A Full-time Life

Category: Florida birding

Potpourri …

… Otherwise known as almost the end-of-the-season catch-all.

We had a lot of busy days here at the Canal Cottage this season and most of those days were filled with repair and renovation projects. So there weren't a whole lot of photo opportunities in the neighborhood, but the morning skies almost always deliver, no matter what the rest of the day brings.

I kept up with the doings of our local Eagles again this season. Just like hundreds of other people locally and thousands all over the world because of the web-cam. There wasn't time this year to spend hours waiting for the perfect picture, but we pass the Eagle pasture almost every time we leave the cottage, so one day earlier this month we made a quick stop.

At the Eagle Pasture, 2023

It was quite a year for these neighbors. Just a few days after I wrote about the two new eaglets back in January the matriarch Harriet flew off in pursuit of intruders. Sadly, she never returned. Besides mourning the mother eagle many have watched for years, there was fear for the eaglets who, at that stage, were still totally dependent on their parents for food and all care. Usually the pair of adult eagles alternate hunting for food and protecting the eaglets on the nest. So it was amazing to see the male Eagle completely assume their care and feeding and to see the eaglets remain safe in the nest while he was out hunting for food to bring back to them. Both eaglets grew successfully to fledge and, as of this date, one has flown away to begin its new life. The other remains in the pasture area, well past the nestlings usual departure time. It is taking care of itself while the male parent has left the area the way that the adults normally do every year after their offspring leave the nest. Eagle watchers can but await the next season.

We did manage one more mid-week getaway earlier this month.

We didn't go to Cuba (and I'm pretty sure if we did they'd spell their capital city with just one "n"). This Havanna (Cafe) is in Everglades City near where we stayed. The food is good and there's a really pretty garden area with outdoor tables.

This is a Royal Poinciana tree in a neglected village yard in the Everglades. It's all gnarly and unpruned and un-cared for and some jungly palmetto plants have entwined themselves around it. But it's still so bright and cheerful even in neglect. Everything grows in this climate.

We almost had to get out of town this year to give Bill a little respite! He enjoys having projects but rest and recreation is important too. I'm beyond grateful that he was able to accomplish so much. The Canal Cottage is now actually better than back to pre-hurricane status. Quite a few of the other small homes in our resort are still awaiting repairs because people haven't yet been able to get on the busy schedules for the appropriate repair persons.

Sometimes on a morning walk, I remember to look down instead of up at the beautiful sky!

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

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

May 21, 2023
Wakodahatchee Wildlife

This post is a wrap-up of our walks at Wakodahatchee Wetlands earlier this month and it's very picture heavy, because I just couldn't put my camera down. There was so much that I want to remember.

Wakodahatchee Wetlands is located at Delray Beach near Fort Lauderdale. We had no idea on this beautiful blue sky day that this area would experience three days of heavy rain and severe flooding starting the day after we were there.

Florida Wood Storks — adult and a nest full of young ones.

I can't find any information about whether the floods affected this wetlands. I hope all the families who live there are still OK. I suspect the birds knew how to manage.

Great Egret on a nest

We tried to decide if there was a baby in that Egret's nest or if that was just a stray feather. Hoped a closer look at the pictures would show more, but still not sure.

We spent a longer time watching the birds in the series below, trying to decide what they were and what exactly they were doing.

Any guesses? (I do know the answer now, but it took us a while.)

They were very noisy and very engaged with each other. At first we weren't even sure what kind of birds they were, but then a large black bird swooped into the picture and cleared things up. Apparently these two were just a couple of hungry teenagers killing time waiting for dinner to arrive. We recognized the adult Anhinga immediately as we see them often here in Florida. Dad flew right to the young ones and opened his beak wide:

He wasn't much larger than his two nearly grown and very hungry offspring. I didn't know this while we watched this behavior but read later that the parents feed new babies by dropping regurgitated food into their mouths. It doesn't take long for the babies to learn where the food comes from and by the time they are as big as these two birds, they just reach right down into the parent bird's mouth for the food. That's what's going on in the picture above. (I love learning first hand about bird behavior. But maybe I should have added a "slightly gross" warning about the above photo for those of you learning it second hand.)

Later, we saw a different adult with younger babies. (This one's a female because she has a brown head and neck.) Mom looks less frazzled than the dad in the other picture. And the babies are cuter at this stage. Although it doesn't demonstrate as much about their behavior, it's probably a more suitable family portrait for sharing.

Common Gallinule

We watched a whole family of these birds, also known as Moorhens, but they were hard to photograph in the vegetation where they like to forage.

