A Full-time Life

Back to the Slough

Six-Mile Cypress Slough used to be one of our regular nature walk places , but it had been a couple of years since we'd visited.   So it was great to get to go back one day last week.

 

Green Heron on Alligator Lake

We  didn't even get all the way around the trail because there are so many overlooks and places to spot wildlife.    This Green Heron was waiting patiently for a fish to swim by as he perched on a  lily-pad raft at the edge of the lake.  (We didn't see a single Alligator on the Lake named for it .)  

 

Cypress Tree Forest Wetlands

It's the end of the dry season here in Florida, but there's been enough rain to turn the forest floor green.  The Cypress Tree needles are still brown.  They'll  turn green during the wet season.   The white spots on the trunks are lichen  and they are signs of healthy trees.

 

Not really lily pads floating in the sky.    It's the beautiful blue sky reflected on the surface of the Lake.   I like seeing upside down skies.

 

 

 A little natural Valentine floating in the water -- and some pretty blue pickleweed on the edge of this pond.

 

There was a pair of Tri-Colored Herons enjoying the puddles in the Cypress Forest.  

 

Six Mile Cypress Slough got its name in the early 1900s.  Travelers in wagons would get stuck in this low, swampy area (the Slough) on their way to Fort Myers.  They knew it was six miles more to town once they got unstuck.

 

 

In addition to providing a sanctuary for plants and animals, this forested wetland is important because it stores water during heavy rains and cleans that water before it flows into Estero Bay.     

 

Florida Softshell Turtle

We didn't see alligators, but did spot this variety of everybody's favorite reptile.  The Softshell Turtle was crawling through some pretty dry looking habitat, probably on its way to the nearest water.   These turtles are big ones!  They can get up to 24 inches across.  

A little more  Plant Life in the Swamp.  The plants in the top photo are Resurrection Ferns -- they'll come back in the next wet season.  I don't know what the one in the lower photo is but it looks like a miniature sun. 

There was a hawk nest up in these trees  -- I saw the adults flying back and forth and spent too much time trying to get a picture with no luck.  But it was fun to watch.  And at   at least I got  a picture of the blue sky while looking up at it.  

We had a lovely morning at Six Mile.  This is the time of year when we're grateful we can stay later here in the sunshine state than most winter visitors do.  We like to pretend we're local -- and we're happy to enjoy the less crowded conditions.   

 

Linking to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to the hosts. 

NATURE NOTES; MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and SATURDAY CRITTERS 

Fly Away Home

 

Yes, it's time to close things down here on the Canal and head back to Oregon.   So FullTime-Life is on a planned blog break for the rest of  June.  We're taking the long way home and doing some traveling,  but as is the norm most years lately, we'll be home in July.  With pictures I hope.

 

 

We leave the Canal Cottage in good shape and with fingers crossed that it will still be the same next season.    In spite of all the hard work, it hasn't been a bad season.  We enjoyed some good getaways and are grateful for all accomplishments.  (Although I hope we never have to repeat what it took to get to this point.)  

 

 

Hope everybody enjoys the beginning of the new season wherever you are.  

 

Comments for THIS post are closed.  

HOPE and GRATITUDE

 

We have decided to head for home (in Oregon) a couple of months early, practicing social distancing while on the road.    It's actually hard to know what the best thing to do is under the current circumstances -- but when we weighed the options, this is what came out on top.   So we've been getting ready to close up the Canal Cottage -- a routine we go through every season, but usually not this early and usually not working this quickly.   Obviously, none of the pictures in this post are new.    

 

 

The sign is on a back-road in Big Cypress National Wildlife area.  We did NOT turn around then and I hope we will not wish we had on this trip.     Usually just keeping on works out pretty well for us.   

 

These Spring Flowers are blooming in yards here in the Florida resort where we spend the Winter/Spring season.  The pictures are from another year, but the same flowers (even the same potted plant) are blooming right now.     Spring is different here, but we enjoy it.  Most snowbirds go home  in late March or early April.  We enjoy the people, but also (in better years) the quiet after they leave.   We'll miss that, but it will be good to be closer to family after this trip.  I'm grateful we are able to travel between states.

 

 

These were  two neighborhood baby eagles a couple of years ago.   Actually, I guess, teenage eagles by this stage -- shortly after I took this pictures, they flew the nest never to return.   This year, the adult pair lost their first hatch and they now are incubating a second pair of eggs.    If the first hatch had been successful, the young ones would be flying away right now.  This pair has never had a second hatch before and like approximately a million other people worldwide, I'll be watching the webcam and hoping for success.  

 

 

We usually do some Florida exploring in April and May.  These are some of the birds we've seen on those trips in other years and were looking forward to seeing next month.    I'm quite sure the lack of audience won't bother the birds one bit .  Still,  I hope we get to be among their fans again -- in person --  next year.

 

Sunset over the wetlands that border our neighborhood 

 We'll be practicing  social distancing while on the road with our new (and very small)  travel trailer.    I hope to be able to keep in touch with other bloggers as we travel.   It is comforting in the midst of all this to touch base.   And to see the beauty that still exists in nature no matter what.  And to read about  how everybody is dealing with the social isolation and all the changes.   Reading your blogs makes everything more "real" than the news stories. 

(not my picture, not our trailer)

 

 I'm grateful that we have a relatively safe way to cover the distance  between here and Oregon (3,184 miles).  And, as always, I'm beyond grateful to "the travel planner" for making it possible.)  

 

And I'll really be grateful if that planner and I are still speaking to  each other by the time we get the Canal Cottage closed up and hit the road!   (We're definitely not practicing social distancing from each other right now as we work together  in two small spaces! ) 

***

 

THANK YOU to all bloggers for keeping in touch with posts and comments -- and as always thank you to the hosts of the following sharing opportunities (which I hope to be able to link to on the appropriate days):

 

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

 

 

TARPON BAY and LOCAL EAGLES

Drove to Sanibel Island one day this week  -- battling heavy in-season traffic all the way!  Everybody wants to go to the beach.  We forget that fact at least once a year.   This time, we also forgot that the wildlife drive in Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge is closed on Friday.   (We go to the Island to see birds, not to lie around on the beach).   

 

 

Royal Tern

 

So our outing plans took a small "tern" and we hopped on one of the Refuge's pontoon boats for a Tarpon Bay nature cruise.  

 

 

The Tarpon Bay Estuary is also part of the Wildlife Refuge -- we boated past several Rookery Islands (where the birds looked like white flowers from the distance -- that's all the closer the boat got, for the safety of the boat and even more important for the welfare of the birds.)   The Mangrove trees are important for so many reasons.  They provide habitat for wildlife and a natural barrier against wind and storms for animals and people on land.   

 

 

 

Brown Pelican

While the Royal Tern  claimed Mile Marker 15, Post #21 belonged to this napping Brown Pelican.  We saw other terns, gulls, cormorants, egrets, ospreys,  and pelicans on  posts and on the edges of the water --- it was a windy day though and with the motion of the boat (and shaky hands on the photographer) , pictures were hard to come by.

 

 

I took the above picture on the causeway  as we headed off the Island toward home.  Note the blowing palm tree at the bottom ... it was a a good day for the wind-surfers!   

We're fortunate to have a variety of natural places that are easy to get to for day trips.   Some are even closer -- on another  day at home last week,  I stopped at the Eagle Pasture on the way to do errands:

 

 

 I saw at least 50 Cattle Egrets, plenty of small birds, and several very pretty horses.  And only a tiny glimpse of an Eagle's head peeking out of the nest.  (The nest tree is the skinny slash pine in the center picture (center of the center picture).   No Eagle pictures this time, but as always, it is a nice little nature stop on a day otherwise dedicated to mundane activities.  The pasture is right across the street from a supermarket shopping center and on the way to just about every other place we have to go to routinely.  

The pictures below are from the archives.  Two years ago I had much better photographer's luck with these neighbors.

Our Eagle nest -- 2018

And our pair of Eagles had better luck also that year, successfully raising a pair of Eaglets.   The lower three pictures are that year's  "babies"  -- just ready to fledge and (in the center) actually flying away for the first time.    

