Blue sky days have been rare the last couple of weeks, but on one pretty morning I saw some interesting wild-flowers in the wetlands across the street. They were the tallest flowering plants I think I’ve ever seen. I zoomed in on the flowers. It’s easier to walk closer to the wetlands after the winter season because the RV lots along that side of the street are vacant.
I’m marginally better with bird ID than with wildflowers — keep meaning to install that app. I think the two ducks below are Lesser Scaups.
The Scaups were swimming on Merritt Island Parkway last month. We have been sticking closer to home this month. It’s a busy time for us and the weather is iffy anyway. The wet/rainy season is here and at the same time most days are very hot and humid. Weather is different here. The skies in the picture below are a good sample of what we’ve seen most days lately.
It’s going to pour down any minute now!
You really don’t want to be outside in a Florida rainstorm. It comes down in walls and buckets and this time of year it comes with thunder and lightning. And even though this is our umpteenth season here, I never get used to the other thing about Florida rain. Which is that it can come down in those buckets and with all that noise for an hour or two and then suddenly just stop completely. Then the sun comes out and you can’t even tell it rained. The picture below is the calm after the storm. It is taken from the end of the canal.
After the Rain
There are a few people who live here year-round, but most are snowbirds who head to their home “up north” by April. The snowbird season is typically November through March. We’re snowbirds too of course, but we come later and stay later than most. Autumn is beautiful where we live in Oregon so we love being there then. Late Spring is beautiful there too but grass-seed is a major crop and so it is also a hay-fever magnet. We are thankful to skip allergy season as long as we can.
Below is another memory from last month. The osprey didn’t seem to be impressed by the roseate spoonbill coming in for a perfect landing.
“When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.”
Chief Tecumseh
LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities, with thanks to the hosts:
SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SATURDAY CRITTERS; NATURE NOTES; MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; and THANKFUL THURSDAY