You often hear people say that once they are retired, they wonder how they found time for a job. Entirely true. Not that I have held a job for a long time, but watching it happen with Bruce has been fascinating. With him home now, the majority of the time, I'm busier than ever and the weeks are flying by.
Let's start with something beautiful I saw this week along the property canal. Who planted it is a mystery to me, but I am sure glad they did because what a beautiful sight to encounter!
When last we met, I mentioned the birthday cookout for Bill and Dave's 40th where they did all of the cooking. Bill loves to grill shrimp.
Nancy was still here, so she joined the festivities...
Michelle loves party favors, think my giant 65 birthday balloons, however, David said only something small, thus the 40 "necklaces." I fried some okra and made a big bowl of potato salad that folks are getting into below.
I'd made some earlier in the week and Fallon (blond), said she was dying for some and when your daughter-in-law says she's dying for something, you deliver. Just before night fall I'd taken my camera home and wouldn't you know it, an owl landed on the beach, eventually flying into the tree by the time I returned with my Olympus!
Heading back to Dave and Michelle's, the "boys" cut their cake with Michelle insisting they do it together for fun. Bill was keen on that for a moment, thus this funny shot of him pulling back in a hurry.
I guess by the time a twin is 40 they are accustomed to sharing a cake, but you have to wonder as a singleton, what it feels like to be a twin. I've read that the relationship between identical twins is pretty much the closest human relationship possible. Have you ever read much about identical twins? Probably not, but it is a fascinating topic that we've been privileged to witness in person.
Well, I got five photos deep before a bird came into the picture, so to speak.
How a Mute Swan ended up in Lake Willisara is beyond me. I have, on the other hand seen a Tri-Colored Heron before, but they are so awesome, well, why not share?
Boo hoo and boo hoo some more. This little family is now missing all of their ducklings. (another set than I previously showed you) Within a matter of a day or two and they had vanished.
The guest bathroom is getting a makeover with a new floor and shower tile...thinking of this combo.
I try to be plain, but then again, where's the fun in that?
Lovely to spend a fun evening with our friends at the Citrus Club where the sunset view is fab.
As if I don't get enough birds at home, I asked Bruce if he were up to a trip to Gatorland to witness the breeding birds in action. He's such a good guy.
Stopping first to say hello to the Flamingos,
we made our way over to the breeding marsh where there are hundreds of wading birds, nests, chicks and of course gators!
Standing in line who should we see but Sally, one of the Southern Oak gang, who was there to photograph the birds as well. It was fun having someone to share the joy of bird watching with. Not that Bruce isn't good about it, but his enthusiasm has its limits! Seriously how can a person not go crazy when stuff like this happens right in front of you?
That blue bill is fantastic. Their eggs are blue too. Say that a few times fast!
You can tell breeding birds primarily from their color changes, in both the beak, and sometimes the feet. Of course when this happens, well you know it is breeding season.
Usually Anhingas are not at the top of my list, but goodness, during this time of the year, look how cool they look. Sally and I watched in fascination as the bird kept moving his wings while on the branch. Words fail, maybe a picture will do the trick?
Just when I explained about the color changes, I have to add one more change to the list--that turquoise ring around the eye. The object of his affection?
This is a Snowy Egret having quite the hair day.
The Great Egret chicks kept up some serious racket with the parent all but ignoring them.
Some entertainment,
although for the life of me I could not figure out what was going on except for the beautiful eggs. This was a sad nest of Snowy Egrets because one of the chicks is dead, perhaps making them squawk all the more?
Okay, I suspect you've had enough of the birds, so what else is there to see at Gatorland? How about a Florida Panther?
Tilapia anyone?
Plenty of children cooling off on a warm Spring day.
Seriously, if I haven't convinced you that you need to go see it for yourself, that is a shame. So unique, free parking, and a reasonable admission price. What's not to like? Did I say free parking? Why, yes I did.
Goodness knows, look who came to visit us when we returned home?
In other news, Bruce both washed our windows (!), and took a tumble while we were attempting to hit some tennis balls. It was pretty comical watching the two of us miss most of the balls, until one just got away from Bruce, and then it wasn't so fun, however, his scrapes are mending in record time, and his aches are diminishing by the day. Thank God it wasn't any worse.
Whereas these days I am perfectly content to sit and sew most of the day, I do know that every now and again I should get out. As such, I went to Gatorland yesterday morning. While standing in line to buy my discounted Florida resident entry fee, I struck up a conversation with a young couple from Germany who were making Gatorland their first stop during their two week vacation. I was raving about the place and the fellow asked me how often did I come? A few times a year was my response. He then wondered if I got bored with it and I emphatically replied that I did not, especially during nesting season when there are hundreds of shore birds who are very easy to photograph, unlike my elusive owls!