This year, sadly,  only one of the pair's eggs hatched and that baby died from what  was later discovered to be from ingesting rat poison. Adult Bald Eagles will take both living and dead prey -- fish, birds, small mammals).   Now,  at about the time their nestlings would usually be fledging, the pair are incubating a second hatch -- two more eggs.   This is very late for this climate, so it remains to be seen what happens.    There is a very active webcam site for this pair, so you can watch the progress  from wherever you live!  There are a lot of ads on the site, but the camera angles are good and there are links to several informative sites.    Just google Southwest Florida Eagle cam.    It's a good and easy way to learn about these iconic birds.

 

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

 

 

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

 

FLOREGON

Last week was transition time between the two states we currently call home -- we flew across the country from Oregon to Florida.

 

Sunrise across from the Canal Cottage, Fort Myers

So we've been here at the Canal Cottage in Fort Myers since Thursday -- and "at the Canal Cottage"  means exactly that.  Unless you count the obligatory trip to the grocery store to stock up our bare cupboards, we've been at home digging out.   But the weather is lovely here and our trip  was uneventful, with no weather delays.  We are  most grateful, since flying can definitely be iffy this time of year.   (Our first stop after we left Eugene was at San Francisco, with another transfer at Newark NJ before arriving at Southwest Florida Regional Airport here.)  We'd had our fingers crossed for no snowstorms and we were lucky.  

The rest of this post is from the archives --   I started to post these pictures last August after we took a day-trip to the (Pacific) Coast when we were in Oregon, but other posts from other trips superseded this one.   

 

 

Pacific Coast between Yachats and Waldport

We always like to check that the Pacific Ocean is still there when we get back to Oregon.  The Ocean seemed to do very well while we were away -- and probably did not miss us nearly as much as we missed it.

 

Oregon Central Coast  -- along Highway 101

Before stopping at the viewpoints pictured above, we took a short walk just North of Florence (Oregon of course) at the Darlingtonia Wayside.

 

 

The sign below pretty much explains everything about this interesting plant.  I think they look like a congregation of miniature dinosaurs.

 

 

The white moth in the picture below was smart enough to land on the wild aster instead of on the Darlingtonia, but since the plants looked quite healthy, I assume that many insects were not so lucky.

 

 

Thankful for the natural beauty of our home State of Oregon!   I  miss it when we're gone, but look forward to enjoying the natural beauty of Florida (where I'm also grateful for sunshine and warmth during the winter months).   

 

LINKING to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to the hosts.

 

NATURE NOTES;   ALL SEASONS;  MACRO MONDAY ;   MOSAIC MONDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;   THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;    MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS and SATURDAY CRITTERS 

PALM ISLAND FLORIDA by boat

 I'm posting about a boat-trip again -- but this week closer to real time, in a (much) smaller boat, and (much) closer to home than the cruise ship trip I posted about last week (and earlier).   We traveled to Cape Haze/Palm Island toward the end of February. 

 

 

 

 

This is   Palm Island Marina where we spent a mid-week long weekend recently.  (And if you know what a mid-week long weekend is, you are probably just as retired as we are.)   We were a flotilla of three  from our RV Park, cruising down the Caloosahatchee River and then across Charlotte Bay to Cape Haze -- about a 60-mile boat trip.    It is a beautiful Marina facility with a good restaurant, outdoor kitchen/coffee facilities, swimming pool and hot tub.    And a water taxi that ferries you across to a private island where the only form of land transportation allowed is golf cart.   There's a good restaurant there too and a few of the requisite beach shops (souvenirs = nah  .....   ice cream = oh yes).

 

This is how we collect shells these days.

 

On docking overnight at the Marina, we received a guest pass that allowed us to use the private beach over on the island -- we beach-walked first and then rented a golf cart to access some of the more remote corners.  (And enjoyed looking at the private vacation homes and condos as we tooled along.)   

    

Ibis Tree

The  more remote private area that we golf-carted to is called 'Shark's Tooth Beach' and we found a few of those teeth (I did keep a couple of those -- they are small.)   That is also where I spotted a dead tree that, from a distance, looked like it had white flowers growing on it.   This is the view as I got closer.    The Ibis were not disturbed at all.

 

 

 

A little while after I walked past the tree, I looked up from my shell collecting and saw that the time for resting in the tree was over -- now it was time to eat.

 

 

 

We saw several of these big old guys -- the Gopher Tortoise is on the endangered list in Florida, but they appear to be doing well on this island.  And that is undoubtedly because there are no cars, which are definitely not a friend to these slow-movers.

 

 

 

I think that these are Willets in winter plumage.  But shore-bird ID is always hard for me.   In any case, like all shorebirds, they were fun to watch as they raced up and down the tide edge looking for things to eat. 

 

 

A long-shot across from Shark's Tooth  to where some people were enjoying the sand and waves.  I include it mostly because I love the way it shows the colors of the water.   The river where we live is usually muddy looking (the tourist brochures call it 'tea' or 'coffee-colored'.)  It's from tannin and polluted discharge from Lake Okechobee.   So it is nice to see water that is actually the "color of water" as it should be. 

 

 

Grateful for good friends, beautiful scenery, warm weather --

and for the time to enjoy all of that.

 

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities:   THANK YOU to all of the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday; NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B'BIRDING.   

 

 

 

BIRDS OF ANOTHER COLOR (part 2)

 

We see White Ibis very frequently when we're in Florida -- in our RV Park, on street corners, in yards everywhere as well as in the parks where we walk.

 

 

When I first saw these dark-colored Ibis  (by themselves) around town, I thought they were another variety.     But then I looked them up and decided they were first-year juvenile white ibis.

 

 

Here is one in a family group (on the street in the RV Resort where we live when we are in Florida.)   Seems fairly clear that he belongs to the clan.

 

 

LINKING TO:  SATURDAY CRITTERS (thanks to Eileen); RATHER B-BIRDING (thank you Anni) and WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY (thank you Stewart)  

CREATURES OF THE (NOT SO) DEEP

 

From the wetlands near where our RV is parked at Fern Ridge Shores come these creatures seen the first week after we arrived earlier this month:

 

 

 It's actually only one creature from several angles.  The River Otter (or maybe we should call it a Lake Otter here) was swimming back and forth, front and back, until he finally settled on the perfect green shoot to chew on for breakfast:

 

 

From the National Wildlife Organization website:  River Otters are playful semi-aquatic mammals  ... They can thrive in any water habitat, such as ponds, marshes, lakes, rivers, estuaries and marshes—in cold, warm or even high elevation areas—as long as the habitat provides adequate food ....  An adult is around three and a half feet long and weighs between 11 and 30 pounds.  They eat fish, aquatic vegetation, and even small water creatures.

 

Below are some different waters.  And a definitely different aquatic mammal. (From the end of June -- the last week we were in Florida.):

 

 The water at the end of our Canal was at low tide and fairly shallow one morning .  It was mesmerizing to watch the colors swirl around but  I wondered what was stirring things up.    And then ...

 

 

... I spotted a nose just edging out of the water.   I actually counted three manatees  that morning.   Manatees like warm water and they come into the river in the winter because it is warmer than out in the Gulf.  But usually by  May, they have gone out into the Gulf.  We don't know why this year was different since we saw them all the way through June.

 Sometimes all you see is bubbles -- these guys can stay under water for ages.

 

Manatees (Sea Cows) are related to the elephant.  They are ten to twelve feet long and weigh 1500 to 1800 pounds.  They are herbivores whose diet consists of sea grass and aquatic vegetation.  There are several good websites dedicated to this oddly fascinating creature.   Here is one good place.

 

 

This post will be linked to:   SATURDAY CRITTERS  (thank you to Eileen);  to OUR WORLD on TUESDAY (thank you to Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy, Arija, Gattina, and Jennifer);    to  NATURE NOTES (thanks to Michelle);  to MOSAIC MONDAY (thank you Judith);  and to WEDNESDAY WATERS (thank you to Gemma).  

 

CRANES OF ANOTHER COLOR

We saw these Sandhill Cranes along a country road last month (yes, still blogging from Florida although in real-life we are across the country).  

 

 

We were surprised to see them wearing brown!

 

 

Last summer we saw brown Sandhill Cranes in Alaska -- on the Kenai Peninsula.  Until then we had thought they were always grayish white.

