow bird". Once winter is down he heads back to the north. Either someone forgot to explain it to him, he decided he found paradise, or he was just too lazy to go north.

The Willet does stay for the summer. I think that what this bird is. After consulting 3 books and several internet sites, I can only conclude that is what this thing is.

Chasing the Imp

2007-08-17T08:04:00.001-04:00

Charlie is easily excited. When I come home, I make sure I don’t say a word, head directly for her crate, let her out, and move quickly to the door. There is no stopping to put anything down, or waiting for Susie to make her way out from under the bed. If I talk she’ll pee in her crate, if I wait for Susie she’ll pee on the floor.

Yesterday was a typical day. Charlie was in the yard doing her business before Susie. I turned to go back and get Susie, and Charlie jumped up on the patio chair to get to the mail on the table. The race was on as far as she was concerned. I had to laugh as she zoomed around the yard with the junk mail in her mouth. She stopped, I would move to grab it, and she would put the moves on me, like Walter Payton would put on the defense.

A more serene topic. The White Peacock butterfly. Come to think about it looking at the butterfly my bring me peace, but he doesn’t look like his life has been easy. Something took a chunk out of his wing.

Charlie is Out Foxed by a Frog

2007-08-15T20:52:00.000-04:00

Charlie loves looking for frogs in the morning and evenings. This morning she was up at 6:00 AM searching the backyard for a frog to use as a playmate.

Last night while she was on the prowl, I spotted this Pig Frog on the arm of a patio chair. (I think that's what it is.) He figured out how to stop the madness. The little guy even looks like he's proud of himself, hiding in plain view.

Chasing the Red-shouldered Hawk

2007-08-13T22:18:00.000-04:00

I sat in the car eating my lunch and reading the paper. The alarm went off telling me I had seven minutes to return to work. I locked the car a wandered over to the water to see if any thing was around. Nothing in the water.

I flushed out an Ibis.

A squirrel with twig crossed my path. I usually don’t take pictures of the bushy tail rats (I've probably upset some of my co-workers. They don't see them as members of the rodent family.), but today I snapped a picture of him.

A black dragon fly came into view as I ca closer. (I haven’t had time to identify him. I’’ll come back and give him a name.)

Time to get back to work. I walked over to the picnic bench to put my camera away, and that’s when I heard the sound. The screech of the Red-shouldered Hawk. A woman walking in the parking lot just west of me, seemed to be causing the bird distress. I knew I was going to be late getting back from lunch, but I had to get a shot of this bird.

From my view she looked like she was standing in a nest. I would see later this afternoon that it wasn’t her nest if it was a nest.

She had enough of me photographing her. She jumped down to the next branch, and as you can see she gave me a fright. I couldn’t hold the camera still. (As you can see from looking at picture on the left. She's a blur.)

I decided to hold my ground, with this "shy" bird. (Yep, the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds describes the Red-shouldered hawk as being shy.) The picture reveals an fearless, unhappy camper. So much for being a wall flower.

I think the team, I’m a member of at work, thinks I’m crazy. I’ve been late coming back from lunch to photograph vultures eating a possum (the pictures were taken before I started the blog. I don't know why I haven't gone back to somethings. It just doesn't seem right), having to change my pants because Charlie urinated on them, and now to take pictures of a hawk.

As I was leaving the phone rang about the time I seen the hawk flying out of the oak tree. She had something in her talons. I ignored Tigger telling me that someone wants to talk to me, and grabbed the camera. I still can’t figure out what she was eating. I stood there and took pictures as other drove out of the parking lot. By the time I thought of using the movie mode on the camera, she stopped talking to me. I guess she figured I wasn’t going to harm her.

Mornings are Great

2007-08-11T21:23:00.001-04:00

We were to meet at Boca Ciega Millennium Park at 8:00 AM. Linda and I would have made it to the canoe/kayak launch at the right time, except I stopped to take pictures. Linda told me i couldn’t just stop in the middle of the road. I had to find the first parking lot, and walk the trail to get the pictures of the Woodstork and Roseate Spoonbill. As you can see they were a little too far away to get a good shot.

Roe and Deb looked a little miffed that we were late. Then we had to make the decision to go into the water. There was a sign in front of the launch that warned against swimming/entering the water, drinking it, or fishing. Found out from a guy fishing that the sign was put up as a precaution, because of a sewer line break on Tuesday during low tide.

