A Full-time Life

A RAINY WEEK in FLORIDA

It's raining in Southwest Florida and it feels chilly.  I wouldn't dare say it was cold because in comparison to much of the rest of the country it really isn't.    We are only catching the very tail end of this widespread cold front.   

 

Morning on the Canal from the back porch -- early in the week,  before the rains hit.

 

But not too surprisingly, ten winters in Florida mean our bodies are used to subtropical Winter temperatures  -- when we first moved here, we laughed  (to ourselves) when people complained about 40 degree nights and 65 degree winter days.  We have now officially joined the crowd.  I'm grateful to live where we can go outside to play almost all Winter.     

 

 

Pictures from a quick stop on a cloudy day at  our local eagle's nest.  There are two one-month old eaglets in the nest and as every year for the last 7,  the property owners have set up a nest cam.  (It is here.)   The fallen snag which is a few yards from the nest tree was full of little black birds making a huge racket.   A few of them were perched on the same tree as Harriet (or maybe it is her mate -- I can never tell them apart).  The Eagles do eat smaller birds sometimes, but I guess the blackbirds weren't worried.  

I thought the pictures above would be it for this week, because it has been so wet out.  But today (Sunday) we decided to go for a drive in spite of the pouring rain.  The car made a great blind for  drive-by birding.

 

Red-shouldered hawk

 

Little blue heron

 

Wood Stork

 

Sandpiper (?) 

Corrected:  Yellowlegs 

 

Wood storks through the car window

 The wood storks like it when the ditches flood  -- it's easy for them to find prey.    

 

All of these birds (and more) were just along the roadside as we drove, but our actual  destination was to check the progress at Babcock Ranch, a planned town that is being built near us.  It is billed as America's first solar powered town.  Here's a link to their website.  It really does seem like the developers know what they're doing.

The pictures on the left are from the solar panel field that supplies their power.  The Ranch's nature trail is open to the public and when the weather improves walking it is definitely on the must-do list.    

Our Sunday drive made this rainy day more fun  --  it was a good week and a good start to the next one (and the weather IS supposed to improve soon).   

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; MOSAIC MONDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;   THROUGH MY LENS;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;    SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING  

 

 

DING DARLING NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge is located near the entrance of  Sanibel Island, about 25 miles from our Florida home.   It's a national treasure, like all our National Parks and Wildlife Refuges.

 

Roseate Spoonbills with a  White Ibis or two hanging around with them

During this time of  the government shutdown (one more part of our current National embarrassment), this particular refuge is being kept open (so far at least) by volunteers from the Ding Darling Wildlife Foundation.    We took the wildlife drive through the center of the refuge one evening last week.  It's a one-way drive-through with lots of pull-outs for birding;  we got out of the car at every one of them.  

 

 

 Little Blue Heron

 

The picture at the top was the crowning glory of this particular birding excursion.  I could not stop smiling at that big group of Spoonbills  with their beautiful pink wings and pink reflections.   But all of the birds along the way were great.   The picture above and those below are in the order we spotted them.   The Little Blue came out of the mangroves as we got out of the car at the  first stop and headed for the water. 

 

White Pelicans 

 

It was good to see quite a few White Pelicans.  Both the white and brown ones were in possible danger earlier in the year (last summer, before we got here) because of  SW Florida's red tide and green algae bloom.  Both caused fish die-off and fish, of course, are the diet for these water birds.  

 

 

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Two views of the same Night Heron perching in the mangroves -- maybe just waking up for a busy night ahead.  

 

 

Night Herons roost during the day.  At night they forage in shallow ponds and marshes.  I wasn't as close to this bird as the pictures look.  Zoom lenses are so much fun.

 

 

A pair of Wood Storks across the water.  We also saw a lot of small shorebirds at this stop, but they were too far away  for good pictures, even with that lens.  (Storks are big birds -- about 40 inches long)

 

 

Our last and most exciting stop was where we saw the group of Roseate Spoonbills also shown in the first picture.  This is the non-zoomed view -- so, the way we first spotted them.  We have never seen so many Spoonbills at once.  Usually they are solitary or in groups of two or three, at least when we see them.   

 

 

Meanwhile, back home in the Canal Cottage, skies are almost always beautiful.   And we've pretty much finished the nagging little first-of-the-season home improvement tasks -- so there is even more time to enjoy them.  Always grateful.  

