A Full-time Life

Category: Florida exploring

BABCOCK RANCH TOUR

It's getting close to time to leave the Canal Cottage for the season. So Saturday morning I probably should have been scrubbing stoves or cleaning refrigerators or one of the million other last-minute things that have to be done to get ready. But instead I went to Babcock Ranch.

About eighty percent (0ver 90,000 acres) of this huge historical ranch is preserved as open space, nature reserves, and agricultural use. It is owned by the State of Florida and Lee County. (Part of the ranch was sold to a developer and contains the new planned development city of Babcock Ranch that I have blogged about before.) We toured several habitats — open lands, farmland, swamps, and lots of watery spaces.

Barred Owl

Every habitat had its unique plant and animal life. The above in one of the swampy areas was my favorite sighting. The barred owl was a first-time bird for me! He (or she) was calling its mate — I wish I'd taken a video to share that distinctive sound.

Great Blue Heron

Some of the (too) many feral hogs and one of the (few) Florida cracker cows that make their home on the Ranch. This now-rare breed of cattle was brought here by the Conquistadors. They are hardy and well-adapted to the Florida climate. The ranch is still a cattle operation, but according to the tour guide modern methods allow them to raise more familiar breeds nowadays. (I assume — for better or worse — that means fatter ones.) They will still breed and raise a few of the Cracker Cows because of the historical value.

Feral hogs cause many problems to farms and parks and they are trapped or hunted. (They were brought to Florida by DeSoto in 1539; they adapted well, and breed rapidly. It is estimated there are currently over 500,000 in the State.)

Snowy Egret

Soft-shelled Turtle

Osceola Turkeys

Limpkin

More alligators than I've ever seen in one place — one area was called Alligator Ridge and I counted over 15 in the water there.

This smiling guy soon slithered into the culvert and the pond.

More pictures of the Barred Owl —

just because he was my favorite.

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

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

May 19, 2019
SAME BUT ALWAYS SOMETHING DIFFERENT

It's quiet around home these days as nearly all of our fellow snowbird neighbors have flown North. It's a good time to get things done. With friends gone and activities over for the season, there aren't as many tempting interruptions. And traffic outside of the resort where we live is so much lighter it's faster to get places and faster to accomplish whatever it was that you wanted to do. The standard joke in this area, where much of the winter population are 'senior citizens,' is that the lines at the pharmacy counter are much shorter when the winter season ends.

Our "street corner" … the Canal going out to the Caloosahatchie River

We are snowbirds too of course, but our season is slightly different from most others. This time of year, we pretend we live here year-round. At my dental checkup the other day, the hygienist said how nice it was "now that they're gone" she has cut 20 minutes off of her commute time. I just smiled.

I snapped these flowers and the panorama shot above with my I-phone. I'm trying to become more familiar with what my smart phone can do.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker (top three and lower center). Northern Flicker, lower left and right.

I don't think I'll ever be able to take pictures of birds with the phone though. I have enough trouble with the small camera I almost always carry. This collage shows the Red-bellied Woodpecker that I saw on the ground under a live-oak tree (top three pictures and center bottom) and two pictures of a Northern (red-shafted) Flicker that I took on the same day.

I am used to the red-bellied on trees or poles; this season for the first time I've seen several foraging on the ground. I often see Flickers on the ground. At first glance, their markings are a little bit alike, but it's easy to see the difference when you compare the two. The Flicker is a larger bird also.

Hibiscis

Warning: The snake phobic may wish to avert eyes while scrolling past the next collage.

Across the streets from the Canal, homes in our resort back on to wetlands areas that are tropical- jungle-like. An RVer who stayed awhile had either a whimsical or an evil sense of humor. They transformed a strangler fig behind their space into a pretty good replica of a Burmese Python. It will be interesting to see whether the resort management leaves their artistic endeavors for another season. That space is for temporary visitors; someone else might not appreciate the view!

Further warning: One of these pictures is not like the others. The one in the lower left picture is a real (but no longer living) Burmese Python. Someone had rather unkindly laid it out on a railing at a wildlife viewing spot near the Everglades. (That picture is from last February). It was a good thing that somebody killed it because these snakes are invasive and create serious problems in this part of Florida. I just wished I hadn't almost put my hand on it.

