That Time of the Year

In our part of the world, there is a lot going on in the bird community, as you will soon see. One thing to keep in mind is that although I have written a fair amount of posts of late, with birds front and center, as with all things, this too shall pass. Remember when I kept posting photos of the owls and their owlets? Of course you do! And you probably remember thinking--will she ever quit?" She did. Of course that was not because I wanted to, but you go with what you see and I've seen all sorts of very cool bird goings on lately. Although I would love to show you what happened this morning, I can't do it because, of course, my computer is giving me fits. It has taken more than 45 minutes just to upload the following photos and I'm tearing my hair out just now, so it will have to await another day. Hint, hint--it involves, you guessed it! Owls!!

So, two things have kept me from blogging, one is the computer and secondly, spending time with either my husband, or Maureen. The former is good, the later, not so much. Then too, every single day provides photo ops, so actually doing that is keeping me outside, rather than in! Except for the heat which has been exceptional, it is a good time to be healthy and free.

Stepping onto the porch the other evening, I saw the light and rushed to get my camera to head down to the big lake. Even the walk there was all aglow.

 As you can see, earlier we'd had stormy weather which made for a fantastic sunset.

I will have you know that there are folks who live here that make the walk every single night to witness/photograph the sunset. To date I am not one of them, but who knows what the future holds? Not me that's for sure. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would have two very ill sisters at the same time. :(

Jane, Tom's Mum, sent me a book out of the blue and one afternoon, when the temperature hovered below 80 degrees, I went to read it down at the big lake. Birds just seem to appear out of nowhere.

One bird, or make that a flock of birds, that I was hoping would finally come to Lake Pineloch for their annual visit, is/was White Pelicans. It is that time of the year. Several FB friends posted photos of them in area lakes, but to date I'd not seen any. Susan, who lives on the big lake, was put on alert for their appearance. Please text me the minute you see them! Well, that she did while we were in the car heading to Winter Park. I was bummed.

Not to worry though because what to my wondering eyes should appear?

Actually, one of the first photos I took, when they appeared, as I was looking out our bedroom window is the one below showing them fishing in unison.

Right behind the house!! Cormorants by the dozens too. It was a wild time as all the regular shorebirds showed up too.

The pelicans paddled all over the lake almost, but not quite, out of range of my zoom. Oh friends, it was fun!

I would take a bunch of photos then head back inside to continue our project for the day which was re-organizing the bedroom closets. Then they might come closer and I was back at it.

They drew nearer and nearer and I took to taking photos out our bathroom window.

Before too much longer they took off, settling on the big lake. So thrilling to have them come to me. Plus, now our closets are super good and we've changed our minds and are keeping the storage unit for now. This whole condo living is a work in progress. A good one though, just different.

It seems like every day there is a new lake surprise. How about this happening now?

One yellow Tabebuia tree is good. A reflected one? Awesome baby!

While Bruce went to the gym one morning, I went back to Lake Eola for a walk. As it seems, there is always something to see and this particular morning was no exception. Great reflections:

Turtles:

New walking shoes for me too! I'm trying out the Sketcher brand and I'm pretty impressed. So far I've shown you the Cormorants from afar as they have been busy out in our lake. Well, I was able to photograph them fairly close at LE.

Remember those nesting Snowy Egrets, shown in my previous post? In the same area, these birds are nesting as well and apparently, defending their territory? Who knows?

Until I saw it on my computer, I had no idea this bird hung onto a piece of what appears to be rubber for the longest time.

Perhaps it is stuck? That eye color is fantastic isn't it? Wow! There are nesting swans:

As well as what appeared to be, abandoned eggs just laying there with no bird in sight.

It pains me to tell you that, try as I might, I could not find a single duckling that I showed you before. Circling the lake twice, I searched and searched to no avail.

I did see them filming a commercial for the pet website, Chewy.

That was one cute little doggie, I'll say that much. These folks were apparently waiting their turn in the limelight under an umbrella as the temperature rose.

Can you imagine how hot that St. Bernard must have been in this heat?

Later that day, or so I think it was, another text came in from Susan--they are back! The flock that visited me (!) was small compared to the one I saw on the big lake.

Much further away too! While watching I saw an Osprey and Hawk go after one another in the sky--very interesting. I also saw a Little Blue Heron hanging lakeside.

Should you be curious, Lake Pineloch is a spring fed clean lake, as you can see from the photo below taken along the shore.

I probably snuck in some bird photography on Friday, but what took up most of my day was a visit to Maureen, followed by a trip home with her laundry, followed again by a trip back to WT to deliver clean laundry. Maureen's friend Lynn came to visit and we took her outside in the shade for a time. Then it was dinnertime, bedtime, and holy cow--a week has passed!

Our dear friend Pam, she of the many, many talents, is heavily involved in the Master Gardeners program at the Agricultural Center.  So involved, in fact, that she not only diagnoses plant problems when folks bring them to the center, she even plants artichokes as part of an experimental program to see if they can be grown in Florida. A garden festival was held there yesterday, where it was my first time seeing artichokes on a plant. So cool!

Lots to say about all of that, but my time for blogging has run out. A new computer may be in my future this week. We shall see.

In the meantime, keep those prayers going my friends!

your friend,

Gail