Leave the Birds Alone

Before we get into my favorite subject, let's talk about the quilt, shall we? It must have been Memorial Day, a grey and dreary day here in Orlando, that I sat down and put all of those pairs together, and so on, and so on. I was left with this at the end of my first marathon sewing time.

One lonely pair. Beside the basket are the sections that then are joined into rows, in this case 17 rows. So many. However, I am getting closer with 11 rows done. And now I need to cut more fabric because, well you can do the math, I am way short!

One of these days we will be going from that blah cream to.well, the complete opposite!

Before we go further, there will be a lot of photographs in this post, far too many, but at least they will mostly all be different! Whenever I look a cooking blogs I am astonished at how many shots there are of the same dish.

Onward....

Today's title has to do with something Bruce said to me the other morning while we were practicing pickleball. Usually I stand on the East side of the court, facing Michigan. And if you are not impressed with me using East, you should be as it took me most of my life to get to the point where I can sometimes use directional terminology! Anyway, I will freely admit that oftentimes my eyes are darting to and fro looking for birds. Not really looking per se, merely if something flutters, I notice. So it was that my eyes were drawn to the huge power pole on Michigan. Seriously I could not help it! Exclaiming, "honey, I think I see the American Kestral!" Perhaps you recall the post wherein I wrote about Bruce rescuing the fallen bird , and then the rest of the story about when we went to the Avian Reconditioning Center with Matt and Tom that I wrote about here.  Now we are on the same page. Normally I leave my camera at home while we are playing, but in a stroke of luck, I had it with me.

It is insanely high up there so, even with the zoom lens, it isn't much of a picture, nevertheless, checking my photos, I saw that, indeed, it was the smallest raptor out there. Naturally I was distracted, my eyes continually darting up there, and it was then that Bruce said to me, "leave the birds alone." In other words, pay attention!!

Apparently, according to this article Nancy forwarded today, I am not alone, a fact that I am happy to report. Of course, you are a birdwatcher too, if you read this blog, by default! Thank you for doing so I might add. In backyard news, yesterday morning, while watching this fellow,

holy cow, he shot out of that hole like a canon, flying to a nearby tree! It was amazing! This morning I saw no sign of life at the hole, so whether or not that was the fledge for good, I'm not so sure. Updates forthcoming, as they happen.

Our birding friend, Candy, was shocked the other day when we told her that we had never been to Joe Overstreet Landing before. Frankly, we'd never heard of it. She said it was a fantastic place to see Snail Kites, another thing I'd never heard of before. Well, sick of being at home so much, we took to the road, taking the same route as when we traveled to Wild Florida, just a little further down the road. Actually a good bit further if you count the five miles off of Canoe Creek Road to get to the landing on Lake Kissimmee. Those five miles were great as we drove by sod farms and loads of grazing cattle.

We also saw a pack of vultures eating a racoon carcass, but I'll keep those photos to myself. :)

There are loads of reasons why this was such a great adventure, one of which were the stormy skies, something we've not seen for ages.

When we arrived there were quite a few pickup trucks and trailers in the parking area, and later on we discovered why when the fishermen returned to the dock, having participated in a tournament. Overhearing one of them, they claimed they'd seen a tornado, and with the looks of this sky, it would not surprise me one bit.

It was all very dramatic, adding to the fun. Backing up a bit, Bruce took his fishing pole to the dock while I took my camera for a walk. Oh boy, was I delighted when I saw a bird staying very still on a fence post. As is my custom, I took a shot from when I first noticed it.

Super cute, right? Creeping closer, it began singing.

On one leg, no less! Just when I wrote that the photos would all be different, I lied because here is a close up of this pretty bird that I learned is an Eastern Meadowlark, known for its' melodious song

So cute, right? Should that have been all I'd seen that day I would have been thrilled, but there's more!

So many, many dragonflies in that place as you will see in a bit. Now I began turning my attention to seeing a Snail Kite, a bird that is found only in mostly Southern Florida, and Central America. So, plenty rare. According to Candy, loads of birders go out on the airboats to see them but of course, those aren't happening right now. As a matter of fact, the boat ramps opened up maybe two weeks ago? So what does a Snail Kite look like? I was clueless; like a dummy I did not even look them up before going, however, my dumb move did not hurt me as they were flying all over the place. You've already seen one in the first stormy sky photo.

As we all know, I'm terrible at flight photographs, but it does not stop me from trying.

So, that's the underside, and here's the topside.

Doesn't it seem crazy that they eat Apple Snails and are considered birds of prey? You ask, what is an Apple Snail, and I've got the answer for you right here. Very few amongst you could care less what they are, but it's always helpful for me to look stuff up and I figure, why not share? The linked article answers a question I had while out on the dock, namely what are all those pink eggs? Now I know.

They swoop down, snagging up the snails, and carrying them to a safe space for consumption. An empty shell on the dock was about the size of an orange, according to Bruce. All in all, very exciting.

The fishermen all came and went, having caught and released loads of Bass, and we mostly had the place to ourselves when the slight sprinkles became a nice downpour, so thick we could barely make out the lake right in front of us.

After nearly six dry months we were thrilled to be undercover watching the rain pour down. There is a little store and RV campground connected to the air boat operator.

If you think the outside is colorful, take a look at the restroom!

I was very grateful for this surprisingly colorful spot!

Well, if you know anything about a Florida rainstorm, you know that it is often followed by bright sunshine, and that is just what happened. We'd brought along some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pretzels, grapes and a Coke, sitting at a lakeside picnic table in the shade of a big tree.

Our red lunch bag is the bright spot on the right. Let me tell you, it was so peaceful there. Oh my! Chirping birds and a few bulls in the adjacent pasture were the only sounds we heard. So nice. I'm nearly done reading Cross Creek, and I could not help but to think of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings while we were there because that book is such a love letter about rural Florida. 

While we were sitting there, I thought I noticed a bird on a fence post quite a ways away. Not surprised are you? Bruce observed the bulls up close while I creeped closer to the bird which turned out to be a resting Snail Kite. 

Once home, and looking at my photos, what really stands out in this subpar bird photo, is the number of dragonflies on that barbed wire. By my count there are at least 12!

As we drove the road back out to the main road, it was so good seeing the cattle, a big group of whom were sheltering under a small tree to stay cool under the hot Florida sun.

Driving home the sky alternated between bright blue and big storm clouds. One last stop before we made it home turned out to be fantastic, in more than one way. Firstly, when we pulled up to the trailhead, the first thing we noticed were loads of small birds flitting this way and that. I had to get out to investigate! What were they? 

Incredible sky, right? Anyway, the birds were small with forked tails. Because, by now, the light was difficult, I could hardly make out their colors to check my bird app. Nonetheless, I knew the forked tail would do the trick with enough sleuthing. Gosh were they ever cute!

I lightened the photo above, but still it is hard to tell that they have a navy blue back with rusty coloring on the throat. I loved those clouds, but for the sake of my one time seeing Barn Swallows, I wish the light had been more favorable!

 Most definitely a place we will have to revisit, if only for the peacefulness. It is on Sims Duda Road, off of 15A. The Duda name is familiar to many folks around here for being huge celery farmers.

You made it to the end of this post!! And we made it home before the heavens opened. The good news is that we've had more rain this week than we've had the prior five months, so here's hoping it continues as our lakes are super low.

As to Covid-19, the battle of the masks continues. Should they be worn or not? People are getting crazy over that hot topic! Nursing homes are still off limits to visitors so, no seeing Maureen, however, the last time I spoke with her, she remains the same, no better and no worse. 

I try to leave the birds alone, but it ain't easy!

your friend,

Gail