Back to the pretty stuff:

Skies this week have been interesting. It continues to rain hard at least for a short while almost every day (usually with lightning). But there are also always times when we can go outside. It never rains all day long.

The picture below is from way earlier in the season. It was forgotten on my phone and found when my practice photo at the top of this post (and about a million others I threw away) were downloaded.

Pink Shell Beach, January 2019

An oldie but a goodie!

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

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; MACRO MONDAY , THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; SAY CHEESE; WILD BIRD Wednesday; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

May 5, 2019
TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS

Four couples of us towed our boats to Everglades City last week for our Spring overnight boating excursion. We docked our boats and then used two of them to explore the waters. (EC is only a little over an hour away by road, but it would have been at least one overnight stop before we arrived at our destination if we had traveled all the way by boat.)

Everglades City is at the edge of the Ten Thousand Islands, a chain of mangrove islets off the SW Florida coast. And exploring at least part of this area was the goal for this trip. We were grateful for good GPS and charts. There are so many islets and they look so much alike it would be very easy to get turned around.

I am pretty sure I’m right this time about these being terns. (Again, thank you to all who corrected my bad-pun mistake last week when I mis-named a laughing gull.) I think these are Royal Terns, and I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong. This is a highly cropped picture of a sandbar islet we passed.

There were Ospreys on most of the markers we passed. Many with babies at various stages. This part of the Ten Thousand Islands is part of Everglades National Park.

We beached our boat on this small sandbar. It was the first time we’ve anchored our boat. (But we couldn’t get off because none of us wanted to jump off the front. The water in back (where our boarding platform is) was about 7 feet deep — we didn’t want to swim or wade either!)

The largest of the Islands is Chokoloskee, which is connected to Everglades City by a causeway. It is the only one that is currently inhabited (by about 400 hardy souls). We had an early dinner one day at the Havana Cafe there. Tables on the screened porch were surrounded by orchids and other tropical plants.

We stayed at an RV Resort that has dock space available for boaters. The picture on the top left is our boat and one of the others from our group taken from the restaurant across the channel and the other picture is vice-versa (the restaurant taken from our dock.) We walked to this restaurant on one day of our stay.

Companionable friends, birds, good food, and beautiful scenery (some that we could only see from the water) … the recipe for another good boating excursion.

LINKING this week to the following: Thank you to the hosts. (Last week the new INLinx tool did not work for me for the first couple of days. On Wednesday when I tried for the fourth time, it suddenly worked again. Fingers crossed that it decides this week to let me in from the first of the week!)

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

March 31, 2019
ALIVE AND WELL

Back in the day, when I was under the mistaken impression that I was indispensable, a head cold would barely slow me down. I'd throw down the cough syrup and go on with life.

Now that I am retired and know better, I took full advantage of the first "sick days" I've had in quite a while. I was so busy languishing last week that I couldn't even blog. I can't imagine how I ever went to work and took care of our family under those sniffly circumstances.

Sunrise — taken from our screen porch

It might have something to do with the fact that I was younger back then, do you think? I'll tell you what, though, that languishing stuff got old pretty fast! Glad to be back among the non-sneezy, and almost-non-coughing, living. And even more grateful than ever for generally good health and beautiful weather. Sometimes it takes a reminder.

Mid-day on the River.

I stayed in the house for over a week! Unheard of for me. But by this past Thursday I was well enough to go to the monthly lunch with the boat club.

March Full Moon. Also from our screen porch.

We've had beautiful weather … morning, noon, and night … and sick or well we are thankful for it! The rest of the pictures are from the archives, because that one short boat ride is the only place we've been other than the screen porch lately!

"Tern" right at Marker #19

(But it’s not a tern, it’s a Laughing Gull. Thanks to those who let me know. Even if it ruined my pun )).

A stop at the Farm Market a week ago last Monday, just before I got sick. Fresh food was good medicine.