 

 

 I posted a couple of the above picture to a Florida birding site on FaceBook and people thought the brownish ones were first-year juveniles.   All of the ones we saw in Alaska were a richer red-brown color (picture below):

 I found the following information about Sandhills on the National Wildlife Federation website:  

 

Although the feathers are gray, sometimes they can have a reddish-brown appearance. The reason for the change in color is that sandhill cranes preen themselves by rubbing mud on their feathers. The mud can be brown or red. The red mud comes from iron rich environments.

 

 

LINKING TO:  WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY (thank you to Stewart) and to   RATHER B' BIRDING (thanks to Anni).  

 

TREASURES FROM THE SEA

We are back in the Pacific Northwest now, but haven't yet had a chance to check on the Pacific Ocean.  (I'm pretty sure it is still there  -- it always seems to get along just fine without us.)  

These  pictures  are from the other Coast  -- taken on our last trip to the Gulf while we were in Florida.

 

 I put the picture part of this post together while we were still at the Canal Cottage, but didn't have time to post them before we closed things up for the season.

 

 

 We don't bring shells home any more (from either Coast).  We live in small spaces and it would be very easy to fill up every available surface with these treasures.    

 

 

 So we take only pictures.     (And on the beach, we don't even leave footprints.)

 

 

 

 I spent some time trying to find names for some of these shells -- instead of doing whatever I was supposed to be doing.  But I didn't have much luck.   Either there were no matches at all (like of the one above) or there were too many -- several that looked quite similar.

 

 

 

 

 So please enjoy  -- as we do -- just for the beauty and the wonder!

 

Thank you to the hosts of the following four wonderful sharing opportunities:  Laura's I HEART MACRO;  Gemma's MONDAY MACRO;  Judith's MOSAIC MONDAY and OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY (because we're still too busy getting caught up here on this coast).     (OWT is hosted by the team of Lady Fi, Gattina, Arija, Sandy, Sylvia, and Jenn.)       

PILEATED WOODPECKER

 

We're not in Florida any longer, but the blog hasn't caught up yet.

 

 

Even though it was super hot the last week we were in the Canal Cottage -- and even though we were really busy closing things up for the season -- I  still walked  early every morning before it got too hot.  And there were still great photo-ops.

One day, I caught this handsome Pileated Woodpecker hanging out (literally) in a carrotwood tree.

That tree is an invasive species for the area (this link).  When we first came to Fort Myers we saw them everywhere.  Now most of them have been removed.  But I still think it is quite a pretty tree.  

 

 

 

 The canal streets in our RV Park in Florida are out-and-back walks.  No round trip because the streets end at the entrance to the River.  This carrot tree is in a yard on the lower end of one of those streets.    I took the top picture going up and the bottom two coming back.   Just before sunrise, the sky was flat white (as in the top picture), but a few minutes later, on the return walk, the blue was beginning to show.

 

 

 

 A couple of days later I saw a different Pileated hopping along a road in the Park.  I think this one might be a female because the red stripe on the cheek isn't so obvious.  It was rather unusual to see one of these birds on the ground and I was a little worried.  She was gone when I passed this spot again, so I hope she flew up to where she belongs.   

 

 

Red-bellied woodpecker

There are still a few more un-blogged photos from Florida -- of birds and other subjects.  

A good thing too, because we are busy catching up and getting organized on this side of the country.  

Good times, but not necessarily good photo ops.  

They will come eventually!

 

 

I will be linking this post to these memes later:   Eileen's SATURDAY CRITTERS;  Anni's I'D RATHER B'BIRDING; Michelle's NATURE NOTES;  and  Monica's  TREES AND BUSHES.    Thank you for hosting ladies!!  

 

 

 

 

 

TOPSY-TURVY

 

 

 

Things are a wee bit topsy-turvy around here these days as we prepare to close up the Canal Cottage for the summer season.

It's also a wee bit late to start our summer migration.  

In case we hadn't noticed that summer officially started this month, then our indoor-outdoor thermometer has certainly let us know.

(And so has being outdoors, even briefly!)

It is time to head North (West) ...

 

And time for a blog break as we try to straighten things out around here!

 

 Back soon -- from a different location!

 

LINKING TO:  SKYWATCH FRIDAY and OUR WORLD on TUESDAY.

 

 (Thanks to Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy for SWF  and Lady Fi,  Arija, Gattina, Sylvia, Sandy, and Jenn for

OW.)

BIRDS FROM THE BOAT TRIP

 

 From the Beach Trip -- our last of the Season:

 

 

 

 Testing the Water  -- at Palm Island

 

 Little Egret out of place at a Pelican get-together under an old bridge

 

 

 

A couple of different views of the same old bridge as we boated past.  I like old falling-down things for some reason.

 

 

 

 

FOR WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY  and WEDNESDAY WATERS.  Thank you to Stewart and to Gemma.

THE CANAL ON EMPTY

 

It looks quiet around here these days.  

 

 Our boat in front of our cottage is way up there on the right.  It is one of only two boats still here.    There are a few other homes still occupied  (people who don't have boats).  Some stay all year round and a few others are just late getting away (like us).    But there are other neighbors around:

 

 

The ibis family makes itself at home on the lawns this time of year.  Woodpeckers are still active every morning.  And that darn crow has recently decided there is free breakfast available here -- we call him the garbage crow.

Every morning he waits on that pole for us and the other few neighbors to put out our garbage.  (Staff picks it up every morning -- but the crow tries to beat the trash trailer -- and believe me he can peck through double layers of trash bags.)   One of our neighbors has appointed himself the 'crow watch' so now we all put our bags in his yard and he shoos the crow away.    

 And the canal isn't always as empty as it looks in the top picture.  We've had some interesting activity:

 

We've had alligators swim past our house several times this month  -- that doesn't happen when there are boats here -- and more  people.    We also saw a Manatee here on a couple of evenings.  That's what the blobs on the upper right and lower left are.  It is unusual for a Manatee to even be in the river this time of year, let alone the canal  -- they usually are out further in the gulf when the weather warms up.

 And here are some more neighbors:

 

Actually only the harmless black snake was in our yard.  The other one was at Six Mile Cypress the last time I was over there.   Still I'm sure at least a few of you think the neighborhood has gone downhill fast on this post.  

But since some eccentric lady has been walking around taking (pictures of) flowers in yards where people have already left for the season, I am able to end this post on a pretty note:

 

Park staff mows grassy areas, but they don't water, so these flowers are valiant survivors to keep blooming in this summer heat with no care at all.

 

So that's our (quiet) world for this week.  Thank you to Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy, Gattina, and Arija for OUR WORLD TUESDAY and to Judith for MOSAIC MONDAY, where this post is also linked.

 

SUCCESSFUL CATCH

 

We saw this osprey way up high when we were out walking one afternoon ...  

 

 

 We wondered about that flattened out branch and the way this big bird stayed in that one rather uncomfortable-looking spot so patiently.    (We watched for quite a while and it barely moved.)    I zoomed in ...

 

 

and couldn't tell much else at the time.  But  there was a surprise when we downloaded the pictures.  Our eyes didn't see that the osprey was guarding an already headless fish.   I don't know if he was saving it to share with another osprey or just making sure he kept ahold of it until he got hungry again.

 

It's fun to get an unexpected gift from your camera!

 

 

 

Linking to SATURDAY CRITTERS and RATHER B' BIRDING.  Thank you to Eileen and to Annie.

FLOWERS FROM THE SUNSHINE STATE

 

It has been a while since I shared flowers and plants.  Here are some varieties blooming in SW Florida in late Spring (where it actually feels like mid-summer).

 

 

 All of these pictures were taken in residential neighborhoods where we walked recently.  

As does everyone, I know that the tree above is a variety of palm, but unfortunately that is the only thing I know about any of these pictures.   

   

 

 This looks like a type of magnolia, but I couldn't find a similar picture, even though I searched Google Images.  

 

 

Probably I wasn't patient enough.   Note:  Thanks to Theresa, Ellen, and Peter B who identified this as a Plumeria tree after I posted  to Today's Flowers.  Once again, I learn so much from fellow bloggers; it is appreciated.  But I also appreciate those  who told me it was fine to not know -- to just to appreciate the beauty! 