Stork Spa! Their wings are much cleaner and the black and white contrast is more noticeable than when they're in their nest. (Click on the photo to admire their pretty feathers.)

The photo below is from a different place and a different time (but still from Florida). I just wanted to end with a sunset.

Grateful for all we see and all we learn.

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

SATURDAY CRITTERS ; RATHER B' BIRDING; NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday; THANKFUL THURSDAY; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY

April 28, 2023
Fort Lauderdale Escape

We spent a few days over Easter weekend in Fort Lauderdale — a perfect place for a Holiday escape.

Florida wood stork — adult and juveniles

Friday and Saturday were beautiful days. We walked all the lovely boardwalk trails at Wakodahatchee Wetlands, took a lot of pictures, explored the metro area and enjoyed some good meals.

Wakodahatchee Wetlands – Saturday April 8

We had reservations downtown for Sunday brunch and then headed to Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, a pretty green space and beach that's pretty much right in the center of the City. The weather was still fine, but by mid-afternoon (as we were walking of course) the rain started so we headed off to our "home away from home." By the time we got across town the rain was coming down in heavy sheets.

Green Iguana

We had planned to come home on Monday anyway, so it really didn't feel like our get-away had been shortened by the weather.

Whistling Ducks

As we drove Monday, it rained until we left the greater Fort Lauderdale area behind, but the rest of the trip back to Fort Myers was all sunshine and blue sky. (And that's still what we have here, at least for now.)

Great Blue Heron

In Fort Lauderdale however, on Wednesday the storm that we had seen just the beginning of turned into what is being called a thousand-year-storm. The rain there just didn't stop. The area got over 25 inches of rain in that one day and it continued. HERE is a link that talks about the perfect storm conditions, in case you haven't already seen enough about this awful flood on the news. It's deja vu to see pictures of the damages the rain caused that city — some of the flooded homes looking very much like those damaged here in Fort Myers after last Fall's hurricane.

I'm glad we had decided to come home on Monday!! We had thought we were escaping to Fort Lauderdale, but we can't help feeling as if we escaped from it — getting away just in time. And we are grateful.

THANK YOU to the hosts of these sharing opportunities where we're linking this week:

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

April 15, 2023
Birds, trees and other delights

Sharing the water's bounty, Everglades

We spent most of our recent getaway in the different areas of Everglades National Park, but one day we drove from our campground in Homestead to Key Largo, the start of the Florida Keys. It's less than an hour's drive but a whole different world.

We'd sort of planned on just a look-around drive and an early dinner, but then we passed a sign for this State Park we'd never even heard of, so we stopped. Marked nature trails sounded good, so we paid the small self-service entry fee and set off.

OK — so we didn't want to bushwhack through unmarked wilderness, but the "trail" above was too tame for us! It was very odd, like walking down the middle of the highway. But we persisted and eventually found some side trails that were more fun.

When we finished our walk we read the signs at the entrance more carefully and learned that the paved part of the walk is leftover from the early 1970s, back when the property was privately owned and slated for a large condo development. The developers had big ideas, but failed to get financial backing (fortunately). I'm glad they didn't get too far on their development before giving up.

Anna Dagny Johnson, for whom the park is named, was a lawyer and environmentalist who spearheaded the campaign to get the State to purchase the property. It has been a State Park since 1982.

Both along the main trail (the street) and the side trails, occasional signage told us the names of some of the unfamiliar trees. We learned that the park includes one of the largest tracts of tropical hardwoods in this country. It was an interesting walk and the cool shade more than welcome on this hot March day. The Coquina wall is probably also left over from the planned development but it fit into the natural area.

We took a closer look at the wall and found that a lot of the stones contained sea fossils. This shows that some of the history in this park is a few centuries more ancient than the successful campaign to thwart over-development.

The following pictures are from the Everglades part of this trip:

More shore birds and wading birds getting along together.

Birds-eye view of a smallish alligator.

And back at the campground where we stayed near Homestead, some more feathered friends:

Peacocks roamed freely through the old RV Park where we stayed and one evening we counted at least ten! A few of them wandered over to check us out on the afternoon we checked into the park and then we'd see them every evening when we returned to our camp site. We never saw them in the mornings. They're loud and probably kind of messy, but it was a delight to watch them strut their stuff as if they owned the place. (Who knows, maybe they did. It was only the manager who checked us in for them.) We definitely didn't eat on the picnic table however.

