A Full-time Life

Category: Florida exploring

  • BIRD GARDENS OF NAPLES

    Last Friday, we visited Bird Gardens of Naples .    This nonprofit organization was created to provide sanctuary for parrots that are abandoned, abused or in a need of a home for any reason.   The Gardens are located in a beautiful  natural green area known as Corkscrew Swamp.    

     

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    Keri, our tour guide and the owner of the Sanctuary, reminded us that parrots have life spans of up to 100 years.   Some of the birds in the gardens outlived their owners.  Others were neglected, abandoned, or brought to her because their owners could no longer care for them.  She also cares temporarily (and free of charge) for parrots whose owners are ill (for instance in chemo or radiation, when it would be unwise for them to handle their pets).  

       

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    The parrots are provided with large flight aviaries equipped with watering systems, natural perching, and toys.

     

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    We are in the flight area here — one of the birds flew right down and landed on the owner's head.  She wasn't even surprised.    She told us that all of the caregivers at the Gardens are knowledgeable in avian medicine, nutrition and behavior.  Her staff and volunteers spend all day interacting with the parrots.

     

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    A few snapshots of us and our friends feeding the birds.  They can eat unsalted nuts (no peanuts) and no seeds .  Keri said that even with the roomy aviaries, these birds   do not get as much exercise as parrots in the wild do and so seeds are not good for them.   (The children are not ours — they and their parents were the only other group on our tour. )

     

     

    LINKING to MOSAIC MONDAY (thank you to Judith) and to OUR WORLD (thanks to Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy, Arija, Gattina, and Jenn).  

     

     

     

     

     

  • PINE ISLAND

    After our painting experience last week (previous post), we drove to the other end of Pine Island to the village of Bokeelia where we had a delicious lunch, watched the ospreys, and window shopped in an art gallery/gift shop near the restaurant. 

     

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    This wonderful tree is in the front yard of that gallery.   The gallery owner told us that it thrives in the salt air and coastal moisture; he does not water it at all.  You can see Charlotte Harbor across the street.

     

     

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    The fishing pier is across the street from the restaurant.  Everybody can walk on the pier  down to these gates.  But no further unless you are a real fisherman who is willing to pay the entry fee.  

     

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    More from Bokeelia

     

     

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    Bonus sign

    (I saw this on somebody's home when we walked from the restaurant to the gallery.)  It seems like a good thing to remember.

     

     

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     Bonus fence (from Matlacha, earlier on the same day).  

    This was in my  earlier collage post, but it's such a wonderful fence I wanted to give it a solo.

     

    Linking to:  TREES & BUSHES (thank you Monica); SEASONS (thanks Jesh); WEDNESDAY WATERS (thank you to Gemma); SIGNS SIGNS (thanks Lesley); GOOD FENCES (thank you Theresa); and SKYWATCH FRIDAY (thanks to Yogi, Sylvia, and Sandy).

  • WHIMSY, NATURALLY

     

    This is Leoma Lovegrove's  art studio and gallery in the nearby village of Matlacha.          You can read  more about Leoma here on her web-page. She's  exhibited worldwide,  and is famous, at least locally,  for her slightly off-kilter whimsical creations.

     

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    (Please scroll down for Nature Notes and Wild Bird Wednesday.  The pelicans in the first collage below are not the wild birds — or the nature — that I'm linking to for those memes ;>).

     

    My friend Kathy and I were there to take a painting "class" presented by one of those Art and Wine studios that are so popular these days.  This one was held off-site from the company's main studio and it was in the backyard of Leoma's studio.  The  acrylic art you make at these events is one step up from paint-by-number — the leaders walk you through the process step-by-step.   (Everyone in the class paints the same picture.)   This time, instead of a classic painting, we  copied one of Leoma's whimsical ones – a colorful pelican.  

     

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    We had so much fun — even without the wine, which was not allowed at this off-site class.  (Since it was held in the morning, we wouldn't have wanted it anyway, so that was fine with us!)   

     

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    I'm sure nobody has forgotten what a real pelican looks like, since I post about a hundred of them every year!  But just in case here is one of our recent sightings.   They do kind of lend themselves to whimsicality, don't you think?  

    And now another (real) bird.   Last week I included a picture of an osprey nest taken from the boat.  At least one commenter wished she could have seen a closer view.  So here are some ospreys we saw on the same day that we painted the pelicans:

     

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    Our husbands had managed to amuse themselves around the village while we created our masterpieces.     After class, they pointed out the nest on the top left — they had been watching those birds try  to coax their nestlings to fledge.   But I couldn't wait around to try to get some action shots because by that time we were all hungry and tired and ready for lunch.  