 

 

 When we walk in pretty residential neighborhoods, there is never anybody out in the yard.  If the homeowners were around, I would ask whether I could take a picture and what the tree or bush was.  But they are always too busy working during the weekdays when we're out and about.    So I just take the picture.

 

 

 

This tree was blooming in April on Fort Myers Beach.  All of the other pictures were this month in Sanibel.

 

 

Sharing with:  TODAY'S FLOWERS; NATURE NOTES; I HEART MACRO; MONDAY MACRO; and NF TREES & BUSHES.  

Thank you to  Denise,  Michelle,  Laura,  Gemma and Monica for hosting.

SANIBEL ISLAND BY BOAT

 

 

 Last week, we finally got a good weather window for a summer boat trip.  You always have to be prepared for the unexpected, but there is no point at all in going out on the water when the forecast is calling for thunderstorms!   The weatherman was right this time and we had a beautiful blue sky day as we headed to Sanibel.

 

 

 Here is the Sanibel Lighthouse as we approached the Island; some of the homes that we boated by;  our boat docked at Sanibel Marina;  and the Marina entrance.  

It was a sweet little Marina, but it had the narrowest slips we've ever seen.  The Captain (Bill) did a great job docking and there weren't very many other boats, so it was OK.  But if there had been anyone docked next door to us we could have held hands out of the side of the boats.

 

 

This pretty tree-lined road led us into some lovely island residential neighborhoods for our evening walk.  It's good to stretch after a day on the boat!

Until it moved, the Egret on the boat across from us looked  like a decoration.      

 

 

Here's a pleasant thing to see from the boat; this was after we left Sanibel and were on the way to our second stop.

 

 

And here is a not so fun thing to see.  Does it look to you like our boat would fit under that bridge?  It didn't to me either.  But we made it!    To make it even more fun, the bridge is under construction and the workers enjoyed watching our maneuvers!  

 

This is just a teaser .... I'm still trying to get my land legs back, so I'll post the second part of the trip another time.   

 

This part is linked to MOSAIC MONDAY;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; and WEDNESDAY WATERS.   (Thank you to Judith for MM; the whole OWT team; and Gemma for WW).  

RANDOM PHOTOS FROM A RANDOM EXCURSION

Although the travel planner of the house had an ultimate goal in mind for last month's excursion, getting there was random (just the way we like to travel, whether our road-trips are long or short).   So these are random pictures from what turned out to be three distinct parts to the trip.   (And also for a random assortment of mid-week memes -- we may have limited internet access the rest of this week.)

First of all, we drove through the Big Cypress National Preserve stopping to walk about a little and take a few pictures (earlier post here).  

 

 

This old building stands at a pullout spot on the edge of the park.  It seems like it ought to have a story.   But there is no information; it has looked exactly the same as long as we've been coming to the Everglades area.

 

 

 

For Signs Signs (one of two)

The smallest Post Office in the United States stands nearby.  I don't know who the woman and baby in the bottom picture are; they photo-bombed the picture, but I left them in because it shows how small the building really is.

From there, we decided to explore Key Largo.  An earlier post  (here) had a few pictures from the nice hotel we found when we got there.  

 

For Wednesday Waters

Here are a few more shots from the lovely Key Largo beach.

The next morning, we headed to the goal for this trip -- the big City of Miami.  We'd driven by a couple of times, but never spent any time in the City.   We had booked an apartment hotel downtown.  It was a great location -- once we checked in we never drove the car again until we left -- we were able to walk or take public transportation everywhere we wanted to go.

  We had a great time in the City,  eating  excellent Ethnic Food, marveling at the Architecture  and people-watching.      Oddly however, my camera mostly seems to come out only when there are birds and animals around.  

 

 

ForWild Bird Wednesday and   Good Fences

 

Our hotel was on a residential block that dead-ended at Biscayne Bay .... and dozens of ducks seemed to be making their home in neighborhood yards.  Every time we left the apartment or returned,  we were accompanied by a few neighbor families who waddled right along with us.  

 

 

 A neighbor (of the human variety) told us that the ducks usual flight pattern had been disrupted by the building of high rise condo towers, so they now just lived between this neighborhood and the water.   The young ones don't  know any different.   Being an urban duck is just normal for them.

Below is the only picture I took when we visited a waterfront shopping area.  (To get there, we hopped on a free tram on our corner and then onto the free monorail/people-mover ... like what Airports have between terminals.  Excellent public transportation!  Wish we had something like that where we live.)

 

 For Signs Signs

If you don't have any customers for your Face-Painting wagon, just paint your own face!

 

 

Satisfied with a job well done!

 ***                

Thank you to Stewart for WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; Gemma for WEDNESDAY WATERS;  Lesley for SIGNS SIGNS;  and Theresa for GOOD FENCES.

BEAUTY BEFORE THE BEAST (of a Thunderstorm)

 

Late afternoon or early evening thunderstorms are fairly common this time of year.    The skies leading up to a storm can be dramatic.

 

 

 

 The pictures below were taken in a ten-minute period as the sky changed rapidly.   The one above is a minute before the storm (just time to dash in the back door).

 

 

 

 LINKING TO SKYWATCH FRIDAY (thank you to Yogi, Sylvia, and Sandy) and to SCENIC WEEKENDS (thank you to Gemma).

CHASING WOODPECKERS

 

For a couple of weeks earlier this month my morning walks were all about chasing Woodpeckers.  We had at least three different kinds right here in the Park.    

 

Red-headed Woodpecker

 

 The red-heads are my favorites.

All of these birds are pretty camera shy.  I felt really lucky to get a few halfway decent shots.  Mostly they fly as soon as I aim the camera.

 

Pileated Woodpecker

 

I hear the Pileated oftener than I see it.  I'm not great at bird songs (or calls) but this one is unmistakable.  These were taken at a distance (from our yard across the canal actually).  This model for the cartoon Woody Woodpecker is much larger than the other two types here.  (My bird book says 17" for this one, and 10" for the other two.)

     

Red-bellied Woodpecker

 The Red-bellied like to drum on the light posts.  This post is on another street in the Park, but   one year we had one who loved the post near us on the street side of the cottage.   It certainly was a noisier morning alarm than the soft mockingbird song we're used to.   I worried that the bird had some mental problems thinking he could get bugs from a metal post.  But then I read that the more noise they make the more attractive they are to the female of the species.  

   

Red-headed Woodpecker

 

 It took quite a while to record my favorite red-head's progress up this electric pole.  (I don't necessarily get an hour's worth of exercise when I walk for an hour before breakfast.)  He just seemed to be climbing for the joy of it.  I never really saw him pecking at the post at all. 

 

 

 

He seemed happy that he made it to the top of the pole.  

Maybe he just wanted to be king of the castle.

***********

• Linking to Judith's MOSAIC MONDAY; to Michelle's NATURE NOTES; to OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY (Lady Fi, Gattina, Arija, Sandy, Sylvia, and Jennifer); and to Stewart's WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY .  Thank you to all of the hosts for providing these fun sharing opportunities.

SPRING RE-RUNS, 2015

 

Royal Poinciana trees are in bloom this month in Southwest Florida.  The blossoms looked gorgeous on a blue-sky morning early this week.

 

 

 

They are such beautiful trees -- I know  I've blogged about them every year since we've lived here, but really these trees are lovely enough to deserve a repeat.  

  

 

The Night-Blooming Cactus is another late Spring flower around these parts.  And once more, the flower and the picture are this year's, but I have posted other pictures of this beauty in previous years.

 

 

 

 

 Here are a few more shots of the Poinciana.  Its beauty makes up for a lot of the more usual Spring flowers that we miss by being in Florida this season.   Even the seed pods of this tree are incredible -- they're about a foot long.  There are a couple still hanging on in the picture on the lower left.  

I've often said that Southwest Florida flowers are almost all the showy type.  No shrinking violets (or daffodils or tulips) here.   And in fact, another name for the Royal Poinciana is "Flamboyant Tree."      A fitting name for this show-off.  

 

 

Linking to:  TODAY'S FLOWERS (thank you Denise); I HEART MACRO (thanks to Laura); and MONDAY MACRO (thank you Gemma).  

ALL QUIET ON THE WEST CANAL

 

 

It's been a quiet week at the Canal Cottage.    Most of our fellow snowbirds have migrated back to their  summer homes.