Linking this week to the following with thanks to the hosts:

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SATURDAY CRITTERS and RATHER B' BIRDING

March 26, 2023
Two walks in the Everglades

I didn't know that we'd be driving on mountain roads when we left to spend a few days in the Everglades . But this is what we saw at Rock Creek in Everglades National Park:

Only in Florida

Here's a mountain pass that's definitely climbable without worrying about a lack of oxygen. Only in flat-land Florida would three feet even count as elevation. I'm not even sure people can count that low in some states.

There's a short interpretive walkway at Rock Reef, but we didn't take it — we were heading to Pa-hay-okee Trail where we walked on a boardwalk trail:

Pa-hay-okee Trail, Everglades National Park

Pa-hay-okee is a Calusa word for "Grassy Waters". There's an observation platform along the trail where hikers can view the Everglades Wilderness as it appeared to early inhabitants. Calusa and Miccosakee peoples adapted to living in these rivers of grass. A few early pioneer settlers settled here as well.

This from a sign along the Pa-hay-okee trail is a great reminder. We are grateful for The Wilderness Act and the wild places it protects. I'm so happy that these exist. I'm also thankful for walks like this one that allow us this glimpse at what is left of the real Florida.

We drove on to Flamingo Campground at the southern tip of the Everglades. A little more water and a few more birds. We had three days of lovely weather while we were on this trip — and missed at least one day of heavy downpour back home at the Canal Cottage. Perfect timing for a perfect get-away.

Flamingo Campground area, Everglades National Park

"Florida" Cardinal

One of my favorite Southern birds practically hopped on my shoe as we were walking back to the car from taking the above pictures. We couldn't decide if he wasn't afraid because he didn't see enough people to know better or if people feed the birds. It was a very quiet area while we were there anyway.

On the way back to the campground where we were staying we passed these beauties in a bit of water just off the roadside. Roseate Spoonbills are always a treat to see. What a great day — and we still had more "vacation from our vacation" days to come.

LINKING this week to the following with thanks to the hosts:

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

March 19, 2023
Wonder Gardens

Last week we went with neighbor-friends to visit the Everglades Wonder Gardens.

It's a combination Zoological Park/Botanical Gardens in the center of the town of Bonita Springs, less than an hour from us. A local attraction, but one we'd never visited.

We had a lovely day out. But sadly I somehow managed to delete all but the first few pictures I took while we were there. I wonder how I did that?

The Wonder Gardens began in 1936 as a Florida roadside attraction and it featured the requisite local reptiles and some exotics. Over the years, it fell into disrepair and the City was poised to purchase the property and turn it into a parking lot. Citizens raised an alarm and in 2013 the property was purchased by a local photographer/conservationist with an eye to saving and improving the historical attraction. It is now run in combination with the City as a non-profit.

We spent quite a while watching the flamingos — and those were almost the only pictures not to disappear into outer space. They were my favorites, but I am sorry not to have photo memories of the other birds and the beautiful landscaping. We saw many beautiful places before we even owned a digital camera and we haven't forgotten those. So I am trying to remember that these memories will also be enough. (I'm still mad at myself though.)

One of the volunteer guides told us that the flamingos are "geriatric birds" which seems appropriate for Florida. There are a lot of us geriatrics here. They may be traced back to the original iteration of the Wonder Gardens.

All of the birds and animals at this park are here because for one reason or another they are not able to be released back into the wild. There were tortoises like the ones I showed a couple of weeks ago at that other old Florida roadside attraction and many parrots and lorikeets — pets that could no longer be cared for. There was a sign suggesting it might be best not to buy these but to visit them here or at similar facilities.

Here are some sky scenes from even closer to home:

Mornings on the Canal

Thankful for the memories we are creating. With or without pictures.

One more thing to mention about the Wonder Gardens. Bonita Springs was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ian back in September. A volunteer told us how the animals and birds were taken care of during the storm (some at the homes of staff and volunteers). Also notable is what a wonderful job they have done in restoring the gardens and plantings. Having seen some of the aftermath of the storm, it is easy for us to imagine the state that this park was in.

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

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

February 26, 2023
Felts Audubon Preserve, Palmetto

We spent a few days last week grown-up camping in the Palmetto-Bradenton area. (We slept in our own bed in the Road-trek camper van and let other people cook dinner for us. )

Felts Audubon Preserve is in Palmetto. Other Audubon Preserves we've visited have an Information Center and well-marked trails, boardwalks and so forth. And they always have great birding opportunities. This one definitely had the birds, but it was also less developed. That was OK though because it was also far less crowded than we've come to expect during the "high season" in Florida.