I have renamed Roe. She is Evinrude. The woman just rows. I would stop long enough to take a picture, and the three would be long gone.

Wow, and was the wild life out. A Black Simmer flew by, and I thought I had missed my chance again to get a picture of the bird. That when this flock came into sight. These guys fly low and fast. I only got one shot off, and I was twisted around to get the shot. The waves always seem to move me out view of the subject.

An immature green heron decided to pose on the log that Mayra had used for surfing a few weeks earlier.

Deb’s legs were beginning to hurt. Just before the Park Blvd. boat ramp, the three turned into another boat ramp. As I waited for Linda and Deb to change places, i heard a noise. It was the sound of dolphins breathing. I think hearing dolphins was just as amazing as being 50 feet or so from them.

We were on our way back when we spotted some serious wave action near one of the little islands.
It reminded me of those nature shows where the Orcas come close to shore to eat seals or penguins. I had to go check it out. The others decided it was dolphins and headed back to the launch.

I got closer and seen two huge tails. I had to ask myself, could it be manatees. The kayaker, who had gotten out of his kayak to fish, wasn't paying much attention to them. I rowed closer.

Manatees!!!

Look at the nostrils on this thing! These animals are huge. And I stayed a nice distance away. I certainly didn't want tho get in their way.

I can't believe I had this experience just 15 minutes from home. What a way to cap off the day.

Dragonfly Names

2007-08-10T21:54:00.001-04:00

I have names for the dragonflies. I stopped by the Florida Botanical Gardens yesterday and picked up National Audubon Society Field Guide To Florida

The above is the Halloween Pennant

The male Blue Dasher

Male Eastern Pondhawk taken at work

Female Eastern Pondhawk

A Male Roseate Skimmer

The Elderberry Tree

2007-08-05T19:57:00.000-04:00

One of our Elderberry Trees has been the place to be seen this weekend. As I showed you in the last post the Nutmeg Mannikin made a visit. Thanks to Katie, I know this birds name, and that he is, as I suspected, an exotic bird here in FL.

I tried getting a picture of the Mockingbirds feeding their "little" one. It was amusing watching a bird bigger than his parents, waiting with open mouth to be fed. He had a habbit of perching in an area in front of the sun.

All weekend the Red-bellied Woodpecker has been visiting the tree. As you can see he's a shy thing.

One visiter to the back yard wasn't a bird, but another dragonfly. Yes you are stuck looking at another dragonfly.

I Need Help

2007-08-04T21:57:00.000-04:00

You would think this bird would be easy to identify. Wrong! I still haven't figured out what he/she is. Katie I need your help. I have slowly looked over the pictures in my copy of National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds 3 times, and still I cannot find the name for this bird.

The bird wasn't even my subject. He/she came into view as I was trying to take a picture of the Downy Woodpecker in my back yard.

I spotted a couple of these woodpeckers at work a few months ago, but they were too far up in the tree to get a good shot.

Tonight I got lucky. The camera was sitting on the kitchen table when I noticed them hanging around. There were two. This one wanted to hide behind branches.

Speaking of hiding behind branches. I missed getting a really good shot of a Red-shouldered Hawk yesterday. I was calling Linda to tell her I was leaving work at my scheduled time, instead of 2 hours later. As I hung up the phone and unlocked the car I noticed him bathing in the retention pond. By the time I got the camera out, he had moved to a tree. Everytime I moved to get a better view of him, he would fly higher into the tree, always staying hiden by foliage. (It didn't help that the camera had been sitting in an air conditioned room all day, and the lens fogged up on me.) He then made his way to another tree aproximately 100 yards from me. I will get a good shot of him one day.

Patience Pays Off

2007-07-29T12:55:00.000-04:00

The drogonfly came back. His favorite bugs must live on the dead branch of the plumbago. Charlie would scare him off, and I would stand still waiting for him to take a rest. Each time he stopped it was on this branch.

While waiting for the dragon fly to come back, I got shots of Susie and Charlie.

Susie just loves the sun.

I had a discussion with Debbie the other day. I found a camera that might be even better than owning a DSLR. It has an 18 zoom on it, which is like having a 500 mm lens attached. I said, "I'll wait 'till the end of the year. The prices will come down."

She played devil's advocate and asked, "what happens if it comes down and a DSLR comes down?"