Something to think about from Kissimmee Prairie

Cattle egrets in breeding plumage and White Pelican (oddly nowhere near the water) at Taylor Creek, a roadside stop on the way to Kissimmee Prairie.

LINKING THIS WEEK to the following: Thank you to the hosts.

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; MOSAIC MONDAY; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; SAY CHEESE; WILD BIRD Wednesday; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

March 24, 2019
KISSIMMEE PRAIRIE PRESERVE

Florida really does have excellent State Parks and on our quest to visit and enjoy as many of them as feasible, we took a long day trip last week to Kissimmee Prairie Preserve in Okeechobee County. The Park's guide tells us that this Preserve protects the largest remaining expanse of Florida dry prairie, an ecosystem found only in south and central Florida.

On arrival at the Park headquarters, we were greeted by this lovely Eastern Meadowlark. I don't remember having seen this bird, although we do see it's Western cousin occasionally in our travels.

We saw the bird, we got the picture — and we heard the concert! It sang it's heart out for us. What a nice welcome.

This ecosystem has huge flat open views of grasses and saw palmetto — and big sky! The grass is kept mostly at knee-high by frequent growing-season fires (now sometimes planned burns) and by the rainy wet season (summer). This provides the best habitat for plants and wildlife. Native species include white-tail deer and way more birds than I was able to get photos of. The preserve is home to the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, which is highly endangered. We saw a lot of flitting little brown birds, but without an expert guide I have no idea which ones they were. Beautiful butterflies too.

There are over a hundred miles of trails in this remote park. On the one we walked, we met nobody else at all except one volunteer who was off- loading boards to finish a trail bridge over a spot that floods in the rainy season. The quiet was one of the best parts of the walk.

The remote location and the flat prairie terrain make Kissimmee Prairie a perfect place for star-gazing. (This information is sadly not known from personal experience, since the 150 miles we drove to get there precluded any chance of staying until after dark. And our camper van is waiting for us in Oregon.) It would be fun to say we'd camped in the Red Light District! And (seriously) great to observe the sky without any light pollution. And of course to have more time to walk those trails and learn more about the birds.

So Kissimmee Prairie Preserve definitely belongs on our 'hope we get to visit again' list. But also on our 'so grateful we were able to get there this time and we loved it' list. As we drove toward home, we continued to enjoy the very different scenery and ecosystem. And even some wildlife, like this turkey vulture. Black vultures are quite common around here, but we hardly ever see these red-headed ones.

image from WRMI website

Outside the small town of Okeechobee we stopped to look at a huge installation of antennas and radio receivers with one just small sign identifying the area as WRMI (website here.) We looked it up and learned that this station is a large short-wave radio station broadcasting and relaying signals to Cuba (which was its primary focus originally) and many other countries in Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. I wish I'd thought to snap our own picture … the one above is from the station's website. It was quite impressive to see this array of antennas almost literally in the middle of nowhere. (And we talked about how interesting it is these days to have an encyclopedia in our pocket all the time. Back in the day, this would have been information we'd have forgotten to look up by the time we were able to do so.)

The sun began to set as we got closer to home and the first photo-op stop we found was next to an orange grove with blossoms still on the trees. A feast for the senses — the perfume of the blossoms and the color of the nearly ripe oranges echoing the sunset.

The end of another beautiful day.

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

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

March 10, 2019
WE HAD VISITORS!

It was a great week at the Canal Cottage.

Super Snow Moon.

Skies were clear early in the week and the super moon was beautiful. It seemed like a good omen as we had our fingers crossed for good weather because our son and daughter-in-law were arriving mid-week for a visit!

Although there was a heavy 'shower' the evening after they arrived, weather the next day was perfect for a boat trip to lunch. I told Geoff that he made a better first-mate than I do. (I think the Captain agreed.)

The next day Geoff wanted to see alligators.

The Alligator Hunter

We knew how to oblige. We drove to Big Cypress Swamp Preserve, near the Everglades, where we always find them.

Here is one of at least two dozen that we saw. These were the first alligators of this season for us as well.

Lisa wanted to see birds and we thought they would be as easy to see as the gators at Big Cypress, but it was hot by the time we got there, so there wasn't much activity.