Bill looking for the lost trail

We started off on a dirt trail along a creek where we saw a few nice turtles and some butterflies, but then the trail suddenly ended. It had been a long time since we'd enjoyed bushwhacking our way on a hike. (I'm not kidding about enjoying — we did used to like that when we were younger, but un-improved areas in the Pacific Northwest are quite different from here in Florida.)

This vine was entangled in overgrowth all along that non-trail . I don't know my wildflower IDs at all, but I can tell you that this one smelled wonderful. In the interest of complete honesty and to show that we're not completely crazy, we did turn around shortly after I took that bushwhacking picture and retraced our way along the turtle trail.

Back in civilization, we spotted female and male cardinals. Always favorites – these guys don't live in the Pacific Northwest, so we never saw them until we traveled south in our RV years. They aren't exactly common for me yet, in that we don't see them around where we live here in SW Florida, but we do most times we go to a birding spot. I never get tired of seeing them.

Then we found the trail to the birding blind which we'd read that Felts Preserve had. And I was a happy birder:

Painted Bunting

I am grateful to the Audubon people here at Felts for keeping the bird feeders filled so that we could see and photograph these gorgeous birds. It would be fun to spot a painted bunting on its own without the help of feeders, but we've never been in the right place at the right time. Seeing them here was great enough!

It's a good thing we were there when we were because according to the Audubon Society's website, painted buntings start to migrate North again in March.

Here's a closer view of the little blue bird that was sharing the feeder bounty. I would have thought it was a female bunting, but all my books show her as a greenish bird. There was nobody else at the bird blind but us — which was good in most ways, except I could have used an expert volunteer.

SunRise on the Canal

This is a closer-to-home picture — but it is from February a year ago. We're looking EAST early in the morning, standing at the dock at the end of our block. That dock was destroyed during Ian, but the park is in the process of rebuilding it. (You can still stand at the end of the street and look across the Canal, but to watch the sun rise you have to get up earlier than I've been doing this year. Not the Hurricane's fault!)

Thank you to the hosts of these sharing opportunities

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

February 19, 2023
Day Trip of the Week

Starting out with the return portion of our week-day drive last week. It's big sugar country east of us and coming home we drove past miles of cane fields. They look pretty at this stage, blowing in the light breeze. Sometimes in that area (and even at the Canal Cottage), you can smell sugar in the air –they still burn off the leaves before cutting the cane.

You can't always go to the Keys or the Beach to admire the beautiful Florida sunset — but it's a pretty good show even driving along the freeway at the right time of the evening.

Now I'll share some pictures from the "Old Florida" attraction we visited earlier in the day.

Sulcata Tortoise

Sulcata Tortoises are unique looking, smart and friendly and for this reason people often think they would make good pets. But they can weigh up to 200 pounds, they poop a lot, and they can dig through practically anything. The rescue portion of the facility gets a lot of "adopt my pet" requests from people who can't manage them any more.

Peacock

These exotic birds need a lot of room and can be very destructive and noisy. They roamed freely around the facility — and this one made quite a commotion when it flew right over our heads into the trees..

Galapagos Tortoise

Galapagos tortoises are one of the longest-lived land animals, living an average of 100 years.

I have been secretive so far about the name of the place we visited for a reason. Seems like many readers really, really don't like alligators – and I wanted everybody to have some pictures to look at before the very name of the place scared them off. Yes, we went to Gatorama in Palmdale – a place we hadn't visited for years. Here is a link to that post which tells more about this old Florida roadside attraction. (It was here before Disney World in other words.) I didn't actually take too many pictures of the animals in question, because we see them pretty often in the wild.

The place has evolved from a kind of cheesy reptile roadside attraction to a facility that actually cares for animals although there are still elements of the former. It's a rescue facility, an alligator farm (raising animals for meat), and a kind of reptile zoo. They also educate the public about the reptiles that are housed here and about co-existing with alligators which live everywhere in this State. Kind of a mixture of the good, the beautiful, and the ugly actually.

Grandpa is the oldest alligator in captivity. Brought here in the late 1950s, he was already a full-grown mature bull alligator and has sired many generations. He's a favorite of everybody who works with him and who sees him. The sign goes on:

"This species, scientists say, is more than 150 million years old, managing to avoid extinction 65 million years ago when their prehistoric contemporaries the dinosaurs died off."

That sentence explains pretty well why I think these animals are fascinating rather than repulsive. They trigger my imagination! Thankful to be alive now and standing near animals that easily could have been alive in prehistoric times. (But not too near of course!)

LINKING to the following sharing opportunities, with thanks to the hosts:

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

February 12, 2023
Saturday Special

We took yesterday off — a rare thing on a weekend. The weekend part is rare only because we usually choose to go places on weekdays, leaving Saturday and Sunday for people who work the rest of the week (as we used to once upon a time). But the day off part (on any day of the week) is a little more rare this year than usual for reasons I've already mentioned probably too many times.

