Super Saturday!

Friday afternoon, Matt and Tom arrived safely from London after an uneventful flight. The Orlando airport was another story however, with long lines for getting through customs. In part, apparently, because they have removed the handy machines that allow for quicker processing. Then too, there are a lot of folks coming to Orlando for the holiday. Just ask Nancy who endured a harrowing, traffic chocked driving trip from Atlanta, with an 11 mile backup from I-75 to merge onto the Turnpike. Unimaginable really.

The agenda for Friday evening was for them to begin the adjustment to EST, five hours behind their time.  Mission accomplished, following dinner at Tijuana Flats, and watching a movie at home. Still, they woke very early, before us, and in what was the start of a big birding day, Tom pronounced that he'd seen TWO owls out back. Not that I've seen any lately;  I guess it took a British man for them to grace us with their presence.

Following breakfast, we got off to an early start to Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive with the plan of Matt being able to put his birthday gift from Tom to good use. You guessed it, binoculars! Bird watching runs in the family. We took some lovely roads there, and once in the gates, we began both, hearing and seeing, plenty of birds.

In spite of the heat, not as bad as earlier in the week, (thankfully) there were plenty of other folks making the 11 mile drive to see what they could see. Once before we've been, however, as far as I can recall, we did not see nearly the amount of gators as we did on this go round. We had not gone far on the ground limestone road when we saw our first gator. It became a bit of a sport, with tally marks used to keep track. This guy was, I believe, #2.

Sometimes they were a bit camouflaged, whereas other times, as you will soon see, they were right out in the open.

I've tried doing some research on this red algae, however, I'm coming up short. Found only in one area, I've no clue if it is good, or bad. The above algae, from prior information, is just fine, providing food for fish.

We know that there are fish because we saw one.

You may think I know a bit about birds and you would be right about that. A very little bit is more like it. It gets very complicated sorting out the males and females as well as the age range. Turns out, after Matt consulted his bird application, that the above is a Juvenile Female Anhinga.  Here's another example....I was thinking that I was seeing a new bird, only to learn that these are Juvenile Common Gallinules.

And while I don't take this birdwatching hobby quite as seriously as some, it is always nice to see something you've never seen before, like this Black-Necked Stilt.

Additionally, this duck looks new to me, but the identification escapes me.

Because there are so few big trees, Raptors are few and far between, however, we did see an Osprey. The flying bird is a mystery.

I had a little chat with an English woman who was out with her husband, both with serious long lenses, who visits frequently. She explained that the heat was not helping our cause, with the bird population diminishing as the temperature rises. So, instead of birds, as mentioned earlier, it was mostly about the gators. Bruce pulled over for us to have a better look, although don't worry, we were across the canal!

Uncertain if it were real, I assured Matt that it was, although they do stay mighty still. That is, until they don't!

This huge gator slid right into the water as we watched.

With a speed limit of 10MPH it is slow going with plenty of time to observe the scenery made up of marshy areas, and canals.

And the awesome clouds! That crushed limestone threw up plenty of dust on Bruce's freshly washed car. 😞

And while I miss the mountains of Vancouver, this was pretty nice too.

How many gators did we see? I think this big guy was our final one, with a final tally of 25!

Of course that pales in comparison with a visit to Gatorland, however, seeing so many in their completely natural habitat was amazing.

Because we weren't far from there, and it was something I'd been wanting to do for a while, we drove over to the the Avian Reconditioning Center to check on the baby American Kestral Bruce rescued. If you missed it, the story is here. While the wildlife drive was wonderful, our visit here put icing on the cake. The owner, shown below, gave us a little timeline of their large property, beginning in 1998 as an Audubon alternative.

We learned some things, including it is illegal to pick up downed bird feathers, a fact that blew me away. The hawks were not nearly as cooperative as he expected, but we did see a little bit of action. Astro is the name of one of the hawks, something that definitely caught our attention as that is name of one of Carol's dogs, or I guess now we have to say Hank instead. Who, btw, called us as we were leaving and he is doing well. The Harris's hawks were not as cooperative as he was hoping, but it was still cool seeing them.

Finally we learned what we'd come there for. A very helpful volunteer gave us all the information we were seeking. This little gal,

was Mothered by this big gal for about five weeks before returning to the wild of Lake County!!

Her name is Moira!! All Schitt's Creek fans will love that. Here's a close up,

and here she is from the back, which I just had to show you because of the polka dots!