Black-Crowned Night Heron

This was my best bird shot. We also spotted Anhingas, Cormorants, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, and Black Vultures. And turtles.

Swamp Plants

There was quite a bit of water in the swamp … and a lot more humidity than people from Colorado are used to! The pictures on each corner are plants growing under water.

Full view of the Night Heron

We saw more birds on our way to brunch on Sunday morning – Wood Storks, Ibis, and a Hawk in addition to more egrets and herons — as well as several cute baby alligators — but there was food to eat and a plane for our guests to catch later, so I didn't take pictures. The important thing was that they got to see them.

It's always fun to share favorite places with favorite people! We're so glad they came.

SHARING as well with the bloggers at the following linking opportunities. Thank you to all of the hosts.

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; MOSAIC MONDAY; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; SAYCHEESE;   WILD BIRD Wednesday; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

February 24, 2019
I Heart BUNCHE BEACH

I love Bunche Beach ….

…. and Bill for going there with me on Valentine's Day. Especially because he would rather walk on boardwalks than on sand. I'm not a Beach person either, in the way that many Florida natives and snowbirds are — neither of us enjoy lazing about on the beach, getting a tourist sunburn. But unlike my significant other (of over 60 years), I do love a quiet beach where I can walk for miles (or yards), occasionally dipping my toes in the water.

And it's even more perfect when I find birds! This is a Reddish Egret. They are fun to watch because in addition to being beautiful, they put on a great show, kind of dancing in the shallow water to stir up prey.

This season, Little Blue Herons seem to be the bird that shows up everywhere we go. That's OK with me — I am happy observing birds no matter how often I've seen them. And it's nice when they pose prettily with their reflection.

A couple of pictures to show size perspective. On top, brown pelican with terns. I can't ever get over thinking it looks as if the big gawky pelicans are watching over the smaller birds …. but really, I'm sure it was just a good resting spot. The lower picture is a Little Blue Heron and a Reddish Egret ignoring each other.

It was a perfect Valentine's Day (at least in my opinion!).

A couple of catch-up thank-yous from earlier posts: Last week, I asked if anyone could identify these edible red pods that were for sale at the Immokalee Farm Market. Denise of An English Girl Rambles did the research I should have done and identified them as Guaje Seed Pods.

Guaje Seed Pods

Click here to go to the link that Denise provided. The plant is native to Oaxaca Mexico and its seeds can be eaten raw or used in cooking. If you go to the link, you will see that the pods are identical to the ones in the picture. Thank you again Denise (and if we go to Immokalee again when Guaje Seeds are still in season, I will try them and let everyone know how they taste.

This bird was one of those we saw on a rainy-day drive a few weeks ago. I thought maybe it was some type of sandpiper but learned from several comments that it was a Yellowlegs (either Greater or Lesser). I hope I see one of these guys again soon, so I can identify it on my own and then it will count as a first-time bird! Thanks to Phil of Another Bird Blog and Anne of Creative Cornucopia   for pointing me in the right direction.

Thank you to everyone who reads these posts, especially to those who take the time to comment. And as always thanks to the hosts of the sharing sites that make it so much easier to connect.

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

February 17, 2019
FLORIDA FEBRUARY

I read our hometown Oregon paper on line every morning. This weekend, it has been somewhat disorienting to see front-page pictures of the record-breaking Pacific Northwest snowstorm just after returning from a walk in 65 degree weather. We're thankful to be here in SW Florida and feeling sympathy for family in the middle of that real winter. (People in the PNW are really not used to that kind of weather. Usually it just rains.)

February morning near home

My weekend walk here in SW Florida was in sixty-five degree sunshine at 7:30 in the morning. The days get warmer…. but so far we haven't needed the dreaded A/C except on days when we're away from home all day. When we're home (or around the neighborhood) our doors are open onto the screen porch and the ceiling fans are at work all day.

Red-bellied woodpecker and mockingbird

By the end of next month, when early morning temperatures start at 75 F, air-conditioning will be something to be grateful for. For now we're happy to let natural breezes cool things down.

