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
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
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