Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Most of the time having two winter homes in Florida is just plain silly, but I didn't think so last week when we left Ocala for a long weekend in our tropical paradise further south. Fort Myers may be only a couple of hundred miles away - but the weather, birds and landscape are completely different. We needed to get our condo ready to rent for "season" - January through April - but still had plenty of time to play.

The sunrise was beautiful as we headed to one of my favorite places: Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

We were one of the first people out on the boardwalk that winds through the swamp, so we got to clear the spider webs for the people behind us.

There were lots of noisy Carolina Wrens, but not much else on this visit.

Oh yes, the little Blue Heron was still looking for food - but they are so abundant that they hardly count. We still had a great walk on a beautiful day. We met several nice people including a new birder from Massachusetts who was on a whirlwind trip through Florida hoping to add to his life list. We shared adventures and information on hot birding spots in the state.

After we left the swamp, we decided to go down some of the back roads in the area and that's where I spotted this beautiful Red-shouldered Hawk sitting on a fence post.

I'm trying to get more action shots - birds in flight, but when you freeze the motion, sometimes they don't look natural - maybe it's the way his legs and feet hang straight down.

Along one of the canals, this Anhinga had just caught a catfish. He kept banging it back and forth against the rocks.

I'm still trying to get a decent shot of a Belted Kingfisher - but they are shy around people and don't sit still very long.

Daytona Beach

Over the weekend Bill and I drove across the state on Route 40 to attend the Wings and Waves Air Show at Daytona Beach. Just before we reached the main intersection in Barbersville, we watched in horror as a Jeep Cherokee raced through a stop sign and broad-sided the brand new Harley Davidson motorcycle directly in front of us. The rider flew in the air and landed in a heap on the side of the road. The Jeep spun around - and then kept on going! We followed it for a couple of miles until parts of the front end started flying off and littering the road, but he was going so fast, he buried us in his dust and I couldn't get a picture to try and identify the car. We found out later that he was already running from the police when he hit the bike.

Back at the intersection, help arrived to take care of the injured rider. Her husband is on the left.

She was air lifted to a local hospital. I hope she will be okay.

Biketober Fest is just getting underway in Daytona Beach, minus two attendees.

The Air Show is an annual event - and what an amazing event it was!!! Note the Coast Guard boat in the background. There was a long line of boats and yachts anchored off shore watching the excitement.

This looks like a toy - but it isn't. It's a P-51 Mustang "Crazy Horse." Bill and I were amazed when we looked at the pictures and realized my camera actually stopped the prop!

These are the Canadian Snowbirds.

My attention was temporarily diverted. How nice it was to be at the beach and enjoy the shore birds!

This was an unbelievable demonstration with an F-22 Raptor - the Air Force’s newest fighter aircraft (top), the P-51 Mustang, and an F-16 Fighting Falcon.

How could I not take a picture of this beautiful Brown Pelican flying in formation with the planes?

Or this Osprey looking for a meal?

This group of gulls didn't seem to mind the noise or the crowds.

This is the Geico Skytypers Airshow Team flying vintage WWII SNJ-2 airplanes.

Everyone was enjoying the beach, the waves, the sun and the show!

Well, almost everyone.

For more information on the show, the performers and the planes, visit http://www.wingsandwaves.com/

Shakin in the Shell!

Shell Knob, Missouri that is! We stopped to visit our very good friends, Mike and Mel for a few days on our cross-country drive from our summer home in Colorado to sunny Florida. Over the weekend we went to a real down-home country festival in "downtown" Shell Knob.

Great music! Check out the special seats for the audience.

There was even a car show. This was one of my favorites - lots of potential.

Young and old alike had a great day. There were stands with crafts, lots of food and beer, an "Ugly Dog Contest" and an extremely messy pie eating contest for the kids.

Back at Mike and Mel's, I spend my days on their beautiful porch overlooking their own nature preserve bordering on Table Rock Lake. The hummingbirds were thick at the many feeders.

Most of the hummingbirds were Ruby-throated. This one looks different with tuffs of white - but maybe it is a juvenile that hasn't lost all his baby fuzz yet.