 

 

Quiet that is unless you count the noise of our latest projects.    Bill has just finished rebuilding the boat dock which was falling apart.  It looks good.  

 

 

(The sign on the dock post isn't as appropriate as it used to be.  Before the rebuild, we  were in danger of landing in the Canal along with the whole dock every time we stepped on or off the boat.)  

  

It's a good time to work on projects just because it is so quiet.   (And that's part of the reason we stay later in the season.)    As with most of our projects over the years, I don't do a lot -- but I  hang around in case an extra hand is needed.  I'm pretty good on the dummy end of the tape measure.

 

 

This post is linked to OUR WORLD on Tuesday and to WEDNESDAY WATERS.

Thank you to the hosts:  Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy, Gattina, Arija, and Jenn at OWT

and Gemma  at Wednesday Waters, a new meme for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIRDS ON SPRING MORNINGS

Scroll for SIGNS and FENCES. They are down there.

Because it is spring -- and because it is quieter in the park now -- I'm seeing many more birds on morning walks.

It was a great start for the day when I caught this Blue Jay contemplating   a bounty of acorns fallen from some of the live oak trees around the park.

 

 Although a typical bird for many in the US, this Jay is very different from those we see in Oregon and I have wanted to get a picture of one for a long time.   

While the Jay was a first time sighting (here in the RV park), mockingbirds are much more common.  They are everywhere...   

     

 

 On fences ....

  

 ... on lamp posts ...   

 

 

And on signs*.     (And, sometimes, even in trees.)

 

They are such a cheerful little bird.  I don't get tired of seeing (and hearing) them. Lately, fledglings have been testing their wings and learning to navigate.  Some mornings I see what are probably the parent birds chasing crows and grackles away from the little ones.  

 

* That sign is one of our most (UN)favorite kinds.   We call them CYA signs -- in this case it is there so that if any of us residents get hit by a car if we venture outside of the park, the management will be able to say 'we warned you.'      We live dangerously and often dare to walk past it!  

 

 

LINKING THIS POST to:   MOSAIC MONDAY (thank you Judith);  NATURE NOTES (thank you Michelle); WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY (thank you Stewart);  GOOD FENCES (thank you Theresa);  and SIGNS SIGNS (thanks to Lesley).  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Meanwhile) UNDER THE BOARDWALK

 

While still focusing on the Osprey (here) UP above the boardwalk,  I heard a splashy disturbance below. 

 

By the time I was able to focus  DOWN,  I'd missed the moment of the catch, but here's the splashing Anhinga -- now balancing his prey rather precariously.  

 

 

 He jumped around on the pilings some and tossed the fish this way and that.  I thought sure it would get away.   But no such luck (for the fish).

 

It's a stretch!

 

 

But he's going to get it all.

 

 

Poor fish!  Hard luck being the bottom of the food chain.

***

Sharing the story by linking to OUR WORLD TUESDAY (thank you to Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy, Gattina, Arija, and Jennifer) and to WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY (thank you to Stewart).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUGAR TOWN?

 

 

Sugar cane field

We visited the US Sugar Company's lands and processing plant as part of the Farm Tour we took in March.   It was the hardest part of the tour for us.  Sugar is controversial around these parts (and not just personally because we are trying hard to avoid it for health reasons).   

Loading cane for transport to sugar mill

 

The broader controversy goes back many years when the big growers nearly destroyed the Everglades by turning the River of Grass into farmed fields for sugar cane.  Now some of the land is being reclaimed in an effort to save what's left.

 

The State of Florida has had an option on more lands belonging to "Big Sugar" for years and the option expires next year.  In the last election,  there was a referendum that the people of Florida approved by a margin of 75%, asking the State government to complete the purchase -- to send the State's water, which is being used on the cane fields, to the Everglades. 

  

  

But guess what?  It appears that Big Sugar has more influence with the legislature than three-quarters of the people of the State.  The above is a cartoon by Doug MacGregor,  editorial cartoonist for the Fort Myers News Press.   We can only hope that public opinion may sway the legislators but  it does not look good at this time.

 

Here are some of the people from our tour standing, not in the snow, but on a  mountain of sugar after it has gone through step one at the processing plant.   Not very appetizing (but to be fair, it will be processed further, bleached and sterilized before it goes into the supermarket bag).

 

 

Although it is always  interesting to learn how things are "made",  we did not enjoy this segment as much as we did the parts of the day I blogged about earlier   -- the parts that were about food we actually feel good about eating.   (Click here for the 'good stuff' post.) 

 

LINKING to OUR WORLD.  (Thank you to Lady Fi, Arija, Gattina, Sylvia, Sandy, and Jenn) and to NATURE NOTES (though sadly this post is more about the destruction of the natural world).  Thank you to Michelle.

Related articles

"Big Sugar" Getting a Sweet Deal from Florida Lawmakers?

SUNSET AT THE BEACH

 

 

Earlier this month we, along with two other boats from Upriver spent a couple of nights at Fort Myers Beach.  This was the view from inside our boat on the first evening.  (Looking through the bimini window toward the bow. )  

 

Views of the setting sun, just strolling along the dock where we were moored.

 

 

Getting darker.

 Last glance at the sun.  

And definitely time to join our boating friends for dinner at the Marina Restaurant.

 

 

Sharing with the blogging communities at SKYWATCH FRIDAY and SCENIC WEEKENDS.  (Thank you to Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy and to Gemma).

MORE FROM MERRITT

These are some more of our sightings from Merritt Island the first of this month.

 

 

 We were not lucky enough to meet any expert birders on this trip, so I studied our books and Internet pictures for those birds we couldn't immediately identify.    Self-education does not always work though, so suggestions and corrections are always welcome.

 

 

Because of the pink  legs, I think the bird in the first picture and in the collage above is a Tri-Colored Heron in Adult Breeding mode.  It is the only heron I could find that has pink legs. 

I'm pretty sure that the bird below is a Glossy Ibis.

      

 

 But only pretty sure.  

 

And below, finally, one I am finally absolutely 100 percent sure of.  Because nobody who has ever seen one  could be confused about the  Roseate Spoonbill.   

 

 

The spoonbill has to be my favorite Florida bird!  It's fun to watch them forage as they fish by sweeping  that spatula-shaped bill from side-to-side through the shallow water.   One of my photo hopes is to someday get a decent flight-shot of these birds.   They are lovely to see against the blue sky.

 

----

This post is linked to Eileen's SATURDAY CRITTERS; to Annie's BIRD D'POT;  to Judith's MOSAIC MONDAY; and to Stewart's WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.    Thank you to each of these hosts for providing these sharing opportunities.  

 

 

EXCITED FOR SPRING

 

 This sign caught our eyes as we drove past recently.  

Couldn't stop that day but ... 

 

 

... fortunately it was still there a couple of days later when I had more time.  The sign was good for a laugh and the  Garden Center was, of course, also perfect for a quick  'flower-fix'  stroll.    

 

There weren't really any typical Spring flowers to get excited about.   (This is SW Florida after all and Spring is different here.)  

 

 

But the pretty hibiscus are exciting in their own way.   And I found another great sign. 

 

 All photos taken last week at Bayshore Garden Center, North Fort Myers Florida.

THIS POST IS LINKED to the Blogging Communities at SIGNS SIGNS (thanks to Lesley);  GOOD FENCES (thanks Theresa);  TODAY'S FLOWERS (thanks to Denise); I HEART MACRO (thank you Laura); and MONDAY MACRO (thanks Gemma).

THE PELICAN CHORUS

 

"The Pelican Chorus" is an old poem by Edward Lear -- who was obviously inspired to write his deepest and most beautiful thoughts  utter nonsense when he looked at these crazy-looking birds.

 I apologize in advance to all readers for whom English is not their first language.    It's a silly poem with made-up words that my Dad read to us when we were kids and we read to our kids.  And I like it.  And I like pelicans.  But they really are kind of silly. 

 

 

 

"King and Queen of the Pelicans we;

No other birds so grand we see!

 

 

None but we have feet like fins!

With lovely leathery throats and chins!

 

 

 

  

Ploffskin, Pluffskin, Pelican jee!  We think no Birds so happy as we! 