The Giant Swallowtail in my yard made the decision for me. He was still. I ran over to get a patio chair to stand on, because he was so high up in the bushes. I only got off one shot. My autofocus wanted to focus in on the leaves surrounding him. I need a camera that I can turn off the auto focus and manually focus. When the prices come down it will be the DSLR. Even though a 500 mm lens will cost me a fortune.

The sports mode on my camera can't stop these wings.

I've got to stop fooling around. I have work to do, luandry and finishing the bathroom.

Magenta Dragonfly

2007-07-28T12:51:00.000-04:00

I just love watching these things fly around the backyard. You most likely won't get a reprieve from this until I get a picture of the blue and red ones that zip around the yard. This guy didn't land in an prime lighting area.

Close Encounter on Friday the 20

2007-07-27T07:53:00.000-04:00

The one day I didn't bring my camera to work, a turtle came up out of Lake Seminole to find a place to lay eggs. I only had my camera on my phone to take a picture. I finally retrieved it from the phone.

She had found a place. 2 hours later I was able to go home for lunch, get my camera and get another picture of her. I didn't want to get too close.

She's so ugly she's almost cute.

Polydamus Swallowtail

2007-07-25T21:37:00.000-04:00

This butterfly is really hard to capture. He just doesn't want to stay still.

Another View

Whoops this isn't a butterfly. It's a hungry puppy.

Nature Preserves in the Area

2007-07-15T19:01:00.000-04:00

There's a small nature preserve on Indian Rocks Beach right of Gulf Blvd. (The website says it is between 9th and 10th Avenue on Gulf Blvd. I can't believe I've been driving past it all these years.) When you first enter it, it looks like a small park in a small town. The board walk will take you all the way to the Intercoastal, and with it looping like it does, it makes it a nice little walk through the mangroves. The picture of the Heron was taken in an area that still needs to have some tall plant life. You can see the condo's too easy, except in this collage. (I know I'm at it again. I decide to take the less impressive photos and create a collage.)

Deb should live by the The George C. McGough Nature Park in Largo. (If you are traveling west on Walsingham Drive, it can be found to the right, just before you hit the bridge that takes you to the gulf beaches.) They have a turtle pond, and you can buy turtle food from the Gumball machine. This area must have a lot of turtle fanatics, because when you walk up on the deck, they come swimming over to you, their mouths open looking for a meal.

I know Deb will yell at me for writing this, but I think the Florida Soft-Shell Turtle has to be the ugliest turtle I have ever seen.

A Return to Boca Ciega Millennium Park

2007-07-14T21:36:00.000-04:00

This time I had company. Linda, Deb, and Mayra took the canoe and I took the kayak.
We hit the water approximately 4 hours before high tide. The tide chart showed the tide as being above +1 by 8:00 am. I prefer mornings to afternoons. You see more wild life, and at Boca Ciega you don’t have to hear the personal water craft. Those people aren’t early risers .As you can see from the picture Mayra did the rowing, while Linda relaxed.

Mayra goofing off. Forgetting to clean the lens filter after getting water on it, wasn't the only think I forgot. Shortly after taking this picture, the phone in pocket began to vibrate. I went to answer it, and it wouldn't stop vibrating. That's when it dawned on me that I had let it get completely submerged. Yep, the cell phone is dead. Time to buy another phone.

When we left the island, Deb took Linda’s spot. Linda had used Mayra’s water bottle for an ash tray. Deb and Linda got a good laugh with Mayra took a drink of the cigarette infested water.

The birds were out. I could have sat in the kayak and watched the osprey dive for fish. Sorry I didn’t get one picture that was worth keeping.

I like this picture of the Heron drying himself off.

Another day at the beach.

Are you looking at me?

On our way back in, they didn't make the turn, and ended up in the grass. This picture may not look like it, but they are going backwards. I think Deb was a bit embarrassed, as she should be. Not only was I taking this picture, but people from the tower were watching too.

Dragonfly in the Back Yard

2007-07-10T20:15:00.001-04:00

I came home for lunch to let the little ones out. I again left my camera in the house. I went back in to grab it, and when I returned to the yard, as I suspected the dragonfly had flown away. I stood around the corner of the yard i had last seen him. He came back. I got about 12 pictures of him. Each time I would take a step closer. This picture was the closest he allowed.

Weedon Island Preserve

2007-07-08T20:21:00.000-04:00

I dragged Linda kicking and screaming to buy a canoe. (It’s OK to go out alone occasionally, but I wanted someone to go out with me, especially to places further away from home.) I explained to her a canoe would be good to have when family comes to visit. I know my Mom and nephew would want to go to some of the places I’ve mentioned, and Bruce and Rose would be game to paddle through the parks in Pinellas County.