Speaking of which, for nearly a week I searched daily, sometimes several times a day, for the owlets, and finally I found them about two days ago. Absolutely thrilled. Yesterday, no luck. So it was that when I rode up this morning I nearly crashed my bike as one of them was in a low tree in Nell's front yard. Looking mighty cute I might add.
The sibling, who I think is the shy one, was above my head in the big oak overhanging her driveway.
Notice how the chest feathers, the bars of their name, Barred Owl, are more pronounced on the one in the oak tree? There is a reason people are so keen on owls, and that is because they are so darn CUTE!
Before you read much further I must give you a warning....there are loads of bird photos upcoming, and should that not interest you, now is the perfect time to move onto something else on facebook!!
So, if you are from Germany say, or Nova Scotia as some other folks I spoke with were, seeing an alligator is really something. If you are from Florida like I am, you've seen one, you've seen them all. That said, it does always amaze me how the birds and gators coexist.
One of the things I so love about Gatorland is how corny it is and proud of it. Nothing wrong with that in my book.
You may be under the impression that I like all kinds of birds, and of the ones I've seen, which are but a grain of sand on the beach, what with 10,000 bird species to see in this world, the bird I find both ugly and fascinating, is the Wood Stork. The head and feet are what get to me.
So, you can't see the feet in the photo above, but you do get a glimpse of their redeeming feature which is the blackish/green wing tips. Although the photo below is not entirely in focus, I'm digging it because of those wings!
There are newly hatched Snowy Egrets still in the nest,
and while we are on the subject of Snowy Egrets, they are pure white birds that are difficult to photograph in bright light. Luckily this one was in some slight shade.
The day was way too bright for my visit, but that did not stop me, nor did it stop some male photographers who set up their giant tripods on the walkway...so rude. Their lenses were like, at least a foot long, so big that when I saw them finally moving out of everyone's way, they carried them on their back, AND in a stroller. Good grief!
Last year I saw many more nests filled with beautiful blue eggs; this visit only one and it was hard to focus on because they hide them. Well duh!!
That said, the reason the birds nest alongside the gators is because the gators are only too happy to eat any bird egg predators. One of thousands of gators you will see during a visit there.
Plus, there were a ton of vultures which is another bird with a super weird head! This soft shelled turtle figured it was outnumbered and slunk back into the pond.
So there are nests, and there are newborn, but the burning question is HOW DO BIRDS MAKE BABIES? Well, now I know, and you will too if you have gotten this far! Firstly, here is the technical explanation. (Click on link!!)
Walking along the boardwalk, I noticed a gorgeous TriColored Heron in a palm,
who just kind of hung out while what happened next was happening. Here's an up close look at the feathers...
Aren't they something? Anyway, adjacent to the above beautiful bird I saw two other darkly colored birds which I have now learned are called Little Blue Herons. Unlike the big boy herons, they are really blue. I'm thinking this was the "kissing phase."
Next up, the mounting...
Never have I witnessed anything like this before, and in my clueless state, I hardly knew what was going on. The full mount came next..
The females must be pretty strong to hold up the male while precariously perched on a palm frond! A flurry of wing flapping going on....
And then it was time to relax...
Perhaps you've noticed the nearby nest pictured? According to the handy link, sometimes it does not take so they go at it again. Just saying....
Obviously I could show more, and although I'd love to, I suspect you've had enough of birds. Switching gears, I caught the pesky squirrel gnawing away at our recycling bin, and if that weren't enough for him/her, the garbage can with the green lid is showing signs of becoming squirrel food!
I don't know who was the brilliance behind making the garbage lid green when for YEARS green has been the color of recycling. Duh!
Completely unrelated to bird sex, Barb sent me a text on Saturday morning stating that she sat down to watch her favorite channel on television, HGTV, and what should she see, but her friends, Bruce and Gail saying "wow" multiple times on national television. A screen shot proved it. Speaking of that house, in spite of what Ashlee said on the show, the house remains on the market.
In other news, my hearing is returning!! Woo hoo!!
Wednesday--Cheryle to RT Art, and Catherine for dinner
Thursday--Catherine and I go to Gatorland to see what we can see.
So, here we are on Friday morning, and the time has come to do a short recap.
It definitely brought the neighbors out early. I'd asked Jon to come to the house at 7:30 to take advantage of the "golden hour," which turned out to be anything but golden. More like humid and overcast. What we were trying to accomplish at this early hour were photographs of Jon for his new business installing windshields. He's worked for someone else for years and soon will be going out on his own. Because he'd helped Bruce last summer with the glass project at Church Street, I told him I'd be happy to work for free. We tried all sorts of spots for the car as prop for him to work on, however, with massive trees most everywhere you look, it was not easy. Then too, Maria came out to see what we were doing, Regina stopped during her morning walk, Terri stopped her car on the way to work, and Wanda came out to watch. It's not every day you see a grown woman lying on her back in the grass while a man holds a windshield in the air!