 

 

 

 

 

Plumpskin, Ploshkin, Pelican Jill!

 We think so then, and we thought so still!"

 

The (whole) Pelican Chorus by Edward Lear is here.  (I notice that Mr Lear used even more exclamation points than I usually do.  Gotta' love him for that.)

All photos taken last week at Lover's Key (Florida) State Park.

 

This post is linked to OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY (thanks to Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy, Gattina, and Arija); NATURE NOTES (thank you Michelle); and WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY (thank you Stewart).

 

 

SPACED OUT ON THE SPACE COAST

 

 Since we are originally from the West Coast (of the United States) it seems funny to hear people from where we live now in Florida refer to it as 'the West Coast.'   Of course they mean the west coast of Florida  -- which is where Fort Myers is.   But it is still  East to us.

 

 

Last week we took a little trip further East though (not by rocket ship!)  

We traveled to Florida's Space Coast -- on the East side of the State, near the town of Titusville.

 We'd toured the Kennedy Space Center back when it was still operated by NASA (and hadn't been privatized) so this time the Center was just a drive-by photo-op on our way to exploring the area.

  

 

 

 We spent most of our time on the Merritt Island Wildlife Preserve.     Beautiful skies were a lovely bonus to some great bird watching.

 

 

Usually, when I shoot the moon, it seems like something magical and dreamy (just as it seemed when I watched it as a child).  But I had different thoughts watching it while we were so  near the Space Center.  

We are of the last generation to reach adulthood thinking that the moon was forever out of reach.    I wonder what children growing up now (like our great-grandchildren)  dream about when they look at the sky.   Just about everybody  they know (except us) has always known that the moon could be another place to visit someday.   

Linking this post to:   SKYWATCH FRIDAY (thank you to Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy);  to SCENIC WEEKENDS (thanks Gemma); and to GOOD FENCES (thanks Theresa)  (a little less obvious, but there is one up there):

 

detail, Kennedy Space Center

 

BIRDING ON A FLORIDA ROADTRIP

 

We went on a short road-trip last week -- mostly to go birding.   I posted a little about the trip and some of our sightings a couple of days ago (here).   Here are  a few more.  

 

Northern Shoveler

 

We might have seen Northern Shovelers before, but I didn't used to even try to ID ducks.   So it's officially a first-time sighting.

 

 

 "Rear views" certainly don't make the best pictures, but I think it's kind of cute to see them "duck" for dinner. And besides my only pictures of the female have at least one of the pair with tails up.

 

 We saw several Common Gallinules  ...

 

 

 

... and a few pie-billed grebes and about a zillion coots.  

 

I have more Merritt Island birds to show later and probably should even have parceled yesterday's and today's pictures over a few more weeks for linking to the birding memes.    

 

Redwing blackbird on Merritt Island

Since we don't have backyard birds here* it can sometimes be a while between bird photo-ops.  

*It isn't that there are no backyard birds in this part of Florida -- it is just that our own backyard is essentially a boat dock with a patio in front of it.  

Our canal has no shoreline, so it doesn't invite birds.   

But we love having our boat docked at our doorstep and we love day trips and road-trips  to go see birds so it's a perfect compromise for us.

-----------------------

This post is linked to OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY and to WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.  (Thank you to Lady Fi, Arija, Gattina, Sandy, Sylvia and Jenn for OW and to Stewart for WBW).

 

 

 

 

HAPPY CLOUDS

 

Florida clouds are purely and simply the kind that you dream about.  

This time of year especially they are exactly the  kind of fluffy happy clouds that little kids try to draw when they make a sky picture.  (Maybe that's why I like them so much.)

 

 I never get tired of sky-watching here.  

These pictures are from the boat --  just a short hop down the Caloosahatchie to the Fort Myers Yacht Basin (the city boat dock).

 

 

 

Sometimes it's fun to think about how others live:

 Much of the river banks are undeveloped  but when you get near downtown there are a few condo towers.  

 

 

There is a lot less traffic on the river than there would be if we drove the roads and across these bridges to the same destination. It takes longer by boat though and it's more work for the Captain.  But he loves it  -- and the first mate has a lot of time to look at the sky!  

 

LINKING TO:  SKYWATCH FRIDAY   (thank you Yogi, Sandy, and Sylvia) and to SCENIC WEEKENDS (thank you Gemma).

 

 

AT THE EAGLE PASTURE again

 

Here are a couple of the other residents of the pasture where the local eagles live in their scrub pine.

Sometimes there are as many as eight or ten horses.  

 

They belong to the family who has installed the eagle cam.   I always park on the end of the church lot (on the other side of the pasture) and as far away from the nest as possible.  Both because I think it's better for the eagles and because its fun to watch the horses too. 

 Ozzie and Harriet weren't at home (really this time -- they weren't anywhere in sight.)  E-6 was practicing his wing stretches and occasionally hopping up and down for fun and strength  building. 

 

 

 Branching should take place any day now (flying out of the nest to the nearest branch and back.)   On this day, he must have had a good meal recently because he wasn't making any noises at all.  And because probably he is getting more used to being on his own.   

 

 

 

 

I was in the car getting ready to leave (and noticing the shadow patterns on the pasture fence) when a flock of cattle egrets flew down.

 

 

 

 

Maybe they should be renamed -- horse egrets?  In any case their mission was the same as it is when they land in cattle pastures.  

 

 

Linking to WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY (thank you to Stewart) and to GOOD FENCES (with thanks to Theresa aka TexWis Girl).

PINK GOLD

Pink gulf shrimp were discovered 100 years after the California Gold Rush; fishermen then called them Florida's Pink Gold.    And  they really are; shrimping is now is a $100 million a year industry here.

We visited  Ostego Bay in Fort Myers Beach for a guided tour of the working waterfront.    

 

 

 The shrimp boats trawl from 14 to several hundred miles off shore.  Each boat has a crew of three and the boats spend about three weeks offshore, returning to the docks during the full moon when the shrimp molt.     

 

 

 Making and repairing nets is just one of many jobs that support the shrimpers. A 40 to 50 foot net takes an experienced worker about ten hours to weave and costs around $3000.   

 

 

The weave is large enough to catch only mature shrimp, letting smaller ones escape.    In addition there is an escape hatch for sea turtles.  A local netmaker named Don Dinh (shown in larger photo above) invented this.

 

 

 All of the supporting businesses on this dock are family owned by local people. Above is a facility that makes and repairs  a device called trawler doors, used to hold the nets at the desired depth.   

 

 

 

On board, workers put the shrimp in 40 pound onion sacks and dip them in a salt slurry that flash-freezes them at minus 10 degrees.   When the boat docks, the sacks are transferred to a loading dock before moving into display cases at the fish market or to freezers set at 18 degrees while waiting transport.    

 

 

One of the local shrimp boats returned recently with a record million-dollar catch -- enough shrimp to fill two semi-trailer trucks.   Pink gold indeed!

 

 

Linking to OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY and MOSAIC MONDAY

 

Thank you to Lady Fi, Arija, Gattina, Sandy,  Sylvia, and Jenn for OW and to Judith for MM.

 

 

 

 

 

HERE BE MONSTERS

The Iguana lizard is just one of quite a lot of creatures that really love Southwest Florida  -- even though they probably shouldn't really be here.  Often unfortunately for native animals and plants, invasive species (animal and plant) seem to thrive in this greenhouse climate.  

 

 

Not exactly beautiful, but fascinating (or at least I think so).  There's a whole colony living in and on the rocky rip-rap in front of the Army Corps of Engineers office in Clewiston, across the canal from the Marina where we docked at  the Lake.   (All pictures taken from across the 50 foot canal at my camera's maximum magnification.  The iguanas are three to four feet long.) 

 

 

 

Springtime -- and an Iguana's thoughts turn to .... courtship.

(They're holding hands!)

 

 The consensus of experts seems to be that Iguanas are pretty much here to stay.     And that if left alone they probably won't harm people or pets.  (But they might destroy your garden.)  Here are some articles for further information: 

 

Florida Animal Rights Organization  article is here.

Florida's Iguana Infestation, Melissa Kaplan

Dealing with Iguanas in Florida landscapes , University of Florida

 

 

LINKING to Eileen's SATURDAY CRITTERS and to Michelle's NATURE NOTES.  ( Thank you both!)  