This morning we awoke at 6:30 am to prepare for our trip to Weedon Island in St. Petersburg. Got to Mayra’s around 7:30, and off we went with Linda as the navigator.

I thought we were lost half way there and pulled over on a side street. Linda kept telling me we were on course After she reminded me that she had navigated from Bellingham, WA to Seminole, FL on our move down here in ‘99, we had no problems finding the place.

Weedon Island Preserve has over 1,000 acres, and 4 miles of canoe trails. (And thank goodness those trails are marked through the mangroves.) The shot I have of the launch site was taken when we were coming back in. Linda wouldn’t let me take a launch shot. She was still in her “I really don’t want to do this. It’s going to be hot, I want to go swimming in a pool, I’m hungry, and ...” mood.

We didn’t see the markers until we had grounded ourselves on the oyster beds. Once we say the signs with the numbers, we were smooth rowing. We’ll sort of. Turning a 14’ canoe around some of the bends wasn’t easy. Most of the time we found ourselves heading into the mangroves.

Some of the trail is so narrow you have to stop to let someone pass. That how I got the picture of the man in the kayak, going the opposite direction.

After we had made it out into the bay, Linda had had enough. She was hungry. We switched places, and she took the oar and the bow. I finally seen a Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron, but as you can see I didn’t get a great shot. Linda was determined to turn the canoe into a cigar boat. I swear we had a wake, with her rowing.

I did get a shot of an immature Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, because we had stopped to let some kayakers pass.

The preserve is next to a power plant.

Before I turned the bow over to Linda, I got a picture of a Tri-colored Heron in a dead tree.

Linda is a convert. She is ready to go out next weekend. "It's so relaxing." That's what I have been trying to tell her.

After the trip, Mayra treated us to lunch (Thank you Mayra) at The Pub on Indian Rocks Beach. I had no problem sitting there watching the boats come in and out, and the dolphins swimming.

By the way, if you are wondering obout the semi circles. I bought an adapter for my Kodak Z612 that allows me to use a filter. When I'm out on the water, my lens was getting wet. With the filter, it is now protected. Wide angle shots are affected.

Backyard

2007-07-05T20:14:00.000-04:00

I came home from lunch today, and caught this picture of Giant Swallowtail. One of these days I will remember to take my camera out with me. I had to run back into the house to get it. By the time I got back out into the yard, he was almost through hanging out on the Plumbago.

I Forgot

2007-07-02T21:09:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, while I was at Boca Ciega Millennium Park, I took pictures of some Kayakers from the tower. It wasn't until I returned to the Park to launch my kayak, that I encountered the kayakers I had photographed. One of them had a beagle. I looked over my photographs again, and zoomed in on one of the pictures. I know the picture isn't very clear, buy you can see a woman with a beagle. I can't imagine Susie riding on a kayak.

Boca Ciega Millennium Park

2007-07-01T19:51:00.001-04:00

After taking the girls for their walk, I decided to check out Boca Ciega Millennium Park. I wanted to see the kayak/canoe launch. When I go there, I seen 3 people preparing to launch a canoe. I thought to myself, “these people didn’t check the tide chart.” The water was so shallow.

I walked around the board walk and still couldn’t figure out where these people were going. I figured they were going to walk a trail to the water like I had seen 2 guys with fishing poles do.

I finally climbed the tower, because without the tower, you can’t see the water through the mangroves. I heard a man ask his wife, “have they launched that canoe yet.”

“No”, she replied.

He walked to that side of the platform and looked down at the people preparing to launch the canoe. I said, “ don’t see how they can do it. The water isn’t very deep.”

“This is high tide.”

High tide. As you can see, from the picture on the left, the water doesn’t get very high. And I would say the launch is a good 40 feet back from the board walk.

Then I asked myself, "I wonder when high tide began?"

"I’m only 15 minutes away. I could go home get my kayak, and be in the water in 30 - 45 minutes from now." I jumped in the car, looking at the clouds out the window, hoping we weren’t going to get a storm any time soon.