Another helpful woman came in to the trailer, adding to the story...incredibly, she was in contact with biologists from across the state looking for a nest with chicks about the same age as "ours". With no matches available, it was up to Moira to feed her until she was fit for a more natural habitat. Aren't you just dying over this? So good. All for one little chick Bruce found in the grass alongside Michigan Street.

The coral clad woman was all set to take Moira outside for us, however, stomachs were seriously growling, so we took our leave, stopping at Chipolte on the way home. Later on, Bruce joined David and Bill, along with three other guys, to attend a wrestling show nearby. As some of you know, David is a walking wrestling encyclopedia, owning the largest collection of wrestling cards in the US. Maybe even the world. Probably. Matt and Tom began work on the unopened puzzle I received for Christmas which has been waiting for their expertise.

Meanwhile I walked down to the lake, thinking I detected a bit of color in the sky. Yup...a tiny bit.

Indeed, it was a super Saturday, from beginning to end.

your friend,

Gail

14 More Weeks to Go!

While I haven't done the counting myself, a landscaper we talked to on our morning walk today said he manages working in the heat just that way. "Only 14 more weeks!", he proclaimed. God bless those folks who do work in this stifling heat. And, not very long after publishing my last post, we saw the last of rain for five days and counting. This guy appeared on our front walk the morning following our last rainfall.

Nature is so darn amazing, isn't it?

Last Friday our plan was to go to Cocoa Beach and it was a good one, that is until we ran into a problem. Leaving the property, the tire light came on, not something you want to see when you plan on driving 110 miles. WaWa has an air pump and being nearby, that is where we went. The problem was not solved. Heading South on Orange Avenue, we visited the tire place only to be told it would take a few hours until they could get to it. While we could have taken my car at this point, it was getting a little too late for my liking. Instead, Bruce dropped me off and I went to the front pool for the first time. Why so? The lake pool is generally where I go, however, it was being shocked. As I soon learned, the front pool is pretty darn great as well.

Then, when my friend Winnie and her adorable grandson arrived, it got even better. It was so much fun being around a little one who is learning to swim.

Right about now I want to admit something--I was super surprised that very few folks had anything to say about the wrestling swans in my last post.  Can I be honest with you? It hurts my feelings a wee bit when people are quiet.

With that out of the way, a swan update for those who were interested. As we walked around Lake Cherokee this morning we saw but ONE parent and cygnet. Bruce was depressed as we carried on. When we got to the car I suggested we take one more look from the comfort of our air conditioned car. Friends, we did find the other parent, but there is no sign of one of the cygnets which really surprises me because they tend to have a decent survival rate. The other day we ran into Candy, a photography friend, who asked us if we'd seen the new Wood ducklings on Lake Davis. I was able to answer, "oh yes we did, and they are darn cute!"

She mentioned that they are good parents and the ducklings tend to live longer. I wish that were true on our lake, but of the batches we had this Spring, only two have managed to become juveniles. I hope more of these little cuties from Lake Davis make it!

Hard to imagine in this heat, but there are some flowers blooming around the city.

As I type, it is 97 degrees outdoors! Inside, 20 degrees cooler, thank God! And although we now are in dire need of rain again, I do hope we have some nice weather while Matt and Tom are here. Is it too much to ask for both sun and rain? I think not!!  It has been 18 months since last we saw them, so we are obviously very excited for their Friday arrival.

Lake Pineloch, meanwhile, really filled up during out last bout of rain.

While waiting on Bruce, I picked up a book entitled, Saints and Villians from the church library which is fantastic. Super sad, but good at the same time, it tells a fictionalized story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, about whom I knew nothing. The last time it was checked out? The year 2000. It is hard to put down, but put it down I did when we went to Cocoa on Saturday morning, arriving in short order around 9 in the morning. I liked it way more than I did our trip to New Smyrna, not the least because getting there is so simple. Then too, there was a lot of activity going on, as well as very little seaweed. Pelicans fishing,

Cross-fit folks,

and a very busy pier.

In other words, way more to photograph! Because of the previous rains, the water temperature was much cooler, however, once you dive in, it was very refreshing. Aside from one walk, and some swimming, we spent our time under an umbrella because we are as brown as berries around here. It was a bit hazy which cannot be considered a bad thing as it helps filter the hot June sunshine.

Notice anything unusual? This was about as big as the waves got much to the chagrin of the surfers.