 

 

 

SIGNS OF THE SHRIMP DOCKS

 

We saw this great old sign on a tour of the shrimp docks at Fort Myers Beach last week.

 

 

 

A good "ghost sign" has been on my photo bucket-list for a long time.   This is the closest I've come.

More next week about some of what we learned, but in the meantime here is another sign from the dock area.

 

 

Trico is an operating fish wholesale buyer with a retail market.  Here's a close-up of the bottom part of the sign, which I think is absolutely perfect for a dock-side business:

 

 

 

 

Linking to Lesley's SIGNS SIGNS.  (Thank you for hosting and thanks to all who join this fun meme.  It always good to know I'm not the only one looking for and photographing good signs -- old or new. )

BLUE HERONS -- LITTLE and GREAT

 

 

Little Blue posed  for us near Lake Okeechobee.

 

 

 Great Blue didn't even know he was getting his picture taken...

 

 

 

...  because he was this far away.   He's a trailer park heron!  Of all the beautiful spots where a Great Blue could hang out, I wondered why he would pick this backwater.  There must be lots of fish in there as well as trash.

Sometimes, slowing down with your camera means finding picture ops in the most unlikely places.

 

 

 

One more shot of the Little Blue after he turned himself around.

 

 

Linking to NATURE NOTES (thank you to Michelle); OUR WORLD on TUESDAY  (thank you to Sandy, Sylvia, Arija, Gattina, Jen, and Lady Fi);  and to  WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY (with thanks to Stewart).  

CALOOSAHATCHIE RIVER TO LAKE OKEECHOBEE

 

Fourteen boats from our RV Park made the 65 mile trip to the Lake.  Here are a few random shots of parts of the flotilla (from our boat).    

 

 

We didn't all travel together.  Most  of the pontoon boats left earlier because they are slower -- but we never did catch up!  There are three locks to go through on the trip and sometimes you have to wait for them to open.  

 Lake Okeechobee is at the edge of the Everglades.  It's the second-largest freshwater lake located wholly within the United States and  is a major part of Florida's water management system.   It's a scenic trip with lots of wildlife and birds (in a future post). 

 

 

That's us on  our boat in the picture above -- a friend who drove arrived early enough to take pictures of all of us as we passed a dike near the Marina where we stayed.

 

We boat past orange groves and were very happy to see that they survived the few days of freezing weather we had last month.  (Wish I could share how wonderful they smell.)

  

 

  

We stayed at Martin Marina  which also has a gift shop, a tiki bar/restaurant, and a motel.  Only a couple of us have sleep-a-board boats.    

 

 

The weather was nice going and a little chilly coming home.   We had a good time as always .... and most important, we didn't lose anybody on the way over or on the way back.    We first made this trip six years ago, shortly after we bought our used boat (it was our first overnight boat trip).  We had lots of trouble on the way and so I am always happy when that doesn't happen to anyone else.   Here is the earlier post about that trip.  (Gosh I've been blogging a long time.)

 

Linking to OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY.  Thank you to Lady Fi, Sandy, Sylvia, Arija, Gattina, and Jen.

AT HOME IN THE PINE

This is the third year that Ozzie and Harriet have starred on their own Eagle webcam.   Their tree home is a couple of miles from where we live here in Fort Myers, making it almost as easy for us to watch them either live as on camera.   I'm not quite as obsessed this year, since we saw so many bald eagles in Alaska last  summer, but I can't resist stopping by the nest once in a while. (And of course we were too early for eaglets in Alaska.)

 

 

I stopped by to visit our neighbors last Saturday morning.    Here is Harriet enjoying the early afternoon sunshine.   

 

 

Her little one woke up from a nap and soon started peeping plaintively.    It sounded like "Hey, I'm all alone here." 

 

 

 For all E-6 (the baby) knew, mom and dad could have been miles away, but the whole time I watched, Harriet was only this far from the nest, practicing a little healthy parental neglect.    Watching, waiting, starting to teach independence.  

 

"Well, if there's not going to be anything new to eat, guess I might as well practice flapping my wings."

 

 

I'd hoped to see Ozzie fly in with early dinner, but he didn't oblige.  Harriet and E-6 continued to wait (with differing degrees of patience), but I had errands to run.  Maybe next visit.

 

(Harriet hatched two eggs again this season, but sadly last month E-5 died from unknown causes.     E-6 was about 50 days old in these pictures.)

 

 This post is linked to Eileen's SATURDAY CRITTERS  to Annie's RATHER B' BIRDING, and to Michelle's NATURE NOTES.  

 

Thank you all  for hosting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

GROWING SEASON

 

 Harvest season has already begun here in Southwest Florida.

 

 

 Is it any wonder that those of us who hail from cooler climates sometimes forget what month it is?   

(For those of you who are still dreaming of spring -- remember that when you are harvesting your vegetables late next summer,  all the garden crops here in Florida will be over and done with because of the summer heat.)

 

Here's some of what came back to the Canal Cottage with me after last week's visit to the neighborhood Farmer's Market.   (Those fields in the first mosaic are from the market farm.) 

It was Rainbow Chard Crustless Quiche and sliced tomatoes for supper.  

And it's pretty much strawberries morning, noon, and night around here these days!

 

 

Linking to Judith's MOSAIC MONDAY and to OUR WORLD TUESDAY (Arija, Gattina, Sandy, Sylvia, Jennifer and Lady Fi).   Thanks to all of you!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIRDS IN BLACK and WHITE

Here's an Anhinga drying his wings.  These birds, like cormorants,  have no oil glands -- so their feathers are not water repellent (the way ducks and duck-like birds are).  Both Anhingas and cormorants  move easily underwater, but they have to spread out their wings in the sunshine when they want to get dry.

 

 

Both birds also have long snakey-looking necks and both can move easily underwater.  The anhinga is a little bit bigger usually, but it can be hard to tell the difference between cormorants and anhingas.  

The easiest  way to tell is that anhingas have straight beaks and cormorants have hooked ones.   

I had to search through my archives to find this picture of a cormorant.  You can click to see it better.  

For some reason, I really do like the Anhinga better and so I hardly ever take pictures of a cormorant. 

(We  see the cormorant everywhere, but only see the Anhinga here in Florida.)

    

 

 I  took this picture of the Great Egret mostly because of the interesting  tree shadows in the swampy water.  We see lots of Egrets, pretty much everywhere we are (from Florida to Alaska and in-between).  So I don't always take pictures (even though I never tire of seeing them).

  

 

It was a circular boardwalk (round-trip) and the Anhinga was still sitting on the same log on our return trip.  But this time, it looked like he was ready to get those wings wet again.   Just waiting for the perfect fish dinner to swim by.

  

 

 The Egret (or one very much like it) was still in the same spot as well.  But this time, he had been  joined by a whole flock of Ibis.   It looked sort of like it was babysitting the little ones (and letting them eat first apparently).

 

 

LINKING to WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY (thank you Stewart);  to next week's SATURDAY CRITTERS (with thanks to Eileen); and to I'D RATHER B' BIRDING (thank you Annie).

ORCHIDS IN TREES and TREES OF ORCHIDS

 

 The day after we saw the Orchid trees in Cape Coral (this post from last week), we noticed these orchids blooming in a neighbor's yard.  These are genuine hothouse orchids (the kind you had in your senior prom corsage -- if you were lucky).  

 

 

 

So this isn't an orchid tree, but an orchid in a tree... a Florida (and small home) version of a houseplant.  Our neighbors grow them in a basket wired to the tree (no greenhouse needed in this climate).

Along with couple of comments on last week's post, seeing both kinds of 'orchid trees' awakened my lazy mind enough to do a little tiny bit of research.  The Orchid Tree (from last week) is actually called the Hong-Kong Orchid Tree.  It is described as having orchid-like blossoms.  

(The scientific name of that tree is Bauhina Blakeana.)   

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Orchids like these today (and the many many other colors and varieties) belong to a family group called "orhidaceae" -- so no relation to the Orchid Tree.

    

 

So now I know the difference.    But also suspect I'll soon forget all these scientific facts and revert to simply knowing that both kinds make me smile.  