Got on the computer to check the tides. (I’m a dork! The park posts the high and low tide times for the month at the entrance of the launch site.) Good news as I sat down with the iBook, high tide was 12:49 and the time on my iBook said 12:35. I was in business. Smeared sunscreen on me, filled the water jugs up with water, (after I had to replace the 5 gallon bottle on the water cooler.), loaded up the kayak, put Charlie in her crate, and said to myself, “forget the bathroom tile. I’m going kayaking.” (By the way, we have to take showers at Art’s because I have the bathroom torn apart.)

It is so cool. To get out into Boca Ciega Bay, I had to paddle through this mangrove tunnel. This was truly a Florida experience.

Once out in the bay, I seen a Reddish Egret. I turned the kayak around to get a picture. As you can see, he posed for me.

From the tower and the water you can see the multimillion dollar homes of Redington Beach and Madeira Beach. I didn’t have to worry about the people in the boats zooming trough the water. The area I was in, the water was about 3 feet deep.

It all came to an end too soon. Thunder in the distance told me it was time to get out of the water. Other people, including 3 guys standing in the water fishing, ignored the distant booms. The weather changes too quickly down here to ignore the the thunder. I’ve heard of people hit by lightening on the beach, and there wasn’t a cloud over the area.

I just had to find the mangrove tunnel. Pinellas County could do a better job of marking the way back to the launch. I used the tower for my marker. (I had water on the lens. )

Coming back to the launch I had a spectator.

On my way out of the park I had to slow down for a Gopher Tortoise. Once he crossed the road, he really started to move.

Another Ball Game

2007-06-24T18:17:00.001-04:00

Linda bought tickets to see the Devil Rays and the Dodgers. Why? I don’t know. I don’t even know who plays on the Dodgers team, and I’ve lost all interest in the D’Rays.

The new owner was going to change things. Change things!! Lets see, last year he traded a pitcher and Toby Hall, the catcher for a pitcher and a catcher. Then he not only traded Aubrey Huff, a player that could play almost any position, he paid Mr. Huff’s new team to take him!! This is not the Yankees. This is the team with the lowest payroll in baseball.

OK enough ranting.

We get to the game. I have to listen to an entire row behind me figure out their seating assignments. Finally, one person figures out he is in the wrong section.

The usher gives a card for 2 free tickets. Good grief, I have to go to another baseball game.

The plastic cover of the armrest, of Linda’s seat, was broken. The usher warned Linda. Then she got up to use the restroom, and snagged her shorts on it. She followed the usher’s advise, reported it to Guest Services, and got a promise that they will be sending her a check for her shorts.

We get home and it’s warm in the house. 85 degrees warm. The fan on the heat pump isn’t working. Thank goodness we live next door to an air conditioning man. He says he can get us a new motor.

A Lazy Sunday

2007-06-24T12:11:00.001-04:00

A few posts ago, I mentioned the trash in Lake Walsingham. This morning, I seen this man picking up trash. I don't know if he works with the parks department, because holding on to two dogs and taking a picture is a difficult task. I'm just happy that it is some what clear.

We made our daily stop at the butterfly garden. (Sorry I didn't get a better shot.) Susie and Charlie wanted to take off after another dog. They are such social butterflies.

When I told my Mom that I bought a Kayak, she asked, "do you have a helmet and life vest?" The picture to the right was taken on the board walk at Bonner Park in Largo, FL. As you can see there is a man trying with his bait net, standing in the middle of the inter coastal. The water is thigh deep. Also in the state of Washington, a helmet is used by white water kayakers. Perhaps if I was stupid enough to be on the water during a hurricane, I might see white water.

I apologize for no having in interesting pictures this week. I’m stuck in my bathroom replacing the tile around the tub. I also have to replace the walls. They used dry wall and plaster around the tub, and then tiled it. Around the faucet, nothing was used but tile. No wander it was about to cave in. I hate working with cement board, but it has too be done.

The Turtle came from the pond at Art’s place. I would say the measuring his shell from his tail to his neck opening was about 12”.

Stormy Weather

2007-06-22T22:27:00.000-04:00

We have thunder and lightening tonight. Charlie is a sleep on the couch, and Susie is hiding under the couch. Who's the baby?

Linda’s brother Steve is in town. I hung out on the beach with him on Thursday, and then dropped by to see Art.

Art is doing much better. He was fitted for prosthesis yesterday. The wheel chair thing is driving him crazy.

The condo Art lives in is next to a pond. Of course, where there are residences and water, there are the Muscovy Ducks. For those reading from the Pacific Northwest. The Muscovy isn’t a Florida native. The duck came from Central America, and is not a welcomed immigrant. People feed the things and they multiply like rats.