    And then, almost right outside of the restaurant, we spotted an active osprey nest and another bird  in a nearby tree.     (I didn't notice the plastic bag in the nest until we downloaded the pictures.  That upset me and I hope it doesn't cause trouble for the birds.  I left the picture in as a reminder not to discard plastic.)

     

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    Linking to: MOSAIC MONDAY (thanks to Judith); OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY (thank you Lady Fi, Arija, Gattina, Sylvia, and Sandy); NATURE NOTES (thank you to Michelle); and WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY (thank you Stewart).  

     

     

     

  • SIGNS SKIES AND SCARY CRITTERS (Weekend Randomosity)

     

    (Almost) nothing but blue skies lately … and we like it that way.

     

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    Ospreys build their nests on pretty much any reasonably flat surface as long as it is near the water.   It looks as if this one is enforcing the speed zone (out on the River — from the boat.  The other blue skies are from our trip to Lakeland.

     

     

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     What would you do if you saw this smiling creature ahead of you on the path?  

     

     

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      Yep, me too — and I wouldn't really need this sign to tell me to turn around.

    (I do like seeing them from a safe distance.)

     

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    The sign was at the beginning of one of the trails at Circle B — and we didn't see any alligators at all there.  But I  just had to share the sign.  Both alligator pictures are from the archives.  The first from this year's trip to the Everglades and this one from years ago near the Texas Gulf Coast.  This smiling gator was one of the very first we ever saw.

     

     

    Linking to:  SIGNS SIGNS;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   AND SATURDAY CRITTERS.     Thank you to the hosts as always!!

  • MORE FROM CIRCLE B

    We visited Circle B Bar Preserve near Lakeland a couple of weeks ago.   

     

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    Many beautiful old moss-covered trees provided lovely shade on a warm Spring day.

    We enjoyed the walk, just for the sake of walking …

     

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    … but besides that, this park is wonderful for birding.

    Above are a few of the ones we saw:   Great Blue Heron, Great Egret (in beautiful green-face breeding colors); a glossy Ibis (or two); Wood Stork; and Tri-Colored Heron

     

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    Common Gallinules (and they really were common sights on this  visit)

     

     There was so much duckweed in places you couldn't even see the water, but the Gallinules just motored right through it — they'd shake their legs delicately when they stepped out.

     

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    Sharing the road-trip birding with  OUR WORLD  (thank you to Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy, Gattina, Arija, and Jenn);  NATURE NOTES (thanks Michelle);  TREES AND BUSHES (thank you Monica);   WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY (thank you Stewart);  WEDNESDAY WATERS (thanks to Gemma) and SEASONS (thanks to Jesh)

     

  • MEANWHILE BACK IN OUR HAPPY SPACE …

     

     

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    The sky will be blue, the sun will shine …

     

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     the birds will sing …

     

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    and  the flowers will bloom.

     

     

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    HAPPY EASTER to all who celebrate and HAPPY SPRING (to those on this half of the earth.)

     

    I always love and appreciate all commenters   — but special thanks to all who left the thoughtful,  encouraging, and hopeful comments on the previous post.   

     

    And as always special thanks to the hosts of the following sharing opportunities where this post is linked:

     

    SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   TODAY'S FLOWERS;  SCENIC WEEKENDS; SATURDAY CRITTERS;  RATHER B' BIRDING; and MOSAIC MONDAY

  • LIMPKIN BALLET

     

    Starring the Lovely Limpkins of Circle B Bar Reserve

    Polk County Florida

     

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    The Closeup for the publicity stills

     

     

     

     

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    The Warm-Up

     

     

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    The Dance

     

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     The Final Bow

     

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     The well-deserved escargot banquet after the performance

     

    LINKING LIMPKINS with SATURDAY CRITTERS (thank you Eileen); RATHER B' BIRDING (thanks Annie); MOSAIC MONDAY (thank you Judith);  MACRO MONDAY (thanks to MMT and Gemma);  SEASONS (thank you Jesh);  and WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY  (thanks Stewart)

  • BIRDS AND BOATS = BLISS

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    Really the only thing this boat picture and the bird photos below have in common is that they both make us happy.   Our poor boat has been in the "boat hospital" (the mechanic)  all season but now at last it is well and at home on our dock.   (And now the only thing that is poor is our wallet.)   We do hope we can use it often for the rest of the time we're here.   This picture shows the improvements we made to the dock — that was one of our projects last year.   It's nice to have the step and rails to make it easier to get on and off — and easier to dock when we get home from a trip.