 

Sharing with Denise's  TODAY'S FLOWERS;  Judith's MOSAIC MONDAY; Laura's I HEART MACRO;  Gemma's MONDAY MACRO;  Michelle's NATURE NOTES; and OUR WORLD  Tuesday (brought to us by Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sandy, and Sylvia).   Thank you to all.

SKIES OF THE SLOUGH

 

In the strange and wonderful world that is  Six Mile Cypress Slough it is easy to become a little bit disoriented.    

 

Sometimes you can't be sure if you're looking up or down.  The picture above is straight-out-of-the camera, but if I rotated it, I think it would look more natural than it does this way.

Let's find out:

 Now I'm even more confused than usual.

 

 

 

 

Looking out at the beautiful blue skies (top row) and getting a kaleidoscopic, slightly distorted view of the same ones by looking down at the reflections through the duckweed and ripply slough water. 

 

 Just an ordinary peaceful blue January winter sky here in this corner of the world...

 ... where life is good, even  if  sometimes a little bit off-kilter.

 

 

Sharing with everyone who enjoys gazing at the sky -- whether up or down -- by linking this post to  SKYWATCH FRIDAY and with my fellow scenery junkies at SCENIC WEEKENDS.

 

Thank you to Yogi, Sylvia, and Sandy for SWF and to Gemma for SW.

 

NATURE PRESERVE

Scenes from a January walk at Caloosahatchie Creeks Nature Preserve.  

 

 

 This Preserve is our default nature walk -- we can walk to it from where we live.  This is the pathway into the Park entrance.     

 

 

 It has been a little cooler than January usually is here and we've had some rain.  This has been great for the acres and acres of ferns and palmettos in the preserve ...   a sea of green with just a few touches of color here and there.      

 

 

 It is a treat to have a wild area that we can access without having to drive.  

 

 

 

 Linking this post to:   

  OUR WORLD TUESDAY,

with thanks to Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy, Gattina, Arija, and Jenn.

and to

NATURE NOTES (thank you Michelle).

ORCHID TREE

  

Orchid Trees are in their full glory this month.   

 

 

This row of trees is part of the landscaping at Cape Harbor Marina in Cape Coral.  It's just down the road from where we live (or in this case, down the River -- we were there for a Boat Club lunch earlier this month).

  

 

 

 The guys talk boats and fuel up boats.  

The ladies walk about and shop and take pictures.

We all eat! 

Life is good.

 

Linking to:  TODAY'S FLOWERS (thank you Denise); I HEART MACRO (thanks to Laura); MACRO MONDAY (thanks to Gemma) and MOSAIC MONDAY (thank you Judith).  

FLORIDA IN JANUARY

 

Sights we didn't see in January when we lived on the other side of the country:

 

 

 Butterflies on bright red blossoms.    

 

 

Mangrove swamps and ibis  and live oaks with dripping Spanish moss .  

 

 

 Manatees swimming under blue skies...

 

 

... and, well, blue skies period!

 

Sharing with:   SKYWATCH FRIDAY (thanks to Yogi, Sandy, and Sylvia), SCENIC WEEKENDS (thank you Gemma),  and TODAY'S FLOWERS (thanks to Denise).

 

 

 

 

 

PERFECT IN PINK

 

 

 

 Beautiful amaryllis were among the exotic plants blooming profusely on the day after Christmas.  We were visiting Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales Florida.

   

 

 

Camellias in many shades and poinsiettas in pink and red graced the grounds.

 

 

 This peppermint candy camellia was perfect for the season -- and for the honeybee, who is lucky to live where the weather is spring-like in late December.  (We think we are lucky too.)

 

 SHARING these Florida seasonal flowers with FLOWERS FOR TODAY and with  I HEART MACRO and with MACRO MONDAY.  Thank you to Denise,  Laura, and Gemma  for their generosity in bringing us these lovely opportunities to share.

 

BOK TOWER AND GARDENS

We visited Bok Tower and Gardens in Lake Wales on the day after Christmas.  (Still on our quest to explore as much of Florida as we can.)   Below are views of the beautiful bromelid tree in the visitor center.  These pictures are all from the tree, but similar bromelids were blooming in the gardens.  It amazes me to see "houseplants" blooming profusely outdoors.

 

 

 Bok Tower is a  beautiful bell tower built on the summit of Iron "Mountain" which is the highest peak in peninsular Florida.   High elevation in these parts is NOT very (it is only 298 feet above sea level).   After spending the summer and fall in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and Colorado we must admit to being a bit underimpressed with the altitude. 

 But the singing tower was lovely to see -- and hear.  I wish we could have recorded the carrilon music that we heard.  We arrived just as the first of two live concerts began.  Mechanical keyboards play every half hour and then, while we were eating lunch at the Visitor Center cafe, we heard the second live concert of the day.  (The music can be heard throughout the grounds.)

 

 

 

 The Singing Tower and gardens were a gift to the American people from publisher, author and philanthropist Edward R Bok.  The Tower is a National Historic Landmark.  

Mr Bok emigrated to America as a child.  When he and his parents left the Netherlands, his grandmother charged him to make his new country more beautiful because he had lived in it.  When the tower was dedicated, Mr Bok said he wanted to follow her long-ago advice by making a place where people could find and enjoy beauty and serenity.  (Link here to read what  else Wiki tells us about his interesting life.)

 

 

 The tower is built of pink and gray marble quarried in Georgia and coquina (a sedimentary rock mostly made up of seashells) from Florida.  The tile work depicts birds, wildlife, and figures from myths.  It was opened to the public in February 1929 and dedicated by then-President Calvin Coolidge. 

 

 

 

The tower, with its surrounding moat, is the centerpiece of the 200-acre tower gardens.  I will show more from the gardens in a later post.

 

Sharing these views and blooms with Judith's  MOSAIC MONDAY ; and  OUR WORLD on Tuesday (hosted by Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy, Gattina, Arija, and Jen) ; and Nature Footsteps  BLO -MA.   Thank you to all the hosts!

 

 

PEACOCK

 

  

We've seen quite a few peacocks in zoos and nature parks over the years --  but never looked as closely  as we did at the one we saw last month.    For the first time, I realized that his tail feathers look more like an exotic plant than part of a bird!  Mysterious nature.

 

 

 

There were no  hens in sight, so this peacock felt no need to display his magnificant tail.  He  just dragged it behind him everywhere he went.   Not that he had much choice.   

 

 

And we didn't have much choice but to look at this guy because everywhere we went at Gatorama,  he was right there beside us. 

 

 

 

 So when we downloaded our pictures, there was this proud peacock  in between every set of alligator photos.    (Click here to link to the Gatorama post with all those not-so-pretty critters.)

 

 

 

 That tail looked heavy and uncomfortable in the Florida heat.

    But it didn't seem to bother him at all.   

 

 

Of course he doesn't know any different.  And he has such a tiny head for such a big bird -- I don't think there's room in it for many thoughts about anything. 

 

 

 

 

SHARING with:  SATURDAY CRITTERS and  I HEART MACRO .  Thank you to Eileen for Saturday Critters and to Laura for I Heart Macro.  

 

WILD IRIS ALONG A COUNTRY ROAD

 

Almost all flowers make me smile .... flowers in yards, flowers in public gardens,  flowers in nurseries and greenhouses, flowers in private gardens, even supermarket bouquets, but especially wildflowers.     

There is something very special about flowers that thrive without any attention at all.  There they are --  just adding joy to the world without any help from anybody.

And it is magical to find them unexpectedly.  

So when we stumbled on a whole big field abloom with wild irises last week,  it was a very special occasion indeed.   

 

 

 These were the first "real" spring flowers I've ever seen in Florida.  

Most of the flowers that bloom this season  in the Pacific Northwest (or Northeast for that matter) don't do well in Florida's sub-tropic climate.  I don't know what it was about this field that was different or if there are other places in this state where they bloom and we just haven't learned about it.      

I'm just glad we found these.  

   

 

Every flower was perfectly graceful and perfectly purple!

 

 

 

Except this one which was perfectly white.  And the only white one in the entire field of purple.

 

 

 Sharing the joy with FLOWERS FOR TODAY and I HEART MACRO

 

Thank you to Denise and Laura for hosting these wonderful sharing opportunities.