Burrowing Owl

Not a Burrowing Owl. A Loggerhead Shrike.

Wordless Wednesday

Still here

For those of you who wonder what has happened to me, the answer is heat. Lots of heat. Good heat. Heat with sun and sand and surf. And I like it!!! So, quite frankly, I simply don't have the time to blog. (OK, maybe I do, but I don't feel like taking my computer to the beach with me.)

First up, we're in Fort Myers, Florida. We're in an RV resort full of people over the age of 65. We're probably the youngest here, except for those who have children and grandchildren visiting them. 'Nough said. You can probably figure the rest of the story out on your own.

So far, Fort Myers is pretty nice. Except for the above mentioned people over the age of 65. The place is full of them. Fort Myers Beach is full of the younger crowd. Most of the hotels and resorts there are on the beach. And the beach is pretty nice. White sand. It feels very silky between your toes. And Bonita Springs (where all the rich people sell their houses) has a dog beach. Eugene and Meika love it! Especially Meika. She must have been a Southern California surfer girl in a previous life.

I've been doing a bit of birding while here. One day last week, Bill and I went to Sanibel Island and while he paddled around in his kayak, I went to the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. I got 3 new birds while I was there: Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, a Reddish Egret, and ta-da! a Roseate Spoonbill. Yippee!

Yesterday we spent a couple of hours at Manatee Park, which, by the way, had no manatees that day. Or alligators either. Bill paddled around in his kayak and I sat under a tree reading and watching all the birds come to me. I found a Red-Cockaded Woodpecker, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Yellow-Rumped Warbler, a Black and White Warbler (!), a Northern Parula (!), and an Eastern Kingbird (!). I now have 82 birds on my Florida list and 342 on my life list!! You'd almost think I was a birder or something.

I have a few pictures on my camera that I need to download, so as soon as I get that done, I'll post them.

We're off to the Tampa area on the 26th of this month, then to Panama City. From there we leave Florida and head to Texas where my good friend Bron is going to take me birding with her. I can't wait!!! More new birds!!

May your next bird be a lifer!

Festival Round Up

So, the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival is over and Bill and I are now in Ft. Myers for the month of February. I have a great time there, learning more and more about these Eastern birds that I grew up with. You'd think I'd never saw a bird before. It's been a bit frustrating at times, but otherwise I didn't do a bad job.

The one really cool bird that was there was a Crested Caracara. His name was Cracker. I couldn't get a really good picture of him because he just wouldn't stand still long enough. However, Birdchick got a great video of Cracker. If you haven't read Birdchick's birding blog, you really need to. She's got a great blog well worth the time to read. To see the video of Cracker, click on his name.

Here are a few more pictures from the festival. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong with the identification.

Yellow-Rumped Warbler* Little Blue Heron* Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker* Osprey* Wood Stork* And here is the list of birds that I saw at the bird festival:

American Avocet
American Black Duck
American Coot
American Crow
American Kestral
American Robin
American Wigeon
Anhinga
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Black Vulture
Blue Jay
Blue Wing Teal
Boat-Tailed Grackle
Brown Pelican
Caspian Tern
Cedar Waxwing
Common Moorhen
Double Crested Cormorant
Eastern Meadowlark
European Starling
Florida Scrub Jay
Forster's Tern
Glossy Ibis
Gray Catbird
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Hooded Merganser
Hooded Warbler
Killdeer
Laughing Gull
Least Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Little Blue Heron
Marbled Godwit
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Gannet
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Osprey
Painted Bunting (This one is from New Smyrna Beach, found at the feeder of Bill's Aunt Marjorie and Uncle Bill. Thanks!)
Palm Warbler
Pied Bill Grebe
Pine Warbler
Red Shouldered Hawk
Red Tailed Hawk
Red Winged Blackbird
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Red-Cockaded Woodpecker
Ring Billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Sanderling
Savannah Sparrow
Snowy Egret
Tree Swallow
Tricolored Heron
Turkey Vulture
White Ibis
Wilson's Snipe
Wood Stork
Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
Yellow Rumped Warbler

May your next bird be a lifer!!

*Disclaimer: All photos copyright of WT Kluge, photographer and used with permission.