Palmetto fans.

All of the above pictures were taken on a morning walk on the Live Oak Trail, Caloosahatchie Nature Preserve. The preserve is next door to the resort where we live and there's a path between so it's not necessary to be out on the street. This whole walk, from our house and back was only a mile and a half. There are longer trails within the preserve, but this was before breakfast and so I took the shorter trail. (I get hungry.)

Earlier in the week we drove with friends to Everglades City. We made a short stop at the farm and market town of Immokalee.

This is one of one of my favorite produce stands. Visiting Immokalee is kind of like taking a short trip to another country; I love that we can have this experience slightly less than an hour from home. Most restaurants and some smaller groceries and markets in the Fort Myers area buy their produce from vendors here, but almost all of the stands will also sell smaller quantities to individuals. It's a good way to purchase favorites and also to try new and unfamiliar fruits and vegetables. (But a little too far to go for regular weekly shopping).

We didn't buy much this time, because we were going to walk around at our final destination and it was kind of warm to leave big boxes of fruit and vegetables in the car.

I thought these bundles were such a pretty color. I asked the lady at this stall what you do with this pod… she said you eat the seeds. She told me the name too, but I can't remember it. Does anybody know? (I might want to try this next time we visit.)

We went to Everglades City to check out a Marina Resort there as a base for a possible future boat excursion. And to enjoy the company and the scenery — and of course to find a good restaurant! I didn't take a single picture. The entrance to the National Park is about 90 miles from our house, so it's a doable day-trip. But it is a huge Park and such a short visit doesn't allow much time for nature photography. Staying overnight is always better! This photo of the River of Grass (the everglades) is from an earlier trip.

LINKING this week to these sharing opportunities: NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; SAY CHEESE; WILD BIRD Wednesday; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY BLISS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

Thank you to the hosts!

February 10, 2019
A RAINY WEEK in FLORIDA

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

Wood Stork

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

January 27, 2019
DING DARLING NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge is located near the entrance of Sanibel Island, about 25 miles from our Florida home. It's a national treasure, like all our National Parks and Wildlife Refuges.

Roseate Spoonbills with a White Ibis or two hanging around with them

During this time of the government shutdown (one more part of our current National embarrassment), this particular refuge is being kept open (so far at least) by volunteers from the Ding Darling Wildlife Foundation. We took the wildlife drive through the center of the refuge one evening last week. It's a one-way drive-through with lots of pull-outs for birding; we got out of the car at every one of them.

Little Blue Heron

The picture at the top was the crowning glory of this particular birding excursion. I could not stop smiling at that big group of Spoonbills with their beautiful pink wings and pink reflections. But all of the birds along the way were great. The picture above and those below are in the order we spotted them. The Little Blue came out of the mangroves as we got out of the car at the first stop and headed for the water.

White Pelicans

It was good to see quite a few White Pelicans. Both the white and brown ones were in possible danger earlier in the year (last summer, before we got here) because of SW Florida's red tide and green algae bloom. Both caused fish die-off and fish, of course, are the diet for these water birds.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Two views of the same Night Heron perching in the mangroves — maybe just waking up for a busy night ahead.

Night Herons roost during the day. At night they forage in shallow ponds and marshes. I wasn't as close to this bird as the pictures look. Zoom lenses are so much fun.

A pair of Wood Storks across the water. We also saw a lot of small shorebirds at this stop, but they were too far away for good pictures, even with that lens. (Storks are big birds — about 40 inches long)

Our last and most exciting stop was where we saw the group of Roseate Spoonbills also shown in the first picture. This is the non-zoomed view — so, the way we first spotted them. We have never seen so many Spoonbills at once. Usually they are solitary or in groups of two or three, at least when we see them.

Meanwhile, back home in the Canal Cottage, skies are almost always beautiful. And we've pretty much finished the nagging little first-of-the-season home improvement tasks — so there is even more time to enjoy them. Always grateful.

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; GOOD RANDOM FUN; THROUGH MY LENS;    TUESDAY TREASURES ; WILD BIRD Wednesday; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

January 20, 2019