The paddle board folks were happy though.

That same evening we were looking for something to watch on Netflix and came across this ten episode show.  Oh my goodness! So good, in fact so much so (that's a lot of so's I do realize!) that we skipped our usual going out to lunch after church thing so we could get home to finish it. Thinking we were onto something, I sent Michelle a text to watch it and her reply, "wasn't it so good?" Same with Fallon; I guess we are late to the party, huh? Speaking of the two of them, Michelle sent me a photo on Sunday morning of, get this, a Black Bear walking down Bill and Fallon's street!!! In this story,  you will see the bear heading towards Bill's vehicle. Unbelievable so close to downtown!! Since that time it has roamed to a neighborhood off of Conway Road, last I heard. Here's hoping it makes it back to where it came from without injury.

I've got some cookies underway so that's it for today folks. Stay cool if you can.

your friend,

Gail

A Swan Tale

Having a rain gauge is the best! How else would we know that we've had 7.1 inches of rain beginning on Sunday? Although they print the rainfall in our newspaper, where they measure it seems to receive far less than we do. As an example, yesterday afternoon's storm produced more than two inches here, whereas the newspaper printed, .68. Interesting, right?

Following the massive storms, we finally had a sunset, the first in what feels like weeks.

But this photo-intensive post is not about the weather, rather it is about an astonishing display of nature we witnessed two days ago. An immigration story, if you will.

Firstly, let me set the stage---Bruce and I were walking around Lake Davis, enjoying the sights, including another family of Common Galinulles. Actually there are three chicks, one is behind the parent's neck.

Plus, we came across a Mallard family that was cute as a button.

It was around this part of the lake that we saw the family of Swans from Lake Cherokee, thinking how interesting it was that they had crossed busy Summerlin Ave. There were lots of birds in this area, including another little family of, you guessed it, Gallinules who were shooing the Swan away from their chicks.

Mama Swan returned to her Cygnets,

while the Gallinules resumed their parental duties.

All seemed right with the world, until it wasn't. Mr. Lake Davis started flapping his way at lightening speed across the lake towards the Lake Cherokee family, engaging in a fierce battle between the males the likes of which we'd never seen before.

We were absolutely speechless as we watched them wrestle, wrapping their necks around one another.

Wings aloft...

Honestly, it was just unbelievable how they kept at it, both Bruce and I wondering if they fought to the death.  (researching the topic, while a possibility, unlikely)

Wrapping their necks around one another they bit ferociously with feathers flying.

With wing spans up to 9ft, you can imagine the commotion. Now is probably a good time to mention that I got the best shots I could, having to shoot into the sunshine. Not ideal for photography to say the least. In any case, after some time the entire Lake Davis family came to observe,

and then the females started going at it while the kids watched.

Eventually, it seemed to slow down somewhat, with the LD male chasing the other out of the lake,

only to resume the fight on the shoreline,

followed by a spat on land. Funny picture of Bruce jumping out of their way!

All the while there was a woman who had been walking her dog, observing with us, as well as the boy in blue shorts that you can't see. He had picked up a fallen palm limb, and I think was going to try breaking it up.

The phrase "let nature take its course" comes to mind in this instance. Which is mostly what happened next. After 26 minutes of fighting it came to an end, with the LD male finally settling down,

after successfully forcing the LC family to leave his lake. As to nature taking its course, Bruce did make sure they got across Summerlin safely.

He took a nice little video, if you can call this happening nice, and in the interest of nature watching, I suppose you can. Anyway, I will attempt to attach it to my page in case you prefer live action! As we were leaving for our walk I mentioned that I did not have my phone, but he could track our mileage on his, thus I have no video. But I do have photographs that I hope will give you a sense of how amazing it was.

And to those of you concerned for the Lake Cherokee family, I did the walk yesterday, before the deluge, and checked in on them. Papa has some bites,

but otherwise seems to be doing fine. As does the whole little family who I hope have learned their lesson....for safety's sake, stay in your own lake!

On the other hand, there are multiple pairs of swans on Lake Eola that coexist peacefully. Hmmm......

And with that, I'm hoping I will be able to go swimming myself today as we are not meant to have rain for a few hours. Bruce is working at the church, and Herbert  just left after fixing a leak in our sunroom awning. When the next storm hits, we will know for sure.

Oh my gosh, a little bird just flew onto my window!!! Plus, we've been having birds at our feeder!

your friend,

Gail