I have to admit this one caught my eye. He or she reminds me of something out of a Chinese painting.

This one says, “wait for me!”

You Can Teach Old Dogs New Tricks

2007-06-10T19:39:00.000-04:00

I wore out the three girls. The temperature for our morning walk hovered around 90 degrees. There was very little air movement. Linda was dripping sweat before we were half way done. At the little butterfly garden, where I took the picture of the Gulf Fritillary, Linda sat on a bench, while Charlie and Susie laid down in the shade. Susie never wants to take a rest.

Charlie will drink water. For almost 8 years, we haven’t been able to get Susie to drink while out on walks. Today the “camel” followed “the ankle biter’s” lead. She even had to drink and sit in the shade. They took another rest at the restrooms near the boat ramp. When we finally got to the car, Susie didn’t do her usual sniffing around the car. She just laid down next to the door. Next weekend we will be at the park an hour earlier.

Made my weekly trip to the Largo Nature Preserve. I looked up at the nest and only seen I young Osprey in the nest. The other two had learned to fly. One was learning the hard way that small branches don’t hold Osprey so well.

This had to be the favorite. Just like when he was in the nest, he was making a racket. He wanted the world to know where he was.

I finally got to see the otter. There were 2 of them playing around the canoe/kayak launch site. There were also 3 other women trying to get that perfect picture, and the two otters weren’t cooperating.

Chaos Before the Calm

2007-06-09T22:09:00.000-04:00

Deb will probably have my head for writing this one.
(As you can see in the picture Deb does most of the work.)

Deb and I were going to explore Walsingham Park from the water. I told her I would give her a call, after I got the truck serviced. I took 3 hours to get the truck serviced, and I finally arrived at Lake Walsingham at 11:30.

I put the Kayak under a shade tree and waited for Deb and AJ to show. As they were unloading their Kayak, I heard Deb yelling at AJ. I walked over to the Nissan truck they had driven. They were locked out of the truck. Now I was confused. Deb had the key in her hand.

“Deb informed me, the lock is broken, and I can’t get back into the truck.”

“Can’t you get in on the other side?” Nope! Nissan only gave key access from the driver’s side. There’s no other way in?

“The clicker, but it is in the glove compartment.” Seems Deb was afraid that the electronic key would get wet.

“Can we call Joey?” He doesn’t have a phone, but the good thing is he’s home!

AJ and I head Deb’s apartment in my truck, while Deb watchs the kayaks. Once arriving, AJ hops out, and heads for their apartment. I get out to look around and hear, “Mick.” I look around and then I hear my name again. “Mick, I’m over here. It’s Joey.” He was working on Deb’s stereo.

AJ comes down with a clothes hanger, as I informed Joey what happened. He says, “I’ll follow you over there.”

AJ says, “I didn’t see him there.” Typical teenager. Walk right past his father.

Joey took 2 minutes getting the truck unlocked. Deb had the good sense of keeping the windows cracked. He used a metal ruler to click on the electronic lock on the arm rest.

At 12:30 we hit the water. I start paddling away from the boat launch, when I hear Deb again. This time AJ has knocked off her classes, and they have fallen into the water. These aren’t ordinary sunglasses . She can’t see without them. Thank goodness they fell into the shallow area. I reached into the water, without leaving the kayak, and fished them out.

Off we went.

Not many animals around, but the Anhinga.

That and Deb’s favorite bird the Limpkin.

I think we seen more trash than animals on the south side of the lake. It was filthy. If you look in the background of the turtle, you will see what I'm talking about.

More people kayaking than I expected to see. Who would have thought the lake would be so popular between 12:30 and 2:30 on an 90 degree day. We encountered 2 fishing kayaks, 2 women in their forties doing what we were doing, 2 other women with kayaks that you peddle, and a man with a Hobie Cat.

Mooned by an Osprey

2007-06-03T19:06:00.000-04:00

I can't go a weekend without check out the family. As you can see the little ones aren't so little anymore
This so called little one mooned me.

The above picture is of momma leaving the nest. The thing I don’t like about the camera is the shutter delay, even on the sports function.

With the above picture you can see just how big they are getting.

One of the parent’s flying over

Now I understand why there is a board walk through the woods. The Ibis sure did like the area being turned into a swamp.

The Red-winged Blackbird seemed to be trying to get the others in line.