Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

On a recent trip to Sanabel's wildlife jewel, Beth, Bill and I had the rare opportunity to photograph some endangered Wood Storks up close and personal. They were at the shoreline just feet away from the road.

Son John, who is here for the holidays, says this looks like a drag queen of the animal kingdom.

Look at the way their legs bend to sit. These majestic birds are beautiful in flight, but up close they sure do have ugly heads!

Three Wood Storks posing for the people who stopped to take pictures.

We also saw other large shore birds: a Snowy Egret,

a Great Egret,

and a Yellow-crowned Night Heron standing just off the road. He never moved while we took lots of pictures.


The Double-crested Cormorants are very common and I usually don't bother taking too many pictures, but I thought this one was especially cute.

Spiders, snakes, lizards, frogs, butterflies, armadillos and, of course, birds!

I'm so far behind in my blogging that I hardly know where to start. We were without Internet while in Fort Myers and I will never let that happen again! I can't believe how much I depend on something that didn't exist for most of my life!

The following pictures are from trips to Corkscrew Swamp and Babcock Webb.

I have no idea what kind of spider this is - but he's big!

Naturalists stage themselves along the boardwalk at Corkscrew so they can point out something special hiding in the trees or nestled in the weeds - especially if it is dangerous like this Water Moccasin.

You really have to look closely to see the lizard in this picture. Look how long his tail is!

The swamp lily is a native plant and we often see them growing in the swamps.

This is a tiny tree frog - only about one inch across - that was sitting quietly on a leaf. I turned the picture so he could be seen better.

A Great Egret trying to stay warm in the unusually chilly southwest Florida weather.

There were lots of pretty butterflies in the butterfly garden at Corkscrew.

These two were fun to watch as they played in the sun.

Another lizard...

This Great Blue Heron was far away but I liked the way he was framed by the trees.

Finally a hawk other than a red-shouldered! This is a Northern Harrier. We spotted it at Babcock Webb and it was a life bird for sister Beth. I took this picture through the window of Warren's van.

All the way at the far end of the Babcock Webb drive (open only during hunting season) we saw this beautiful Bald Eagle in the distance.

This was a nice surprise! We actually saw three Nine Banded Armadillos along the side of the drive.

More Trip Pics!

I have no clue what this biker is towing - but I couldn't resist taking a picture as he rode by us in Cape Coral. I assume these are his art works and he was returning home after displaying them for sale at a local venue. Are they fish? birds? I may never know!

The weather in Ft. Myers was cool so the Manatees were gathered at Manatee Park in the warm waters by the power plant. Sister Beth had been to Manatee Park before but never when the Manatees were there, so Bill drove us over.

Beth had her new camera and took lots of pictures, but you will have to check her blog to see them.

Afterwards, we drove over to Cape Coral to try and see the Burrowing Owls. We didn't see any owls out in the chilly air mid-day, but I did see this Mocking Bird.


And we saw the Monk Parakeets at their usual spot by the ball fields.

On an early morning visit to Lover's Key to walk and pick up sea shells, the Osprey were out in force. They are building their nests getting ready to settle down and raise a family. Look closely and you will see this guy has a fish in his left talon.

Beth and Warren have two cats, George and Chaney and they shared the beach house becoming Florida cats very quickly. This is Chaney. He usually hides when anyone he doesn't know is around, but for some reason he decided I was okay and even let me pet him - but only for a few minutes.

Where has December Gone?

Bill and I spent a fabulous couple of weeks at our condo in tropical (not so much) Ft. Myers. Sister Beth and her "dh" were staying on the beach so we spent lots of time together shelling, birding, visiting with friends and the local quilt shops. Since we did not have Internet at the condo, I was not able until now to post pictures. Check out my sister's blog at http://quilterb-bethsblog.blogspot.com/ for a sneak peak of what's to come here at Parker's Barkers.

Out first outing late in the day was to Six Mile Cypress Slough where we walked the boardwalk through the swamp visiting and taking pictures. Anhingas are common at the swamp, but I always like to see them posing for the camera with their wings spread out to dry in the afternoon sun.

We don't have Cardinals in Colorado, so they are a treat to our eyes.

I love the colors in the background behind this beautiful Red-shouldered Hawk.

This Great Blue Heron was really displaying his colors in the sunlight.

Two of them were flying back and forth over one of the ponds.

No, this White Ibis hasn't injured his leg - they often stand on one leg, resting the other. This time of year his bill and legs are pink but in the Spring, when thoughts of love dance through his head, his bill and legs will turn bright red.

Boy did I have a hard time getting this Yellow-throated Warbler to stand still long enough for a decent picture. I also took pictures of a Blue-grey Gnatcatcher and a Common Yellowthroat, but those pictures were not good enough to post. Maybe next time.

Another busy, busy bird - a Black-and-white Warbler.

And busy, busy describes the rest of our vacation with trips to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Lover's Key, Port Charlotte, Ding Darling, Babcock-Webb, Harns Marsh, Cape Coral and Manatee Park. Ocala friends Bob and Peggy joined us for a weekend of fabric shopping and I have lots of pictures that I will post later.

Thanksgiving and My First Quilting Projects

Bill and I spent Thanksgiving week in Maryland with daughter Pamela and her family.

This is my youngest grandson, Sebastian. We were at a birthday party for one of their friends.

One of the activities was pony rides - and Sebastian wanted nothing to do with them! He wouldn't even pet one. The entire time he was playing on the slide he kept telling me "no pony, drandma."

Pamela had a good time visiting with the other parents. Here she is showing off her baby-belly. Leandro is due to arrive in April. Yep, another boy.

The only time Gabriel will sit still enough for me to get a picture is when he is watching TV. He's still very active, but since starting kindergarten, he has matured quite a bit. I was thrilled to see that he is learning to read and write. Two of his classes - math and creative writing - are with the first-graders.

On Thanksgiving, we had 16 people for a sit-down turkey dinner. Pamela did a beautiful job and set a wonderful, warm and welcoming table. We all pitched in and helped with the food - but Pam did most of the work. By evening, we were all stuffed and exhausted.

Our plan was to stop in Kure Beach, NC to visit my sister and her "dh" (dear husband) but we were both battling nasty bugs and decided to head back to Ocala early and recuperate.

Before we left for the holiday, I bought myself a new sewing machine - and I LOVE it! I had wanted to try my hand at quilting for sometime and a friend advised me to get a better machine so that I will really enjoy it. My cheap Singer was not the machine. This is a portable Janome (so I can easily carry it to classes) with lots of cute stitches, a needle threader and automatic thread cutter.

My first attempt didn't turn out too bad. It still needs binding, quilting and backing - but it's a start. At least I learned how to use the machine so I will be ready for the beginner quilting class in January. The pattern is Yellow Brick Road and I selected the fabric from a batch of fat quarters I bought on sale from the local quilt shop.


This is my next project - a purse. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. The squares are part of a "charm pack" - so I didn't have to pick the fabric, but I did have to arrange them. Fabric choice and arrangement, I fear, will be my greatest challenge.

This is the quilt top I'm currently working on. I'm afraid it's going to be too busy - but I'm making it for a busy boy so maybe it will be okay.

There are three different squares - I have two sets finished. I'll work on the third set later today - but now I'm headed to exercise class!