A Full-time Life

Category: Florida exploring

PEACE IN THE GARDEN

When we visited Naples Botanical Gardens last Tuesday, a group was learning to make mandalas from fallen flower petals. Although we didn't take part in the activity, I found that gazing at the arrangements and making photographs were meditative experiences in themselves.

We went to the Gardens to see the Origami Sculptures that are on display this month.

And of course to enjoy the flowers.

The tower of cranes in the center was created by sculptors Kevin and Jennifer Box. Called "MasterPeace", it was inspired by the Japanese “Senbazuru," the act of creating one thousand origami cranes within a single year as a wish for peace, long life and good health. Five hundred of the thousand cranes they created are scattered around the world as individual sculptures. The other 500 are gathered together here in this 25-foot tall monument. (All one thousand cranes are represented as together through the reflection in the pond.)

The single white crane is a symbol of peace and also a symbol of the spirit or soul.

Botanical Gardens always make me feel good …

and on this visit, the hopeful symbolism of the origami cranes and of the mandalas was a beautiful bonus.

Someday in this world I hope our wish for peace comes true.

Linking to: ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; FLORAL BLISS; and OUR WORLD on Tuesday. Thank you to all of the hosts.

April 15, 2017
WALK OF THE WEEK – Eco Preserve

Our (board)walk of the week was at Four-Mile Cove Eco Preserve in Cape Coral. Here are some moods of the evening sky on that day.

We saw the usual birds at the preserve — Great Blue Herons, Ibis, Egrets, all those crows enjoying the air currents, but nothing super exciting. (All birds are fun to watch, but we saw nothing that I haven't already posted several times.)

Instead, the best birds we saw were along a city street on our way there. I've probably already shown a million pictures of burrowing owls too, but the cuteness factor is so darn high, I never tire of looking at … and showing off … these babies.

An adult burrowing owl kept watch from a stake put up for her convenience. It's pretty easy to spot owl burrows — these stakes and the white pipe mark the safety zones for these honored residents of the Cape.

Above is a closer look at the owlets (zoomed in — I didn't get any closer to the burrow). Last year, I had a comment from a woman known as Cape Coral's Owl Lady, explaining that the dark-eyed ones are a mutation due to inbreeding. (These owls don't migrate. As the Owl Lady said, the Cape Coral owls like it here in Florida and don't want to go anywhere else.) Three of this group of siblings had the more typical yellow eyes.

While I was watching, all of a sudden the one on the left slipped into the burrow – it looked like it just kind of disappeared into the ground.

And then there were three.

The rest were soon to follow one-by-one. It must have been their bedtime.

Following is a bonus left over from one of our excursions last month. Too bad there's no way to enjoy the delicious aroma of orange blossoms as we look at the pictures.

Nearly all oranges grown in Florida are Valencias — mostly used for juice. They taste fine, but they're harder to peel than navels and other eating varieties. Different from other varieties of oranges (and, I think, most fruit trees) blossoms and fruit grow on Valencia trees at the same time. A real win-win…. tasty fruit and wonderfully scented flowers all at the same time.

Linking to the following sharing opportunities:

SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SCENIC WEEKENDS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; RATHER B' BIRDING; ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; FLORAL BLISS; and WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.

Thank you to all of the generous hosts.

April 5, 2017
SPRINGTIME IN SW FLORIDA

Happy Spring! It has been busy lately around the Canal Cottage but the kind of busy filled with mostly non-photo opportunities. These are all memories from earlier this month. Sharing with SATURDAY CRITTERS; RATHER B' BIRDING; ALL SEASONS; MACRO MONDAY; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; OUR WORLD On Tuesday; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY and FLORAL BLISS. Thank you to all of the hosts.

We noticed several of these flowering plants around the owner's home when we visited Pine Island Botanicals on our recent farm tour. The green part looked exactly like a cut-leaf philodendron, which were popular as house plants where we used to live (although I never saw them flower like this). At any rate, although it looked like it should be a house plant, it was growing rampantly outdoors. In fact, the owner casually mentioned that this pretty plant was a pest that he was trying to eradicate. Just another example of how different things are here in SW Florida.

I had time on a recent shopping day to stop by the Eagle Pasture. The eaglet (called E-9) had branched on March 6 (meaning he could kind of hop /fly out of the nest onto nearby branches.)    But early on March 14, just a few days before I was there, this big baby did what the eagle experts called 'an accidental fledge'. Really what that meant is that, for all intents and purposes, while he was showing off his new skills by balancing on the edge of the nest, he fell to the ground. At that time, he had not yet really flown. So Junior spent a night on the ground (the parents brought food) and the next day they enticed him to fly up — he landed on a nearby snag and then that evening finally flew back home to the nest. That's learning to fly the hard way!

So on this particular morning when I got to the pasture I spied E-9 on this branch just above the nest. I spent about an hour in the churchyard, watching and chatting with the people who watch the nest all day. I hoped to get a picture of him flying or of the parents flying in — but E-9 was the only one home (or anywhere within sight). And the whole time I was there, he did not budge from his spot on this branch…. he barely turned his head.

I imagined mom and dad leaving for their day of hunting and saying "Don't you dare go anywhere but the front porch while we're at work. I mean it. If you try that falling trick one more time, we won't feed you again."

Well, it could have happened this way, don't you think? He sure didn't move. Anthropomorphising aside, it was most interesting to see how the eagle parents just went on to the next step in training their offspring. They didn't let E-9's little mishap scare them from keeping on their schedule of teaching him how to be an independent adult.

* Disclaimers: There's really no way to tell whether an eaglet is male or female. It's just whatever people choose to think. You may draw your own conclusions.

All of the information about the accidental fledge came from those people who watch every day and post to Facebook or to the webcam, which you can watch here.



This Spring flower 'collection' came from the various farms we visited on our recent tour. The purple orchid was for sale at the tropical plant nursery. All of the other plants were growing casually here and there on the properties.

Many of our snowbird neighbors and friends are leaving Florida this week, heading to their Northern homes — some of them come earlier in the Fall than we do and some only spend the winter (January through March) here in warmer climes. But early Spring is hay-fever season in Oregon, so we aren't thinking of going home any time real soon … and besides that, it's a beautiful — and less crowded — time of the year here in SW Florida. It's a different kind of Spring, but a good one.

March 24, 2017
FOOD — FOR THE BODY, MIND, AND SPIRIT



We don't have typical spring flowers here in SW Florida, but for a short time in late March, we see glorious yellow blossoms on the tabebula trees all over the area. Just like the daffodils and tulips I remember from Oregon, these blossoms can be quite short-lived. A windy day can quickly blow every flower to the ground. We caught this tree at its peak while we were on a Farm Tour on Pine Island.



We visited three non-traditional farms on our tour. Our first stop, above, was Trafalgar Middle School's Garden in Cape Coral. These students and their teacher (in the middle photo) have made a huge success of their small farm built on a former football field. They have donated over 10 tons of vegetables and fruit to local soup kitchens. They also provide produce to their own school cafeteria and culinary arts classes. The teacher said that the students will try anything if they know it came from their own garden. What a win-win deal!

They grow garden crops including tomatoes, lettuce, a couple kinds of eggplant, collards, cucumbers, squash, beets, mustard greens, kale, parsnips, turnips, and cabbage. They have built a hydroponic garden for salad greens and herbs. They grow flowers which they donate to local nursing homes. Fruit trees include papayas, mangoes, persimmons, bananas, Barbados cherry, kumquat, limes, lemons, star fruit, moringa, avocado, jackfruit, and pomegranate.

The fruit trees were provided by FruitScapes, a tropical fruit farm that we also visited later in the tour, but where I got no good pictures.)





I got a little side-tracked during our lunch stop tour. Just had to take some pictures of this Osprey protecting his own fish meal. He's in a gumbo limbo tree in front of a barn roof. This tree is known as the "tourist tree" because it resembles the sunburned and peeling skin of tourists who forget their SPF protection while vacationing under the Florida sun.

A few of our friends and some perfect strangers who were on the bus tour with us — not a great picture, but included to show that last Wednesday was a cold day for SW Florida. (With apologies to all of you 'up North' who actually had a second winter about the same time – we caught the tail end of the March cold spell with day-time temperatures in the low 60s, which is chilly for us.)

Today, natural, raw, and local foods have become mainstream. Michael and Chris, who own and run the four-acre farm called Pine Island Botanicals, make a point of raising everything organically — using no artificial fertilizers or sprays and not wasting anything. While Michael runs the outside gardens and hydroponic greenhouses, Chris (known as the Sprout Queen) has developed a business based on raw foods and juicing. Back in the day, I used to grow a few alfalfa sprouts in jars in our kitchen cupboard. But I'd never seen as many kinds of sprouted foods as Chris grew. It was fun to taste … and kind of made me want to grow a few again myself (but only kind-of).

These Extension Service-Sponsored tours are a great deal.

We learn a lot about the area where we spend part of our year.

And of course we do love to eat — and so it's fun to learn about how our food is grown and about new foods to try.

Linking this week to these sharing sites, with thanks to all of the hosts.

OUR WORLD TUESDAY; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES;

ALL SEASONS; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; and SIGNS SIGNS.



March 19, 2017
WILD IN FLORIDA

We went with friends for a short tour-boat ride on the Peace River. The sign below was posted on the dock where we boarded. And of course we did pass several gators as we boated along. I guess they weren't hungry, because none of them showed the slightest bit of interest in the boat or the people on it.

Other than the ubiquitous alligators, the rest of the wildlife in this post is all birds all the time. And all are from a "land cruise" (otherwise known as a Saturday Drive) to Lake Trafford, near Immokalee.

Most of the birds I took pictures of were in the wetlands near a runoff canal to the Lake. I think this is a juvenile Snowy Egret — he posed just beautifully for the camera. (All pictures will enlarge with a click.)

A group of Ibis watched this Great Blue Heron forage. They looked as if they hadn't been invited to the banquet. When the Heron finished, the Ibis slowly began to hunt the waters themselves – perhaps for whatever the Heron stirred up.

This is a little out-of-order. We saw several Caracaras on Church Road near Felda on our way to the Lake. This was the only picture I was able to get because we had to find a place to turn around and get off of the road first. The caracara is Mexico's national bird and is sometimes known here as the Mexican Eagle. This one is perched in the same kind of tree (a slash pine) as the one where the Bald Eagles (the US national bird) have a nest near us.

Pretty Little Blue Heron

A few more of the usual suspects near Lake Trafford. The Little Blue doing a wing stretch; another Egret; juvenile Ibis fishing; and a Common Gallinule (marsh hen).

It was a lovely day drive — the park at Lake Trafford, which is in Collier County, was being well used. There were families and kids fishing, picnicing and birding, but it wasn't as crowded as places nearer to Fort Myers can get on weekends during the season. We enjoyed our day.

Linking to: ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; WEDNESDAY WATERS; and SIGNS SIGNS. Thank you to all of the hosts.

March 5, 2017
FEBRUARY BIRDS



This is E-9, the local Eaglet – 56 days old and almost as big as its parents. And almost ready to hop out of the nest.

When it first leaves the nest, the eaglet will spend several days doing short test flights to a nearby perch in the same tree and then returning  to the safety of home. (This is called branching). The parents will still bring food to the nest during this stage, because it will be a while before the eaglet is able to fly far enough to catch its own food. These days, there are always a lot of photographers at the Pasture or at the churchyard next to it . Everybody wants the perfect first branching picture.

Here's dad (at least according to one of the other watchers — I have never learned to tell the male and female apart).   He was on watch duty on Saturday morning when I stopped by– keeping an eye on Junior in the nest below and possibly modeling branching behavior for it.

I was happy to see this Kestrel Hawk occupying the same snag where I photographed him a couple of weeks ago, the last time I stopped at the pasture. Not only because I got better pictures but also because I mis-identified it before and this gives me a chance to correct my error and thank the birders who helped me get it right.



We went for a nature walk at Lakes Regional Park one day last week. The Anhinga below wasn't the prettiest bird we saw that morning, but it was very interesting watching it work for its dinner:

We saw it dive for that fish and then perform quite a dance spearing it and tossing it to keep a good hold on it, all the while swimming for shore, where it may have had a nest.

It doesn't show up very well against that old log, but the fish is still in its beak in the above picture.

This is the way we usually see these birds  … perched on a log, drying out their wings. Anhingas don't have natural oils in their feathers, the way ducks and most water birds do, so they have to air dry them.

Linking this week to SATURDAY CRITTERS; OUR WORLD; ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; and WEDNESDAY WATERS; Thank you to all of the gracious and generous hosts.

February 26, 2017
LAST MONTH

It's a brand-new month, but I still have a few January memories to share with NATURE NOTES and OUR WORLD on Tuesday and with the sharing opportunities listed under each photo.

For Skywatch Friday and Mosaic Monday, a few more Pink Shell Beach sunsets

The fleet is in!

For Saturday Critters, Brown Pelicans hoping for a handout near a fishing dock at Bokelia.

For Rather B'Birding and WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY

Osprey ready for lunch while his/her partner waits patiently on the nest for a share.

For Scenic Weekends and All Seasons here is a favorite view of Charlotte Harbor, seen through the center of this wonderful old gnarly tree in Bokelia. (This is from the front yard of a fun-to-visit art gallery.)

Thank you to the hosts of each of the wonderful sharing opportunities highlighted above.

February 2, 2017
PARADISE AT OUR FEET



  Three couples of us from Upriver boated to Pink Shell Resort at Fort Myers Beach.

It was a great place to spend the New Year's Eve Weekend.

In case there is any doubt, the sign on the right tells us that '"You are here — in Paradise."    The two pictures on the left are the resort Marina. Us and a few other boats — maybe you can guess which one is ours. (Keep in mind that our dock at home is only 30 feet long. Some of these boats would take up our whole canal.)

Pink Shell is a beautiful resort hotel, with a couple of places to eat, swimming pools, spas and the whole usual resort amenities. It is on the trolley line, so it was easy to go to the town of Fort Myers Beach, which we did one afternoon and evening.

We had fun visiting with our friends, eating, drinking, walking, and watching the fireworks display at midnight New Year's Eve. But my favorite pictures are of the quiet times at the beautiful beach.

I think this is a Black Bellied Plover in winter plumage.

New Year's morning walk. A good start for the year.

Ring-billed Gull

Sunset at the beach.

Good advice (at a driveway in the resort complex.)

Thank you to the generous hosts of each of these sharing opportunities: ALL SEASONS (Jesh) ; MOSAIC MONDAY (Maggie) ; NATURE NOTES (Michelle) ; OUR WORLD on Tuesday (Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy, Arija, and Gattina); WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY (Stewart); WATERY WEDNESDAY (Gemma) ; SIGNS SIGNS (Leslie); SKYWATCH FRIDAY (Yogi, Sandy, Sylvia); SCENIC WEEKENDS (Gemma); SATURDAY CRITTERS (Eileen); and RATHER B' BIRDING (Annie).

January 8, 2017
BOATING AND CAMPING

Linking to : SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SCENIC WEEKENDS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; RATHER B'BIRDING; ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; SIGNS SIGNS and WATERY WEDNESDAY.

Thank you to all of the hosts and HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!



Several decorated boats from our resort took a short evening cruise up the river the week before Christmas .

My after-dark pictures of the lights decorating the boats didn't turn out well, but the light from the setting sun earlier in the evening made up for it. (Taking pictures from a moving boat is always a little bit difficult, even in the daytime, so  I'm happy to have these sunset picture.)

The next few pictures are from a "land cruise". We camped at Collier-Seminole State Park.

This great Egret posed in all its feathery glory at Fakahatchee Strand State Park, in the Everglades (and near where we camped).

Red-shouldered hawks (I think) near our campsite.

We saw our first alligators of the season at Fakahatchee Strand. Now we know we're really in Florida. We might possibly see egrets and hawks in Oregon. But never these guys. This one was sleeping in the parking lot at the visitor center … very near our car.

We had lunch in a little town (Goodland) near our campground before we checked in.   This was our first "chickee hut" restaurant for this season …. another thing that we don't see until we get to Florida. We didn't see any "catfish" but the gulls would have been happy with our leftovers (except there weren't any from our table.)

And back home again, another sky scene at the end of Upriver Canal.

December 29, 2016
THE PROOF …

We are celebrating December in Florida — the proof is in the pictures.

December Lunch Cruise Destination

It's all about the blue skies, the birds, the boats, and the bare feet.

(Or at least no heavy socks and boots)

Boat Club lunch cruise, December

It is a joy to have an operating boat right from the start of our season here. We had problems with a prior repair person last year, but we found a good one this time. Boats do need a lot of attention.

Harn's Marsh, Lehigh Acres

On another day last week, we went for a walk at Harn's Marsh, a new birding spot for us.

Hooded Merganser pair

The female merganser was quite unimpressed as her mate worked hard to come up with only a bill full of water.

Snowy Egret

Just two of many species of birds we saw on this warm December morning.

We'll definitely go back to this spot again.

Night-time views from our deck — across our Canal.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All.

LINKING this post to: ALL SEASONS; NATURE NOTES; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; WEDNESDAY WATERS; SIGNS SIGNS; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SATURDAY CRITTERS; RATHER B'BIRDING; and SCENIC WEEKENDS. Thank you to all of the hosts.

December 18, 2016