Ann Olesky Park, Collier County Florida

So of course since this is Southwest Florida during the snowbird season, we were not alone in our getaway plans. September's devastating hurricane didn't seem to stop snowbirds from coming to this area for the warmer Winter. Although we try to pretend otherwise after all these years of wintering here, we are included in that number so we can't complain (too much). Saturday traffic was seriously heavy and the lots at our original destinations, Corkscrew Sanctuary and CREW Environmental Area, were nearly full.

We wanted to avoid the crowds, but we didn't give up. First of all, we found wildlife along the canals on the way to Corkscrew. After driving along that Canal we headed to Lake Trafford, another place where we always see birds.

The collage above shows how the area along the Canal near Corkscrew would appear to people in the cars that hurry by intent on getting to the "official" wildlife areas. There are several spots along the road to pull off and the shoulders along the road are wide. All it takes is a little time to look and focus and you will see wildlife. Mostly birds, but also take a closer look at the top left photo above. Or below:

Keeping a close eye on the passer-by (me), our first alligator of this season was about six feet away as I walked along that shoulder.

Six feet away and about six feet long.

This is the closest I've ever accidentally come to an alligator (as far as I know anyway). It was a good reminder to look down as well as up.

Lake Trafford

Ann Olesky Park on Lake Trafford was next on our itinerary and it was far less crowded. The people who were there were mostly families fishing. It was a beautiful day — slightly overcast which made it perfect for walking and watching. It was 70 to 75 degrees F, only a bit cooler than normal this month — our cold spell seems to be over. And of course that last sentence goes far to explain why there are so many people here this time of year.



Lake Trafford is more noted as a fishing place than a birding destination and the people we see there always seem to be locals. And we always see birds. Not as many this time as we have seen, but enough to make me happy!

Though we'll try to make the next outing on a less popular day of the week, we were happy with our Saturday. We saw some good birds (and other interesting creatures). And we were grateful just to be relaxing outdoors on a beautiful day. It was a good one.

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

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

January 29, 2023
Rebuilding — in nature and at home

We stayed close to home last week because we're busy rebuilding our own nest. But one day we stopped to visit our Eagle neighbors at theirs. (We were on the way to the big-box home improvement store, as nobody will be surprised to hear.)

Hurricane Ian completely wiped out their nest but the intrepid pair returned safe and sound, rebuilt in the same tree, and continued on with their lives. A hopeful metaphor for the Fort Myers area, as the billboard above indicates. Their two chicks hatched the first week of the year, on January 4 and 7 and seem to be doing well.

The top picture in this mosaic with the black border is this year's nest — the lower two are from January 2022 — a year ago and before the hurricane.

It was a lucky break last year to be there when Harriet (or maybe her partner) popped their head out of the nest — most of the time one parent will be away hunting for the next meal and the other will be tending the hatchlings down in the nest bowl.

The new nest is much smaller — the pair will continue to add to it when they can this year and hopefully in years following. The one that blew down was huge, the product of sixteen years of remodeling and adding on. Harriet and Ozzie, her original partner, built that one in 2006.

Here are pictures of the Eagle pasture on a cold but sunny day. The people (strangers to us) are two of several photographers who spend hours waiting for eagle action and the perfect picture. Nothing much was visible while we were there — and it really was cold (for here, I know). At this stage of the eagle's lives, no matter what the temperature is outside, it's really better to watch the action on the Eagle webcams because they can see down into the nest. (Link)

The pasture is home to other creatures as well as the Eagle pair. The horse greeted that photographer like an old friend, as I'm sure he is by now. (This is the first time I've seen horses with blankets here in usually subtropical Southwest Florida. (Did I mention cold? )

And finally, here are a couple of pictures taken earlier this month from our back porch:

January 6 full moon (Wolf Moon)

The moon rises early here now — about 6:30, so even early to bed people can get a few pictures. I always like how it seems to be peeking through the tropical plants. The next picture is an absolutely terrible one — the product of a shaky-handed photographer in too much of a hurry:

But as I started to push delete (as I do with about half of the pictures I take) I was struck by the accidental shape. I know people who collect hearts in nature and I've found rocks and leaves and shells myself without really trying too hard. But this is the first time I've added a heart-shaped moon.

Here's wishing everyone a continued joyful New Year full of growth and love.

Thank you to the hosts of the following sharing opportunities, where I'm linking this week:

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

January 15, 2023