We watched a huge variety of birds, including this White-breasted Nuthatch. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful visit. Neighbor Tom took me fishing one afternoon and I caught a Kentucky Bass. Tom is an accomplished fisherman and caught a dozen fish to my one. I'll do better next time.

Back at our winter home in Ocala, one of our first jobs was to put out the feeders. After seeing this beautiful Cardinal, we went out and bought a humongous feeder with seating for a dozen birds and a 20 pound bag of that expensive bird seed that is supposed to attract colorful songbirds. We haven't seen a bird since. This shot was taken from the Florida room - through the screens - so it's a little fuzzy.

We went for an early morning walk in the park where this Great Blue Heron posed in the pines.

I have no idea what these beautiful berries are - but the birds liked them.

I'm still learning how to use my new camera - especially the manual focus. Many times, when a bird is sitting in a tree, the auto-focus will focus on a branch or leaf closer to me than the bird I want to photograph - so I'm hoping I can learn to get clearer images. This is a Mockingbird - the State Bird of Florida.

Here's a great example of a picture I would never have gotten with auto-focus. This cute little Tufted Titmouse was hiding in the leaves.

Another picture I tried in vain to get in the past - a spider in his web. I won't tell you how many pictures I missed - or how many I took to get a couple of good ones - but I'm learning.

Last week, we bought Bill a new gas stove with five top burners and a convection oven and a new propane grill with a searing unit. The food is always good at the Cruff house (Bill is the cook NOT me!) but this should make it even more fun. Yesterday, we started an exercise class to work off those extra pounds from all his new delicious recipes. I am one lucky lady! There is so much to do here at OTOW - Bill is out at the RC Flying Field and we are looking into continuing our line dancing classes. I will probably join the birding and camera clubs, take some classes at the "Master the Possibilities Center," and Bill is joining the wood shop.

Fall Colors in the High Country

Fall comes early to Colorado. By mid-September, the Aspens are in full color - yellow. When I lived back East, the trees displayed every color in the rainbow - but here in Colorado, the main color is yellow with a little orange and a few reds thrown in to keep it interesting. The yellows are beautiful against the greens of the ever-present Pine trees. Sometimes the ground cover is as colorful as the trees.

We decided this was a cute fixer-upper. I wonder when it was built or who lived there - on the high plains between mountain ranges.

Way down behind the cabin, we saw a lake with lots of ducks. It was private property, so I had to take my pictures from the side of the road.

Several of the ducks flew overhead - and I assume they are Teal - but that's only a guess.

Looking over at the side of the lake, we spotted a large white bird (the one on the right in the picture). I thought it was an American Avocet, but I could not confirm that until I got home and looked closely at my pictures; I did and it is. He has his winter plumage. Last time I saw an Avocet (April, 2009) he had a rust-colored head, typical of Spring breeding colors.

But the bird on the left, which I never saw until I cropped the image, is still a mystery - Dowitcher? Yellowlegs? Godwit?

Further up the road by Cottonwood Lake, we could see the full splendor of the colors. We drove past the lake and up, up, up.

This shot was taken just past the campground - near where we stopped for a delightful picnic lunch.

It was somewhat smoggy from the wildfires burning near Boulder - so our pictures are not as crisp and clear as we would have liked.



The air was clearer the further up we climbed.

Timberline! We couldn't drive much further because the dirt road we were traveling on became too dangerous, so we turned around and drove back down the mountain, past the lake and into the town of Buena Vista.

The deer in town are practically tame and we see them munching on lawns, shrubs and fruit trees almost every time we visit.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

Yesterday, Bill and I took a beautiful drive up into the mountains to see the Fall colors. On the way home we drove through Bighorn Sheep Canyon (Route 50 between Salida and Canon City) and Bill spotted a herd of sheep on the other side of the Arkansas River.

There were about a dozen sheep in the group: one large male ram, several breeding female ewes and younger offspring that were probably born last Spring.

We parked the car and I climbed up on some rocks to watch them and take pictures. They were quite a distance away, but we both got some decent shots.

While we watched, they headed west along the train tracks.

Every once in a while, they would stop, look over to the road and check out the traffic.

After awhile, they turned and headed up the hill. I have lots of pictures of their backsides. Seeing these majestic animals was a real treat!