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

 NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; MOSAIC MONDAY;  GOOD  RANDOM  FUN;  THROUGH MY LENS;    TUESDAY TREASURES ;    WILD BIRD Wednesday;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;    SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING  

MORE FROM MT DORA

Here are some non-Christmasy scenes from our December trip to Mt Dora in Central Florida.  (Mt Dora Christmas post is  here.)

 

 

We had a great Holiday brunch at Lakeside Inn.  Built in 1883, it is the oldest continuously operating hotel in the State of Florida.  The grounds extend to Lake Dora and it is easy to imagine yourself back in that year strolling under the live oak trees, dripping with moss.

 

 

 

There is documented history of a number of well-known people who stayed at the Hotel over the years, mostly coming for the fishing and also (I'm guessing) for the winter sunshine.  Rumor also has it that Al Capone was staying here incognito on the day of the Valentine's Day Massacre.    I wouldn't be too surprised to learn that there are other places who lay claim to this dubious honor.

 

Great Egret

In Florida there are always opportunities for casual birding.   We found these birds at the dock while we waited to board either the boat or the tram for our Christmas lights tour.

 

Common Gallinule  (Moor Hen)

 

We did a little downtown window shopping one morning on our way to find some breakfast.  And all I brought back was the photo souvenir below.   

I'm sure our "climb" will impress family and friends from the mountainous states of Colorado and Oregon.  Sadly, I neglected to get a picture of the view from the top.  

 

 

 

OK,  you can stop laughing.   The "Mount" referred to in the town's name  actually came from the fact that the town is built on a plateau 184 feet about sea level.   Florida is really a flat state.   

 

 

Comical birds in Mt Dora.   The black vultures on the rooftop were not at all intimidated by the fake owl placed there to deter them.   And the Great Egret, who really doesn't belong downtown, was pretty funny as he seemed to look both ways before crossing this street as if he owned it.   

 

 

 Ending with another beautiful  sunset on the Lake.

 

 

We had a good time visiting Mt Dora.  We went because the travel planner (Bill) had read about the Christmas light display and it really was amazing.  And in addition to glorious holiday displays,  it really was a great little town with lots to do and see --  I'm sure it would be charming in any season.    

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities:  Thank you to the hosts.

 

 NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; MOSAIC MONDAY;  GOOD  RANDOM  FUN;  THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES;    WILD BIRD Wednesday;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;    SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING  

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW YEARS AT THE BEACH

 

We've been retired for about a hundred years and I've almost forgotten that let-down feeling of "after the holidays" because every day is sort of a vacation, especially here in Florida.   But this year we got back to a few little snags at the Canal Cottage  -- each one fixable,  each one time-consuming -- especially for the other person in this small household.  I just kind of wait around to help on an as-needed basis.  But it  feels like back to work after a couple of lovely Holiday getaways.     I'm grateful we had the time off together and with friends and I'm especially grateful that we don't have to call for repair-persons to fix said snags.    I'm also glad to have taken lots of pictures on our outings because home repairs don't make for good blogging material.

 

Pink Shell Beach December 31

The last sunset of 2018.   It would be a better post if I'd gotten up early enough the next morning to see the first sunrise of the New Year.  But  the gently rocking boat is conducive to  sleeping late.   That and we did actually stay up to welcome in the New Year.  There were fireworks on Fort Myers Beach at midnight!  I did not take pictures of those either.

 

Great Egret

The birds on the beach at nearby Bowdich Point were the usual suspects, but that doesn't make them less interesting to watch.

 

Snowy Egret

 

Is he investigating this beach-goers belongings?  Or maybe he just wishes they weren't there in his way to wherever he's going.  (The beach was surprisingly uncrowded and there were acres of empty sand.  So I think he was just curious.)

 

 

Snowy Egrets are also known as 'Yellow Slippers' and this one is apparently shaking the sand off of his.

 

 

 Little Blue Heron

 

This heron was actually sharing space with us at the Pink Shell Boat dock.  We saw him every morning patrolling the shallows opposite from where we were tied up.

 

 

 Sandy scenes from a  walk along the beach  and some more of that fabulous sunset.   I always enjoy seeing the Florida version of a snowman (sand-man?).  I thought the beach grass hair was a cute touch.  

 

 How we got to Pink Shell Resort  for our New Year getaway.

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities.  With thanks to the hosts.  

 

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; MOSAIC MONDAY;  GOOD  RANDOM  FUN;  THROUGH MY LENS;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;    SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING