thebirderspost

Jan. 27, 28:  We moved to our new location about 4 hours north of Ft. Myers, near Crystal River.  The following day it rained, so we caught up with laundry & stayed in.

Jan. 29:  The quest for the Red-cockaded Woodpecker continues.  There is a forest nearby which has lots of ringed trees, so we headed out this morning.  A beautiful sunny day, though it was cool this morning (5C) – high today 17C.

We stopped & looked for several hours, but did not find our target.  HOWEVER, we did find another Lifer & it was a woodpecker!  Red-headed Woodpecker!  No photo could be taken, since it flew from tree to tree & we couldn’t find where it stopped each time.  Nonetheless, it is a spectacular looking bird.

I’ve included photos from the web just to show you.  When in flight, the markings are beautiful also.

Now I have to say, one of our SK birding buds (Marg of ‘Moe & Marg’ who own the cabin at Waskesiu) spotted this beauty in another of our birding bud’s back yard (Don in Broadview).  So needless to say, none of them will be impressed with this sighting. Especially since we didn’t even get a photo – had to use “cheat” photos.  So sad, so embarrassing.

The only other birds we saw were many flocks of Pine Warblers, with an occasional Eastern Bluebird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bluejay, Fish Crow & Amer. Kestrel.

This long-needled pine woodland is “managed” (as are most of the woodland areas in Florida – perhaps in many states).  They cut trees down to use as wood, burn the lower canopy in scheduled & controlled burnings to clear lower brush story.  They also note significant wildlife – like marking bands on trees used by the woodpecker.  This is a field of seedlings planted in 2010.  They sorts of tickled Bill.

Jan. 30:  Haircut time 10 AM, then a walk for 2 1/2 hours at a nearby Eco-tour trail.  No new birds, but a very nice surprise for me – an Armadillo!  I’ve seen them dead on the road, but never alive.  Bill quietly stalked it & got some photos.

Hard to get a shot of its head, but I think it has such cute ears.  It was so busy hunting for food, with head to the ground it hardly noticed Bill or heard his softly crunching steps.  Yay!

This fungus looked like orange peppers growing the ground, but is called orange peel fungus.

There are huge oak trees hung with Spanish moss – so beautiful.  Interspersed with a few tall long-needled pines as well as the usual variety of palms.  However, the left photo was a farm field nearby our RV park which we’ve admired as we drove past every time.  Finally stopped for a photo – like a cathedral.

There were tons of Yellow-rumpled Warblers around, along with the odd Ruby-crowned Kinglet -as well as the first chickadee we’ve seen in awhile – Carolina.  So cute with its head turned right around to the back in 1st photo – then taking off.

The usual Red-shouldered Hawk surprised Bill low in a tree – just above his head.  Finally tracked him down when he rested on a snag nearby.  I think there hasn’t been a day when we haven’t seen one somewhere on our walk.

As usual, there are always some flowers blooming.

Jan. 31:  Today is Aunty Jo’s 90th birthday.  She is the last living Bleakley sibling.  I don’t know how old she was when this was taken, but what a babe!  And not just beautiful, but smart as well!  We love you Aunty Jo & hope you maybe have some birthday cake on your day & a few kisses & hugs – we send ours to you!

We stayed home today to watch the men’s final of the Australian Open Tennis – since we’ve lost our satellite-finding mechanism & now have to rely on local cable.  We missed the ladies’ match but are sad Serena lost – we are big fans.

In the afternoon we walked around the RV park but didn’t say anything new – a few Amer. Goldfinches, a Bluejay &heard a Fish Crow.

Feb. 1:  Did a 1 1/2 hour walk this morning, then a drive this aft.  Nothing new.

Through the usual habitat of pine forest, hanging oaks/beaches & lots of humidity.  Bracket fungus are everywhere – all different kinds – but these large white ones were particularly pretty.

We saw 4 different woodpeckers – none of them our target species (though now it’s expanded from Red-cockaded to Ted-headed also!).  Here are Pileated, Hairy & Red-bellied.

This Black-and-white Warbler was one of about 5 species of other birds seen – none of them new.  The day was calm & warm – with a high of about 26C.  Such a pleasant day.

Feb. 2:  Alastair Usher’s 26th Birthday!  (Al, I don’t know why this photo is so small!)

Here is the handsome fellow with his long-time girlfriend, the beautiful Erin.  He is not my true nephew, but I feel like all the Usher cousins’ kids are nieces & nephews.  What with my being named for their Grandmother who died so young – Lois Usher.  I love them like mine anyway & that’s what counts.

We headed off to the Homosasso Springs State Park to hopefully see Manatees.  I’ve been trying every place I could, but this apparently should be successful.  Yep it was!

We had a lovely boat ride down the Pepper Creek, adding this new bird to our list:  Wood Duck.  They have erected 10 or so nest boxes along the water & one pair has certainly taken to it!

There always seems to be an Anginga every time we’re near water.

Some early blooming azaleas glowed on the shady banks.  Below is one of my goals for the trip.

When we got to shore from our boat ride this Hermit Thrush was sitting on the fence (never did decide which way to go).

Wild manatees were at last seen; 8-10 we think.  The adults are about 10 feet long & rotund!  The cutest faces, I think.  Some people are snorkelling & kayaking with the manatees.  They come to these waters in the winter because of the warm springs.  The Gulf of Mexico gets cooler in winter & even though manatees are warm-blooded, they need warmer temperatures, so there is a large migration.

There is another very large mammal here:  Lou, the 6000 pound hippo.  There used to be an animal adventure park here – but it was disbanded long ago.  However, Lou had lived there so long (& was used in a Hollywood movie at one point) so the Governor of FL made him an honorary citizen of the state & he is allowed to stay.  Only native species are allowed here!

We thought there may have been manatees in the underwater observatory, but just fish.  Aren’t these beautiful with their white-tipped fins & tails.  There were many different kinds, but hard to photograph.

We also came into one of the most diverse flocks of migrant birds we’ve found, adding 1 new species to our list – American Redstart.  It was pretty shady under the canopy, but a record shot.

Haven’t seen a Carolina Wren recently either.  The group also included Downy Woodpecker, Yellow-rumpled Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Yellow-throated Warbler & Tufted Titmouse.

At last – American Flamingoes.  I’ll never forget my first flamingo in the south of France, cycling with Fred & Deb right on the Mediterranean.

Box turtle.

Alligators

River Otters (always so much fun to watch).  Hopefully they don’t get near the above!

A White Ibis taking a bath (& everyone should know by now it’s one of my favourite activities to watch).

There is a Great Blue Heron colony here, & I spotted a couple mating!!

There is also an area for birds & animals that have been injured in some way, so that they can live out their lives safely.

Black bear & Florida panther.  This panther is a sub-species of our mountain lion/cougar.  It is smaller (males get to 160 lbs as compared to the Rocky Mtn sub-species which can get up to 220 lbs) & extremely endangered.  They believe there were only about 20 individuals left in the 1970’s – at last count in 2013, there were about 130.  It has been adopted as the state animal.

Whooping Crane & Burrowing Owl.

Barred Owl & Barn Owl.

Lastly this beautiful Bald Eagle.  Now on to the Florida panhandle.

Jan. 22:  Rainy day for working & shopping.  No bites from our outing yesterday – yay!

Jan. 23:  Lou Ann’s 86th birthday!  She is Bill’s favourite cousin & our trailer is named after her!  Here she is with Bill – she’s beautiful, eh?  We hope she has the best day ever & a wonderful year ahead! We love her so much!

While the rest of the east coast of the US is under a heavy snowfall warning & gets dumped on big-time, our only weather was high winds, so we stayed in today & caught up on the Australian Open tennis!

Jan. 24:  At last we got out!  It was 6C this morning, so it was coats & gloves!  We headed off to a Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, which has a big boardwalk taking us through a large swampy area with a few open areas of water.

A sampling of scenery.

First group of birds included Tufted Titmouse – what big eyes you have my dear!

Best looks at a Green Heron – maybe my favourite heron.

Florida red bellied turtle.

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron.

An epiphyte coming into bloom & a branch of tiny, red, hairy epiphytes.

The sun turns leaves into stained glass.

Don’t know what was happening w/ those 2 trees in L photo – were they trying to become one?  They are 2 different species.  Either the big one is eating the small one or the small one stuck its branch into the big tree!

L: lots of cypress knees.  R: cypress trunk.

Last bit of scenery in the swamp.  Along with birds shown above, we added Common Yellowthroat; Black-and-white, Pine & Palm Warblers, Pileated, Downy & Red-bellied Woodpeckers; + Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  A completely sunny day & great to be out!

Jan. 25:  Another lovely day.  Low when we got up was 5C!  But high today reached 22.  We headed off in our continuing quest to find the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, which has more nesting sites marked with white stripes painted on their trunks in the Webb Wildlife Management Area.  The number of sites was staggering – about two dozen or so.  Obviously they don’t take the old ones off when the woodpeckers make a new nest in a different tree each year.  Nonetheless, we tried our hardest to spot those little suckers, but were foiled again.  No new birds to report from the day.  Our total species count still stands at 172.

nly a couple of bird photos.  A Great Egret sitting the grass – which is growing out of a few inches of water.

Sandhill Crane in taller grass.

A pine forest with its feet in water & a dense understory.  The tall tree on the left has a white band denoting a nesting site at some point.

Jan. 26:  A trip back to the Naples Botanical Gardens.  It was supposed to be cloudy, but ended up being mostly sunny & quite warm (26C).  Bill just took his flower camera – though we added a new bird to our list –

Baltimore Oriole – taken with the flower camera, hence the long distance (& this is zoomed in 2X in processing!).

Once again, just a sampling of from the gardens.

This Malachite butterfly was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.  Wingspan nearly 4″ – Wow!

A few others including the lower orgy.

Once again the orchid garden.

Trees

Aother Green Heron

Leaves

My 2nd favourite palm tree – Royal.  It has a smooth trunk & a long, smooth green part below the canopy.  My favourite is a silver Palm which Bill can’t seem to find to photograph.  Still looking.

We (well, Bill) spotted this small black snake.

Miscellaneous shots.  Billy loved this place & we hope you all enjoyed watching it with him.  Moving on tomorrow to Crystal River.

Jan. 18:  Off again to Corkscrew Swamp, since it is the best birding we’ve found since we got here.  Temp last night was 9C!  High today 17C!  Yay!  Had to wear a jacket!  Unfortunately we missed the Brown-headed Nuthatches again, though we met people who’d just seen them – DRAT!

It was still a nice day to go out birding & Bill managed to capture the yellow rump of a Yellow-rumped Warbler!  (That’s hard to do because when they sit it doesn’t show!)

Had the closest look we’ve ever had at a Pileated Woodpecker.  About 12 feet Away – he just worked & worked that wood!

At the open swamp area we spied a Little Blue Heron as well as a Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

We also enjoy all the different flora.

The Catbirds are calling – as you can see from the tongue action on this one!  Not much else new, but a great day nonetheless.

Jan. 19:  Back again to Corkscrew.  If you wonder how it got its name:

“Back in the olden days when they used to come up out of the salt water into what is now know as the Imperial River to get fresh water for their boats — they didn’t have any wells in those days — they’d have to take a cask and come up into the headwaters of that creek to get the fresh rain water, and it was so twisty that they called it Corkscrew Creek, or Corkscrew River, at that time. Actually, the headwaters of that was what is now known as Corkscrew Swamp.”

We continue to get terribly itchy bites from the no-see-ums despite 40% DEET insect spray applied to bare skin, then clothing overtop – yikes!

The Cypress trees develop “knees” which stick up everywhere in the swamp.  If they’re close together, like these, debris fall on top of them & eventually a fern or something else can grow there.

We’ve seen lots of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers.  This male (which has the red on its head) was eating the red berries on this bush.  Sort of like a Xmas card.

We got much closer to a Great Crested Flycatcher this time.   A lovely fellow & they’re singing everywhere!

We came across several flocks of birds as we walked (though we once again missed our nuthatches).  This Black-and-white Warbler was amongst Cedar Waxwing, Amer. Robin, Nashville Warbler, Pine Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, & Yellow-rumpled Warblers.

A bit of action from the darling little Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

The American Bittern was once again on display with hoards of people crowding the boardwalk.  Their guide was trying to tell everyone how lucky they were to see one, when people who’ve been birding for many, many years have only seen one once or twice!  (I don’t think the general public who aren’t birders will appreciate how much a birder wants to see something which is hard to see).  It was really remarkable!

We noticed 4 Wood Storks flying over – here are a couple of them.  As I mentioned, they nest here & have a protected area away from the public.

Back at the feeders at the entrance building we found the ubiquitous N. Cardinal…

Red-bellied Woodpecker…

Male & female Common Ground Doves…

And can’t leave without another couple of male Painted Buntings.

Jan. 20: – It is my beautiful niece, Katherine’s birthday today – she is 25!  We send her love & hope she has a very happy birthday & a great year.

Here she is – not the greatest photo, but the best I could find in my archives.  Wow eh?!

We moved to Fort Myers today – just an hour north of where we were in Naples.  The weather continues to be much cooler at night & not so hot during the day – hallelujah! We’re watching Australian Open tennis in our off-hours, being big tennis fans.  Tomorrow we start to check our places in this area for birds.  We hope they don’t have all these insects here (fat chance!).  Met a fellow from Dutchess, AB (just north of Brooks) – 1st Albertan we’ve seen!  He said he hasn’t had any difficulty w/ insect bites,  so we’re hopeful!

Jan. 21:  Off to Saibel Island for the driving tour.  This is a one-way tour with a wide road which allows cars wanting to stop to pull over on the right.  There are Everglades all throughout & views out to the water.  We started at low tide (7:45 AM) in order to see if we could find any new shorebirds.  We didn’t, but did see a nice variety of stuff.

Group of American White Pelicans.  The kind that we get in Calgary, though they’ve not yet developed nose protuberances which they need in their spring mating rituals!

Two very large alligators were sunning very close to the road.  Warning signs said “do not get within 20 feet of these wild alligators – they can move very fast”.  Yet, people were lined up taking photos about 10 feet away!  Thank goodness for Bill’s big lens.

Snowy Egrets are both beautiful & comical.  Such gorgeous plumes but they accidentally walked through some yellow paint!

Reddish Egret finding a snack.

A HUGE flock of Tree Swallows swarmed above the water at one point.

At last we got a closer look at some Mottled Ducks.

Flowers blooming everywhere.  So enjoyable when we have pleasant temps.  As far as we know (late in the evening – no bites today!

Jan. 12:  Bill’s cousin Jimmy Clark’s 80th Birthday!  He’s an absolute sweetheart & we send him love & good wishes!

We walked 4 miles of boardwalks at the Corkscrew Audubon Sanctuary today.  It was a lovely day & not too busy at the beginning (though it got crowded later & we left earlier than planned.

One of our first sightings was this cute little Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  As you can see he left “straight up” into the air!

A “wild” White Ibis searched for food underwater.  (By “wild” I mean not mooching at a fast food restaurant or scrounging in an RV park!)

We must’ve seen & heard at least a dozen gray Catbirds.

Since this sanctuary is used by BSA (Boy Scouts of America), there are colored posters along the handrails at various points, to help people identify wildlife.  This Eastern Cottonmouth was at first curled up “well below” the walkway), but started moving after it got a little warmer.  Its sign was right above it!  The reason for the name is because its mouth is pure white inside.  When threatened, it coils & opens its mouth very wide so you can see the white.

There were lots of beautiful marsh flowers around. We’ve seen most of them before, but always worth another shot.

There were 2 Anhingas, one drying its wings.  Beautiful feathers.

Black-crowned Night Heron

A few of the marshy areas were inhabited by lake lettuce.  This is a very attractive  plant for many species, so lots of life around them.  Looks good enough to eat!

A cute little Carolina Wren.

The usual Northern Cardinal which we see & hear everywhere!

There were a pair of Eastern Phoebes catching flies in the sunshine.

This Common Grackle has a lot of irridescent purple around its neck in Florida.  In our neck of the woods (if you’ll pardon the pun), they have more blue.

I swear this little Mourning Dove turned & winked at me!

Now for the piece de resistance.  This is not a Lifer, because we’ve both seen females before, but not a male (for nearly 40 years) – so it’s almost a Lifer.

Painted Bunting.  One of the most beautiful birds in NA & is on the cover of a few bird guides I know.  There were at least 4 males & 3 females.  Females are yellow & green.  Made our day!

Next couple of days were a bit inclement, so we did laundry & caught up on other things.

Jan. 16:  As a matter of fact there were threats of tornadoes – the earliest they’ve ever been here in FL!  It rained a lot, but no tornadoes hit us, though the winds were strong & we had to take down the awnings.  Two people were killed north of us by a tornado – so thank God we weren’t hit here!  There were some young(ish) people TENTING next to us & at about 4 AM 1 of their tents nearly blew into us.  They had to get up & try to sleep in their vehicles until it was light.  They they packed up & left.  Camping isn’t fun in these winds & rain!  Yikes!

Off to the same Corkscrew Audubon Swamp again today.  A calm morning with lots of fog to start.  Temp went down to 12C overnight (good way to make fog).

One of our first sightings was a Yellow-throated Warbler – here are 2 different individuals in different places.  As I said before – you can never have too many of them!  We actually saw more warblers today than we ever have in Florida yet.  This included a Lifer – Prothonotary Warbler, but we didn’t get a photo of it.  As a matter of fact, we’d both seen it & weren’t sure what it was until we started looking through the book later & realized we’d seen it!  A completely yellow warbler with a more golden head & white under-tail coverts.  Yay!  We also weren’t sure about a sparrow we saw until we checked it against the book after we got home – but Bill thought it was a Swamp Sparrow – & yes, it was!

This is the most common Warbler we’ve seen in Florida – Palm Warbler.  It’s everywhere:  every RV park & most every place we visit.  Its telltale tail-bobbing & yellow under-tail coverts make it easy to identify.

We were thrilled to find a Barred Owl “out in the open”.  I have only ever seen 1 before (at Waskesiu) & it was flying by.  We’ve heard them quite a bit though.  Heard one the last time we were here – so great to see it, though pretty hidden up in the tree.  Bill shot it going both ways on the boardwalk.  Obviously just for the record.

This American Bittern was pretty tame & posed for a long time for all the people walking by on the boardwalk.

With all the fog & rain, the spider webs were glistening when the sun finally came out.

The White-eyed Vireos were singing madly (because, apparently, this is the season here & now in FL!).  They have a beautiful song.

For a bird with no color, the Black-and-white Warbler is very pretty.

This little baby aligator (about a foot long) was being guarded by its big momma!

This a record shot only – a Lifer for Bill (though I’ve seen about 4 times in TX & FL, he’s missed it each time!).  Northern Parula (which, by the way, has been seen & photographed in Saskatoon.  Another of those great birds we’re bound to see when we adopt our new home in SK!)

This group of waders are white-morph Great Blue Herons.  According to one birder we spoke to, they are so common in FL (especially the Keys) they feel it should be a separate species.  Not so sure myself, but we’ll see.  They even act differently, since there were 3 together here & one hardly ever sees 3 GB Herons together.

Bill surprised me with a butterfly photo – didn’t know he took it!

To end this edition of the blog, here is a lovely couple:  male & female Painted Buntings (for you can never have too many Painted Buntings!).  More later!

Jan. 10:  Our dear friend Lorne’s BD – he’s 75 (I think.  Though given my record who knows?).  I don’t even have a photo of Lorne to add to the blog!  Nonetheless, he’s wished the very best on his day!

Jan. 11:  This morning it was 13C outside – WOW!  Coolest day since we arrived in FL!  We slept with all the windows open & I had to pull up my extra blanket at about 4 AM!  Our morning walk was planned for the botanical gardens here in Naples.  It is BEAUTIFUL!  I can do nothing more than add lots of photos here.  I will not identify all the species, since I don’t know them all, so just enjoy this feast for the eyes.

One of our favourite sections was the orchid garden.

That’s all I included.  Bill took nearly 1000 photos, but honed them down to 700, so this was just a small sample.

At 4 PM we took the sunset boat tour in Rookery Bay just inside the barrier island in the Gulf.  It was a calm evening with some clouds around.

There are usually kayakers in the area because it is so calm & they can get into all the shallow bays.  Our boat had a fairly low draft, but with 10 passengers, a captain & guide, not like a kayak!

Waders are everywhere.  The clown feet of a Snowy Egret always crack me up.

Here’s another Snowy with his buddy, Little Blue Heron.

Great Blue Heron – king of the castle.

This is the prince:  Reddish Egret.  (In know he looks blue, but he can fluff out the red feathers around his head during mating season – or sometimes other emotions!)

Juvenile Brown Pelican.

The Osprey are starting to renew their vows.  They separate during the “off” season.  These manatee warning signs house several nests of Osprey.

You can see they’re getting a bit amorous (can’t you tell that look?  That’s the wife with the necklace!)

The Bald Eagles are getting ready to nest also.  Not sure if this one is on eggs yet, but this is the earliest place in the country for birds to start nesting activities!

Back in one of the coves we spotted a couple of Roseate Spoonbills.  One must be preening a pink wing – its spoonbill is silhouetted against it!

A nice find was a Peregrine Falcon.

We eventually drew nearer to one of the rookeries.  Both Bill  I thought it was mis-named, but upon checking, we found out a rookerie can also be a “haunt” for many birds, as well as a nesting site.

Birds flew in fron all directions, low on the water to catch a little warm updraft.

    There were thousands of birds & nearly every possible perch must have been taken.  It was a lovely evening & we enjoyed our first sojourn on the water!

I shall leave our next outing for another blog.  But there is one thing I need to say about Florida – the strawberries are absolutely amazing!  Sweet, red all the way through & delicious.  A far cry from winter strawberries in Calgary.  Yum!

Dec. 25:  Merry Christmas everyone!  Last night we watched “Scrooge” with Alastair Sim – our favourite.  Puts us right in the spirit of the season (despite the heat).  I still get weepy several times, even though I’ve seen it so many times (maybe more than “To Sir with Love”?).

We had a special appetizer on the 24th – shrimp cocktail with a tiny “shot” of white wine.  Had fish for dinner, but didn’t take a photo – nothing special.

Our breakfast on Xmas day is usually biscuits, bacon & syrup for Bill – eggs Benedict for me – but I’ve decided that’s too much work for one morning, so deleted the Bennie (Bill doesn’t like it).  Also had fruit  beforehand & tiny bottles of Calif. sparkling wine (ie. champagne).

We decided we needed to get out, since we’re going so stir crazy, so we headed almost an hour back to the mainland to Long Key State Park.  It was 26C when we got up, but quite windy.  A couple of sprinkles of rain on the windshield as we drove, but dry when we walked.  Was 30C when we got back to the truck. Yuck!

There is a nature trail through mangroves, etc. so we hoped we’d find a few birds.  These mangroves surround all the keys & sometimes form rather large islands offshore – but not habitable.

NOT A BIRD WAS HEARD (well, except for a Red-shouldered Hawk) & only a couple of sea birds flew over (pelican, cormorant).  We now GIVE UP on birding in the keys.

We did however, find a gray nickerbean which come 2 or 3 to a pod.  The pod is large, green (when immature), turns brown & splits, ejecting its wealth.  They are covered with short, sharp spikes (the pods). Apparently these are highly prized for making jewellery.

Along with this cool hermit crab, little holes dotted the sandy path – home of blue land crabs – which have a large pink claw on one side (for protection).

A beautiful mangrove skipper perched on a dayflower (two petals!).  Can you see the size of its proboscis?!  This butterfly has irredescent blue marks on its swallowtail & lots of white on its underbody (is that a word?).

Once again we saw some of these flowers with the peach leaves.  This one seemed to be in full flower – though those are rather small & not too showy.

We circled the Airport & Sombrero Golf Course looking for Burrowing Owls, but struck out.  The only life we saw were large green iguanas on the golf course.  The orange one is in breeding mode.

The book we’re using to guide us on this trip, was published in 2007, so things could definitely have changed over the past 8 years.  Or perhaps some of the flora has grown up since then.

For dinner it was BBQ cornish game hens, cornbread stuffing, roasted brussel sprouts & jellied cranberry (which comes in a half-sized can).  No spiced grape for us.  I’m trying to remember is if spiced grape came from the Larson side or the Bleakleys?

Dec. 26: Boxing Day.  Time to share the primos Xmas weather.  Dear cousin Steven Usher once again prompted us all to send photos of our Xmas.  Some were a day late, but here’s what we got.

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From Steven & Fran:  “Well it was 17 degrees here yesterday but only 10 degrees above normal at + 5 today, Christmas Day in Ashburn Ontario, Canada.”

(& doesn’t their beautiful heritage home look festive with the xmas lights!?)

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From Erling & Anne Larson in Nanoose Bay, BC (Vancouver Island):

“Today is about 8 above and sunny. Here are our roses still in bloom. Hah! Beat that…..”

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From Lorne & Nancy Larson in Cambridge, England:  “These were taken at 0915 on Boxing Day when it was 15 degrees. Sorry, no roses, just a few lonely snowdrops.  Highly unseasonal, unsettled weather. Extensive flooding in Cumbria.  I believe there is such a thing called a sun!”

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From Jane Usher & Robyn & Arnie Palmer – Cochrane, AB: “Boxing Day shot, backyard, Cochrane: minus 27 C, not factoring the windchill! Now if I could just get my car to start…”

(Note from Lois – trees are red due to early morning sunlight!)

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From Lois & Bill Lang, Cudjoe Key, FL:  “It is still sweltering – with temps around 30C every day (lows overnight only about 25 or 26). After 2+ months of this, we’d welcome snow! It may look idyllic, but it is NOT for us!”

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From Karen & Harold Mickelson – on their farm near Hazlet, SK:  “………I like your ‘no snow’ photo better. Note Harolds duel patriotism.
I prefer the Union Jack, actually. And I love your Christmas lights. Harold
says it looks just like our house…..only prettier!
Enjoy the Season! Love & hugs to all!!!”

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Kirk Larson & Joy Paul (who live in Saskatoon) are in Palm Springs.  As Kirk’s twin, Karen says: this one should win the prize!”

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We heard from:  Ontario, Alberta, BC, California, Florida & England!

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Dec. 26, 27, 28 & 29:  Stayed in – too hot.  Bill got sick on the 28th & has been coughing & staying in bed most of the time.  Oh, woe is he!  Nothing like a sick man, I say!  I am pampering him & giving him milk toast (which is what he craves when sick).

We have been trying to get our AC fixed.  We have 2 zones & each has a slight problem.  One is dripping water – & one is not keeping cool enough.  They do balance each other out.  We also need our furnace fixed – it doesn’t stay on –  we definitely need it to get home!  We’re desperately trying to get out of here as soon as we can & head for AZ where it’s nice & cool.  Will let you know!

Bill has been in bed with a terrible cough (coughing wakes him up at night & while he sleeps during the day).  Today (29th) I called the paramedics to check him out.  He just wasn’t himself, let the sewer water run over to flood our trailer, couldn’t hold his water bottle & drink from it, saw things which weren’t there, & was shaking.  The EMT’s said everything checked out & to give him some food & liquids & see how he is in the morning.  Fingers crossed!

Dec. 30:  Billy Boy is coming back!  We indeed made it back to Miami & a visit from the RV repair folks who solved our AC problems!  (Still need to fix the furnace.)

Dec. 31:  New Year’s Eve day.  Bill coughed through the day & I did laundry.  However, we are pretty sure we saw a Bahama Mockingbird outside out trailer (eating an avocado someone had thrown out).  This would indeed be a Lifer, but we’re going to check again tomorrow & see if we vcan get a photo.  Billy watched his Oklahoma Sooners get beat by a much better team this aft. So when we drank champagne at 7:30, we were drowing our sorrows.  We toasted to a cooler 2016.

Enough of my crotchety talk – apparently no one has any sympathy for us. As you can see, I’m relegated to taking iPhone pictures of food & using other people’s photos.  It’s a sad life!

Happy New Year everyone!

Dec. 16:  An interesting drive out to the keys, connected by many bridges.  Arrived at Cudjoe Key to an extremely large (over 650 spaces) gated RV/rental/homeowner facility.  There are a small number of RV spots, lots of homes that are owned & some home rentals. Our spot is close to the water & we’ve already seen pelicans & Magnificent Frigatebirds flying over.  It was 30C when we arrived – just too hot.  We hate to think we’ll spend most of our time in the trailer, but hoping there are some good birding places we can drive to.

Dec. 16:  A day of reconnaissance.  Checked out some parks we can visit on Key West, then found out we can’t get onto the ferry which goes for 2 and a half hours out to the Dry Tortugas National Park (& Fort Jefferson which was built in the mid-1800’s).  The weather is just so terrible for us – the heat.  No respite in sight for the 2 weeks we’re here.  It may go down to 23 Saturday, but I don’t believe the weather until I see it!  Every day they say the high will be 27 & it’s 30!  Yuck!  We had a very serious conversation about whether we could get home faster & get out of here.  However it would take so much re-configuring that we finally gave up.  Looking at the Tampa 14-day forecast, it shows a dip in the temp (below 10C) at the end of that period.  So we’re hopeful that when we get to the “other side”, it will be cooler (fingers crossed).

Dec. 17:  Already 27C when we got up.  It usually only varies about 2 to 5 degrees at night, so we have the AC on ALL THE TIME!  Luckily we have 2 zones, so the kitties can have a warm area at the front end of the trailer, (where they also have heated beds) & we can have a cool bedroom for sleeping.

Here they are in their sunny window – that’s a heated bed on the left (& there’s 1 on the right).

There are a lot of feral chickens here, so thought it only fair to include this handsome fellow.  The first bird we saw & heard (yep, crowing!) when we parked the truck.  Very rakish with his side-swept comb!

This visit is to an indigenous facility where people bring injured birds (of the area0 & they try to rehabilitate & free them.  Some can’t be set free if they’re too badly injured, so are kept there.

This Broad-winged Hawk was perched on a wire overlooking a hard with lots of Eurasian Collared Doves.  Hopefully he took one of them!  They have spread all the way to Alberta!

They may be quite pretty, but they are taking over!

We aren’t sure if this juvenile White-crowned Pigeon was injured, but he mixed with the crowd of Eur.-collared.  So this is our Lifer a little closer, but not an adult with the white crown.  Still hoping!

As we left this park, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker landed on a palm tree.  Further investiagation showed it visits regularly as there are rows of tiny holes up & down the trunk.  Who knew palms had such delicious sap?  Palm syrup on your pancakes?

On to the botanical gardens.  This is especially for those who love exotic tropical plants but we were hoping some birds would be here.

On our first turn I spied this little brown anole lizard on a post, inflating his throat pouch!  Too bad we weren’t on the other side, since that pouch was bright red!

First pond we stopped at, we heard a huge “splash”!  Then out of the water came this green iguana!  Head facing the other way, but you can see its back feet & striped tail.

There were a number of butterflies, but this beautiful giant swallowtail was magnificent!  About 4″ across (maybe a little more) – caught in flight by Bill.

A lovely orange barred sulphur butterfly was smaller, but such a rich, soft color.

We’ve seen a few little Pied-billed Grebes (which lose their pied bills in the winter!).  This one was glowing in the sun.

There are lots of beautiful leaf patterns & colors.

Not much in the way of other birds here, but as we entered the parking lot quite a few Magnificent Frigatebirds flew over.  This is a juvenile with a white head & throat.  Males are completely black (but have a huge, red, inflatable pouch, which puts the little lizard to shame!).  Females have a white throat & breast.  It takes 3 years for a juvenile to acquire its adult plumage, but both m & f look the same the 1st 2 years.

That was enough for us – hot, sweaty, no wind to cool us – home!

Dec. 19:  It was 21C when we got up – so we opened up the trailer – YAY!  What a lovely day!  We will likely only get a couple of these cooler days, then back up to 30 for the rest of the time.  Took a short walk on a nature trail we hadn’t visited earlier.

Saw a Great-crested Flycatcher.  Poor light but a record shot.  Too bad because he has such a lovely bright yellow belly.  We also found another juvenile White-crowned Pigeon, but no point putting another photo in or it!  We’re waiting for an adult!

Bougainvillea abound everywhere.

These interesting trees (sea grape) are also common – their leaves have many different colors & vary in size from 3″ across to almost 10″!

As we drove through Key West, we inadvertantly drove past the signpost which reads “Southernmost point of continental USA“.  Everyone & their dog (literally!) were taking selfies beside this post.

Dec. 19:  Another glorious day of cooler weather (but very windy).  We have every window open & the screen door.  Such a huge relief!  Just to have that much fresh air coming through is wonderful.  It begins to feel stuffy, even when cooled with AC.  Did a bit of laundry & Bill worked.  I have been having a great time reading mystery novels!  What a luxury!

Dec. 20:  Today we drove back toward the mainland to Pine Key.  There is a park here which protects its Key deer.  They are a subspecies of white-tailed deer, but are the smallest deer in NA.

The females (like this one) are only about 2′ high at the shoulder; males almost 2 1/2′.  I saw a photo on the internet of someone holding a fawn in their 2 hands, like is was a little puppy or kitten.  This little one was grazing alongside the road – which makes them so endangered.  They love to come into peoples’ yards to eat grass & flowers, especially foraging at night.  There are warning signs along all the roads to watch for deer.  They are able to swim between Keys & only live in the Keys.

It wasn’t a great birding day.  Every place with a beach is JAMMED with tourists.  Of course it’s a holiday time & they are everywhere.  Nonetheless, Bill took some shots of this Royal Term hunting along the shore.

Plant life is amazing.  How neat is this shrub with the leaves which look like green berries?  No idea what it is.

On a windy, hot day, this is a good sport to choose!

Dec. 21, 22, 23:  Stayed in – Too hot to go out.  30C every day & feels like 33 with 90+% humidity.  Werious talk now about going home early.  Bill has, as a matter fact, plotted a course earlier than we’d planned, but we have to keep to the schedule until we reach Tampa, where we can get a couple of things fixed on the trailer.

Sorry Desiree, I don’t have a better photo of you, but this is taken out of a group shot at R&A’s wedding party.  At least you are giving us your beautiful smile.  It was Des’ 32nd birthday on the 23rd (I hope that’s right – given my horrible messup re Steve & Fran’s BD’s!).  She is my niece (well, my cousin Kim’s daughter, but feels like a niece)  & an amazing woman.  She took the extremely rigorous sports massage course in BC (the hardest in the country) which she found quite difficult & took her a few times to pass everything.  But she persevered & finally did it this fall – how amazing!  She is also getting married to a lovely man – Carm – next August.  So a banner year for this young woman.  Way to go Des!  We love you!

I think I will post this blog, since I will include some Xmas stuff in the next one.  No more new birds to report for now.

Merry Christmas everyone & Happy Holidays!

Dec. 11:  Forecast is for possible thundershowers, but that was in Miami.  In Florida City (right next to the park) it was for sunny – so we set off.  Drove a different route today – much better traffic.

It was a bit foggy w/ temps at 22C this morning.  This group of Black Vultures were silhouetted against the fog.

The sun came out very soon & a Glossy Ibis strutted his stuff.

Still some fog in the sky, highlighting this flock of White Ibis.  We stopped at a field near a research station to listen to a bird song we didn’t know.  Hard to find in the dense grass, then 2 mowers started up about 100 yards away – absolutely roaring – there went that possibility.

This is where the Nike missile was placed during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.  Now the buildings serve as a study area for the national park.  Of course, Cuba is right offshore the Keys (where we go next Wed.).

All we found were Eastern Meadowlarks – lots of them – & some were singing.  (This is especially for Tarie, though it’s not quite “our” song.)

There are Amer. Kestrels most every place we go.  Quite plentiful – unlike some hawk species.  Sometimes we see them every mile, perched on telephone lines.  (Are they really telephone lines?  I think not!  Just electric wires I think – oh, I’m old!)

The skies were clearing in our area, but potential thunderclouds were building on the eastern horizon.  That stand of trees are short-leafed pines standing tall.  Habitat for Brown-headed Nuthatches, which we searched for diligently, but came up with nothing (so far).

This Amer. Crow had to go in for mug shots.  He’s not very tall, so none of the height marking appear.  I’d say he’s about 6″ tall.

As we travelled along the tall pines, looking for the nuthatch, all we found to photograph was this Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

We took a walk at one of the trails (still after the nuthatch but found this tiny white-topped sedge or star rush.

And this lovely pink false foxglove which has tiny purple dots in the middle.

This privet cassia was glowing in the sun – with long stamen shadowed on a petal.

As we exited the trail beside the information kiosk, this large spider (about 5″ long) glowed in the sun on its web – golden silk (banana) spider.  It is a welcome addition in the crop-growing area due to the number of pests it devours.

The temp by this point was 29C – waaayyy too hot for us, so we decided to head slowly back.  No more walking today – we’re at our limit!

At one stop, Bill could photograph a Green Heron & a Little Blue Heron from the windows in the truck – 1 on the left, 1 on the right, from his dirver’s seat.

As we headed back home Bill spied this Amer. Bittern by the road.  We had to turn around & go back to get him & he left almost right away.  Luckily Bill is quick on the draw!

Thunder clouds continued to build & we had a smattering (spattering?) of rain as we headed back.  Some of the drops were huge, but it didn’t last long.  We’ve gotten lots of mosquito bites, although they’re not quite as itchy as the no-see-ums.  I have over 15 bites – right through my clothes, even then I’ve used a Deep Woods Off wet-wipe to rub over all my bare skin, then sprayed with #30 DEET spray over top of my clothes.  These mosquitoes have no shame!

In the afternoon at our RV site, a Santa Clause parade made its way through the park (which is very large, with about 10 pods, 12 sites to a pod.  It consisted of horses & ponies decked out in colored sashes, etc. & of course, a Santa on a decorated trailer pulled by a golf cart.  Imagine wearing a Santa suit in blazing sun with 28C temps – YIKES!  I felt sorry for the horses!

Dec. 12:  A day of chores, including finding a Benjamin Moore paint store so we can pick out the color for our kitchen cabinets, walls & trim.  Also both got a haircut from a lovely hairdresser names Isabelle at Oasis Salon.  All good there (but Jackie & Gina – don’t worry, you haven’t lost our patronage!).

Dec. 13:  Up early to hike before it gets hot.  Took in the sunrise over the Everglades.

As we travelled to our destination, we spied a huge group of herons/egrets at a pond, so stopped to take a photo.  You should hear the noise!  They make the most raucous croaking sounds & there were fights going on everywyere – over a hundred birds.

We thought we’d try Rowdy Bend trail, since it looks a little better than Snake Bight.  However, we soon realized that it was a bust.  The trail started off as a 2-track road, but that ended soon.  We realized that the trail goes off into dense bush & we had no desire to go there (for over 2 miles).

We did however, see several Gray Catbirds at the end of the road & a Pine Warbler.  Bill caught this catbird flipping around!

(Aside:  When we got back to a place that had cellular coverage, we checked our email.  Our birding bud Don (in SK) sent photos of a Pine Warbler seen in Saskatoon the other day at a feeder.  This means we didn’t have to come here to these terrible conditions to see one – ACK!)

At least the insects were cooperating (ha ha) – but we found this lovely Buckeye butterfly amongst the mosquitoes.

Here is a peach colored version that looks very similar to the white sedge from yesterday.  I could not identify it.

I’ve seen this flower before, but no photos until now.  I think it may be related to tropical heliconias?

Raindrops on a purple morning glory.

So we went over to the Snake Bight trail & walked for over an hour.  Said it was 1.6 miles to the ocean, but we gave up.  The path isn’t maintained so we had to pull back branches, trees, etc. to get through.  Clouds of mosquitoes accompanied us all the way.  At one point I had to pee & as I squatted, as I looked at the ground, all I could see were clouds of the things.  (& the answer is ‘yes’ – I got bitten on my most private parts – yikes!)  I should have just held it!  (Is this TMI?  [Too Much Information]?)

Not only the bites, but rarely a bird was heard.  Near the end of our walk we scared up a large group of herons/egrets again, who moved forward every time we did.  We finally got tired of beating through the bushes & turned back.

Bill snapped this Red-shouldered Hawk hunched in a tree top on our way out.

What a terrible experience.  We are both COVERED in bites, stinkin’ hot & sweaty – plus covered in a thick layer of insect repellant.  And NO FLAMINGOES to show for our trouble.  Both of us showered when we got home.  Yikes!  (& Damn it – if Don writes that they’ve seen flamingoes in Saskatchewan – I’ll throw up!)

Dec. 14:  A day at “home”.  Groceries, cleaning, etc.  So we stopped at Walmart to find #40 DEET insect repellant (not that it’ll make any difference, but here’s hoping), both wipes & spray!

As well as the bites between my legs, I got bitten on the eyelid (they get right under ones glasses, you know) which has almost given me a black eye.  Here’s what it looks like.

Bill has nearly 20 on his tummy, right above his holster & belt.  The thing is, we don’t react to mosquitoes at home in the same way.  These raise welts, we scratch them until they open up & then they ooze.  It’s disgusting!! The itch lasts for 3-4 days at least & we’ve found nothing to relieve it!

Preparing (as in girding our loins with DEET) for one more day out tomorrow, then off to the Keys!

Dec. 15:  Last trip to the Everglades this stay.  We will return here at the end of our 2 weeks in the Keys to stay another week.

Quite a clear day with just a few clouds around.  A stand of trees with small dead trees scattered amongst the grasses (close up you can see the water standing on the ground).  The little tree trunks widen near the bottom – I assume to store water?

The temp was 20C when we left in the morning, however, by 9:20 it was 27.  Got up to 31 – ACK!

We walked the short boardwalk at Mahogany Hammock which is all under the shade of large trees.  Boy was it worth it!

This is a White-crowned Pigeon – a Lifer!  We’d certainly been hoping to see one.  It is not quite an adult, since its crown was still a light gray, not quite white.  But it had the characteristic neck streaks.  We ran into a couple of other birders, so went back to tell them about it.

They, in turn, showed us a Worm-eating Warbler – #2 Lifer for the day!  It has a striped head, with white down the middle, black on each side of that, then yellow & another black!  Very active eating worms, so tough to get a good photo.  At least it is a record.

We also saw a Northern Parula (which can be easily seen in SK, by the way).  I saw one last year in TX, but Bill didn’t get to see it.  This time he saw it, but couldn’t get a photo.

So, 3 Lifers on one short walk – Wow!

One last stop at the tower (covered, thank goodness).  In the water below this Florida cooter turtle dove into the shade.

This Zebra longwing butterfly didn’t stop flitting, but Bill was able to capture it w/ his machine-gun camera!

This is a huge agriculture area with nurseries & crops everywhere outside the towns.  This is a grove of gigantic (40′) Royal Palms for sale.

We drove around the farm areas awhile, looking for Shiny Cowbird, etc. but no luck this time.  We’ll try when we return.

Off to the Keys!

Oh, woe is me – complete idiocy on my part!  On my Nov. 24th blog post, I mis-identified one my Lifers.  The Ruddy Ground Dove was actually a Common Ground Dove.  Don’t know how it happened – just one of those things!  Please forgive me.  I have fixed the post.

NOTE:  You will also have to forgive my posting duplicate photos of birds on the blog.  The thing is, they are never the same & if I like them, in they go!

Dec. 5:  An adventure at Stormwater Treatment Area 5.  Just north of us, less than half an hour, is a series of roads which criss-cross a large area of canals & lakes/ponds used to help eliminate pollution from farming.  We knew where to go but didn’t know there would be a birding group going out today.  So we tagged along with the last volunteer from the parking area.  It was a rainy day & got rainier & ranier!  Out truck is a complete mud-heap at this point.

But it was great to see a Crested Caracara on the way in (too quick to photograph).  Bill wasn’t sure how his photos would turn out today due to all the rain & clouds.  You be the judge.

Just another Belted Kingfisher.  Just too pretty to pass up when it sat for us (& for Natasha as well).

Closer shots of a Roseate Spoonbill.  Really not the prettiest of birds close up, but just gorgeous flying.  Hoping to get a flock flying closeby sometime.

Now here are some of the yellow swamp flowers along the way – huge fields of them!  Not close enough to identify & I wasn’t getting out in the rain today to do it.

We passed a Green Heron which the woman didn’t call, but Bill took a quick shot  With better resolution you can actually see the raindrops in the air!

You wouldn’t know this with such poor light, but this is a Peregrine Falcon.

A Lifer: (I promise this time – but only in NA – seen previously in Central America).  Fulvous Whistling Duck are the 2 small, tan-looking ducks w/ dark rear ends & a white stripe above it  Left, centre, swimming away & to the right.  Interestingly, we noticed a Canvassback just to the right of them when we zoomed in!  Saw quite a few new ducks today.

Here is a Purple Swamphen – ANOTHER LIFER!  This time for real, since they are an escaped species.  They are originally found from the Middle East, through the Indian subcontinent to southern China and northern Thailand.

They are huge & look at the size of their feet!  They eat eggs & chicks from other birds as well as pull up vegetation with their large bills.

We eventually caught up with the group & went out again for a short time.  The most excitement was created when we spotted these 2 Tropical Kingbirds (not very common in Florida, I gather).  We have seen them before, but they were a lovely sight with bright yellow breasts amongst the yellow flowers.

Hiding in the reeds nearby was a Black-crowned Night Heron.  Can you spot it?

On the way out a large group of Snowy Egrets were feeding amongst the waterplants.

This Tri-colored Heron was with the above.

It was quite the adventure as we splished & splashed through the puddles & completely wiped out our white truck!  But it was lots of fun – a great day!

Dec. 6:  Stormwater Treatment Area 1:  Another truck day, but we stopped at this wetland & took along our scope to look far away.  There is only a viewing platform (covered, thank goodness).  Our most exciting find was another LIFER!!!  This is a White-cheeked Pintail.  Native to South America, there are a few seen in Florida.  We have no idea how rare it is, but they were courting & when we read about that behavior later, it was exactly right.  We had pretty good looks at them through the scope, but too far away to photograph.

This time we could see most of this croc basking along a canal.

Haven’t yet had a photo of the last of the heron-type species – a Cattle Egret. So many white birds everywhere, it is astounding.

We travelled for several miles along one of the canals to find a roosting place for Barn Owls.  Apparently as many as a dozen or so roost in this large stand of  cypress  trees.  Unfortunately, though we looked very carefully for about an hour, no owls were to be seen.

Could this have been the cause?  Perhaps – don’t know.  Bald Eagle perched on the top of this very stand of cypress!

Along the canal we found lots of water hyacinth.  Can’t resisit another shot of these beautiful flowers.

I didin’t see Bill take this – but how lovely.  Silhouettes of 4 Glossy Ibis in flight.

Dec.7:  Work for Billy/laundry & cleaning for me.

Dec. 8:  Frannie’s BD (this time I wished her a happy 59th, though it is her 61st.  A simple switcheroo with her hubby!)  Ha ha!  Here she is making toffee for Xmas on her BD!

We got out in the afternoon for a couple of hours, just driving canals nearby.  This Osprey was disturbed by us from its pleasant perch on the roof of a picnic kiosk, landing on the ground, looking put-out.

Dec. 9:  On to Miami!  First morning it’s been sunny when we got up – what the…???  we have to travel!  Oh well, nothing to be done.  The woman doing laundry  with me the other day (who has been coming here for 12 yeaars), said she’s never seen a wetter or hotter Nov/Dec.   Just our luck!

So we’re in Miami (well, a suburb on the south end near Cutler Bay), less than an hour’s drive from the Everglades National Park.

Dec. 10:  Off to the Florida Everglades!  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was indeed very wet & flat.  There is only 1 road into it which cuts through & has several hiking trails branching off which are all paved & usually only about a half-mile loop.  A few are longer.  Small outcrops of trees throughout, with some elevations reaching 4 feet!

Lots of marsh lilies blooming.

Also yellow water lilies.

The 1st stop – Anhinga Amble trail, demonstrated what non-threatening humans can experience amongst wild animals.  We could walk to wihin 1 foot of these birds (& gators).

Here are the famous Anhingas from the trail name.

A look in the eye of a Great Blue Heron…

A Black Vulture…

A Great Egret…

& a gator!

A couple of feet away, a Green Heron…

and a Tri-colored Heron.

Our old friend the  Northern Mockingbird.

There were lots of epiphytes growing on the trees amongst the bogs.  Spotted a White-eyed Vireo, but it didn’t stay for a photo.

On our way back to the visitor center a gator was swimming in the large pond.

We also took another 1/2 mile loop  called “Gumbo Limbo”.  All it reminded me of (& you SK folks know what I mean) was being stuck in the muck, bent over backwards, trying to get under a limbo stick!  Ha!  I guess they have a different type of gumbo down here!

Nary a bird to be heard or seen, but a couple of attractive fungi.

At the parking area we spied a bird high in a large tree – finally got a shot – Yellow-throated Warbler.  Can never have enough photos of him!

Found a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk, along with a lovely adult (bottom L).

We see lots of the Red-bellied Woodpecker.  I was reading someone else’s blog & they were complaining that “that woodpecker doesn’t have a red belly!”  However, it actually has, but it’s difficult to see since it is mostly perched with its belly facing the tree – & another woodpecker is the red-headed.

A couple of shots of terrain in the everglades.  First an open grassland, though it is covered in water.  Second the mangroves.

In this little opening from the road we saw a group of Great & Snowy Egrets feeding busily.

I haven’t seen (nor photographed) but 1 other rattlesnake.  Here is one on the side of the road.  It was brought to our attention by a motorist going the other way.  It was very much alive, though Bill didn’t get very close.  He tried to scare it off the road by honking on the way by, but it didn’t move.  It’s tongue just flicked in & out of its mouth!

Enough for now.  Later you all!