This shot, taken through the windshield of Bruce's car, took some creative body movements as well.
All in all, it was challenging, but fun--definitely not something I've done before. If you've never had a windshield replaced, and I have not, it is interesting to see how it is done. He removed a window in the van, and then replaced it while I took photographs. Serious glue is what holds it in.
Now you know....
Cheryle does some wonderful pastel abstracts, and has been toying with the idea of selling them on a wider scale than she has done in the past, thus a trip to RT-Art to see what they have to offer. Trish gave her a tour while I did some chatting with Stefanie and Kevin who work magic in that office.
Bruce left about midday for his site visit in Tyson's Corner, but not before I took a photo of him after much pleading. I was practicing with the Tamron lens because I am not very good with it.
Gosh, I love this guy!
Catherine, a long term airbnb guest of the Beattys, asked me for help starting a blog. Generally I see Catherine amongst a big group, so thinking it might be nice to get to know her one on one, I had her over for dinner, making this delicious vegetarian dish from my oft-used, Agnes and Muriel cookbook.
Lest you think everything I make is a success, just looking at this rhubarb and peach pie I made for Bruce Tuesday afternoon, you can probably guess that it ended up in the trash!
The crust was super, the crunch topping the same, however, the filling was just terrible! Bruce had a piece before leaving, as did I, but when I went to have some yesterday morning, I thought this pie just tastes terrible, and threw it in the trash. When B got home last night around 9 he learned the fate of this time consuming pie!
I have never met anyone who did not have an interesting life story. Don't you agree?
That said, Catherine may just have one of the most colorful life stories I've ever heard. Born near Glasgow, she modeled in London, attended the Royal Academy for the Dramatic Arts, got a psychology degree, had one marriage, and, a deportation from South Africa, all before 30 years old. Oh yeah, and she's a singer/conservationist as well.
We did not get very far on the blogging lesson because she only had her phone with her, and I'm anything but good on a phone. We did, however, decide to let her use my Nikon D60 that's been sitting in the closet for two years, during a trip to Gatorland, a place she'd never been. We've been discussing her buying a camera, so this was a good way to see if she wanted a DSLR.
Bright and early, we drove the 12 miles to Gatorland. The weather? Not a cloud in the sky, with a mild temperature reading. You would think that after all the times I've been to Gatorland that I would have seen it all, but you would be wrong. The price is definitely right--$10.80 for a senior, of which I am one. We went to see the panther siblings, deciding this is must be the girl, Lucy.
Very regal looking isn't she?
It's always the birds for me...
You may recall when I wrote here about taking Michele and Annabelle to Gatorland, that there were large numbers of nesting birds. Well, yes, they are still very, very busy.
You might be surprised at how noisy it is with so many, many birds, mostly egrets, herons, and wood storks. Catherine had never seen a wood stork before, and found them to her liking. In the past I've called them ugly, but they do have a certain appeal, what with that scaly head and pink feet.
But it was the babies that thrilled us the most.
Before we'd been there too long, the battery died on the D60 for unknown reasons. Fortunately, I'd brought along my Panasonic, which these are all taken with, and my D5100, which gave Catherine a camera to use. And use it she did, loving every minute. As we walked the boardwalk beside the gator breeding waters, we could not believe these little ones who were so close you could almost reach out and touch them.
The more we watched the more fascinated we became. They looked very, very newly born to us.
So cool to see the structure that supports the feathers, don't you think? The Panasonic did an awesome job, despite having a shorter zoom than the Nikon. One day these little ones will grow up to look like this:
Such an elegant bird, don't you think? Catherine didn't want to miss a thing, so we took the swamp walk, something I've not done for quite a while. Oh, the greens of spring, how I love you.
The day was growing warmer by the minute, so we took our leave, stopping at WaWa on the way home for gas, and a sandwich, another place Catherine had never been. Exciting stuff, heh?
Nancy and I were chatting last night about professional golfers, a subject she is very familiar with. She told me they hit 500 balls a day in practice. Can you imagine? Even the best do that. Is it any wonder, in my quest to become better, I keep shooting and shooting? Not 500 a day mind you, but still every day I practice, something that surprises people that don't know me well. Or, read this blog!
The time has come to pick up my weekly order, the fruits of all that labor. Here's hoping you have a lovely weekend with super weather as is predicted for our area. As to all the mothers reading this, a very Happy Mother's Day to you.