     

    The rest of the post  (all birds all the time) is more from our Everglades excursion earlier this month.  

     

     

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    This is the Gulf of Florida shoreline near where we camped at Flamingo.  And just part of the huge bunch* of Black Skimmers we spotted.

    * I'm quite sure that "bunch" is not the term that a real birder would use.  But in spite of being able to help the people I met at the Osprey nest near here (HERE is that post), I am really an eternal amateur.

     

     

     

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    I am very happy with this close-up because it shows his (or her) eye.    Black on black makes them very difficult to see.   The first one I ever spotted  a few years ago was resting on the grass and I actually thought it had suffered some terrible injury and didn't have any eyes at all. (HERE is that post.)   

     

     

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    I  admit to being a little obsessed with Skimmers  – but aren't they gorgeous looking?    Also, there really is something special about seeing a large flock of any bird.  It kind of makes me feel like there is something right with  the world!

     

     

      Skim on over to OUR WORLD on TUESDAY;  WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY and WEDNESDAY WATERS and click the links.  There are so many interesting stories and so many wonderful photographers who link to each of these fun memes.  SPECIAL THANKS to all of the hosts.  

     

  • FLAMINGO CAMPGROUND, BUT NO FLAMINGO

    As some of you who follow Florida birding sites know, a wild American Flamingo has been spotted recently here in our area of Southwest Florida (Lee County).  Alas, we have not been lucky enough to see  it.   Staying in the Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park is the closest to that elusive bird that we've come.    Definitely not quite the same.   

    Of course, the Everglades is a different part of the State, so we weren't really looking for the flamingo and didn't expect to see it.  And we definitely weren't the least bit disappointed with the birds we did see.   Maybe not such exotic species,  but we were happy.    Today's pictures are of a couple of kinds of raptors.

     

     

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     This handsome red-shouldered hawk posed beautifully….

     

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     … until he got tired of showing off and went to sleep.

     

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    Around this campground, it seemed like there were ospreys on every tree and snag.   

    It's good to see them doing well.

     

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     Someone came by while I was taking pictures of the nesting pair and asked if I knew what that huge bird was.   That made me smile to myself.  It  isn't often I can pretend to be an expert.   These guys are pretty easy to identify.  I'm sure those strangers won't have any trouble the next time they see one and then they can pretend to be a real birder too.

     

     

    LINKING TO: SATURDAY CRITTERS (thank you Eileen);  to RATHER B' BIRDING (thanks Anni);   to MOSAIC MONDAY (thank you Judith) and to NATURE NOTES (thank you MIichelle)

     

     

  • LIFE IN BIG CYPRESS

    Last chance sign Big Cypress National Preserve is mostly fresh-water swampland — about 730,000 acres of  it.     

    All the water helps to keep the nearby Everglades alive and also supports estuaries along Florida's southwest coast.

    The mixture of tropical and temperate plant life makes Big Cypress an ideal home for many species of birds and wildlife.

    On our first trip to the Everglades, we found a little-traveled road through part of the Preserve and now we drive it on every visit to the National Park.     It's the road that has this warning as the pavement ends  – we always ignore the advice.   (And maybe for that reason this is probably my all-time favorite sign.)

    There weren't as many birds this time as there were on our last season's visit because that was in the Spring.  But the birds (and animals) we did see were great.  Here are a few samples. 

     

     

     

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    Snowy Egret showing off its finest attire — beautiful yellow slippers and lacy tail feathers.

     

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     Cypress Trees (not such big ones)   

     

     

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     Little Blue Heron 

     

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    Little Blue and its upstairs neighbor Snowy Egret

     

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    And when we took our eyes off the birds we saw this smiling resident.  Just the first of many, many alligators we saw this time.  You know you love him!    Not?    But, at least you must agree that it really wouldn't be a Florida blog without at least one alligator per season.  (We're careful not to get too close of course, but I actually enjoy seeing these creatures –  their prehistoric appearance and the way they live are fascinating to me.)

     

    LINKING TO:  SATURDAY CRITTERS; RATHER B'BIRDING; NATURE NOTES; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; and SIGNS SIGNS

     

    Thank you to Eileen, Annie, Michelle, Stewart, and Lesley for hosting these fun sharing opportunities.