Foggy Morning Birds and Beasts

We know we have Armadillos because they poke their pointy noses into the ground looking for grubs, but we rarely see them. It was early on a foggy morning and I was sitting at my sewing machine when his movement caught my eye.

When I got up to investigate (and grab my camera) I also spotted our very regular visitor, Mr. Coyote, heading back home. ...until he spotted the Armadillo! The coyote stopped dead in his tracks and watched the armadillo for a long time - decided he would not be a good meal - and turned and left just as the armadillo disappeared into the woods.

Another furry visitor! Too bad the coyote didn't see him! We have very few grey squirrels at the back feeders as it is too open but this one was brave.

Out in front, I noticed a new bird for the year - a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. You can't see the ruby spot on his head, but I'm sure it's there.

Looking out back again, a Yellow-rumped Warbler had scared the squirrel away.

Sewing, Quilting, Clean-up, Company & Birds!

Bill and I were thrilled to have son John here over Christmas - but even more thrilled to meet his girlfriend, Vanessa. She is definitely a keeper!

We drove to Tampa to spend a day with them after they returned from their New Year's weekend in Fort Myers and Key West. Vanessa had never seen a Manatee so we took her to the Manatee Viewing Area in Tampa. You can see the huge power plant in the background that generates the warm water that the Manatees are attracted to.

We saw lots of Manatees including this guy doing the backstroke. The water was clear and the viewing was much better than at Manatee Park in Fort Myers.

Bill challenged me to get a shot of this Pelican in flight. Not too shabby if I do say so myself!

There were tons of fish swimming around - but look how they kept out of the way of this stingray!

I had never seen a stingray swimming around before - so I took lots of pictures! The stingrays are actually quite cute.

Afterwards, we went to lunch in Ybor City (an historic neighborhood in downtown Tampa) before saying good-bye and heading back to Ocala.

Back at the compound, I've been busy sewing. This is a jacket that I made at a class over at a friend's house. It began life as a all black man's shirt.

We covered the collar, cut off the sleeves and added cuffs, tucked the back, cut off the hem and faced the inside. Later, I changed the buttons and added the handkerchief. It was fun to see how differently each of our projects turned out.

I've also been working on another quilt - this one will be as bright as the last one! I have all of the squares assembled and put together - I just need to add the border and assemble the back before it goes out to be machine quilted. My beginner quilting class starts this weekend so I can learn all the things I'm doing wrong.

We had a "minor" problem earlier this week. We were heading out and while I was getting ready, Bill decided to start the dishwasher. I had complained that the dishwasher wasn't doing a very good job - so he was checking it out. A few minutes later, I heard him yell that we had bubbles everywhere! Bill had added Jet Dri (or so he thought) to make it rinse better. Long story short: he actually added Dawn dish-washing liquid into the Jet Dri compartment. His reason? "It was blue."

This is Bubba - an adorable Havanese puppy that belongs to our very good friends Larry and Wendy. They were here visiting for the weekend. After returning home, Bubba fell into their pool and nearly drowned. Poor Bubba - I sure hope he's going to be okay.

I haven't forgotten about my birds. This is a Red-bellied Woodpecker and if you look closely, you can see the faint red on his chest that gives him his name.

Our back-yard feeders are busy all day long. I love sitting out in the Florida room watching them.

We have lots and lots of Bluebirds - and they get bluer and bluer the closer we get to Spring.

We enjoy the backyard feeders so much that I added a feeder in the front yard. Squirrels are not a problem, so I hung it in the Oak tree. Mrs. Cardinal found the new feeder almost immediately.

And so did this adorable Titmouse who paused from his lunch just long enough to pose for a quick picture. The bird on the left is a Chipping Sparrow and they arrive at the feeders in flocks.

I think I took this picture of a Common Moorhen on one of our walks. Funny, but my sister Beth seems to see the same birds at the same time when she walks the beach in North Carolina.


This picture is for my sister. This must be the year of the Armadillos! We've seen at least one on each of our walks - but none as cute as this one - standing up and posing for a picture. They do not have very good eyesight, so if you are very quiet, they just go on with their business. I thought they would be slow - they just LOOK slow - but once they hear you, they scurry off in a hurry.

We are Never Home

The other day we took an early morning walk on Fort Myers beach and saw both the sunrise and the setting of the full moon over Bowditch Point. One of the resident Osprey was also waiting for the sun to come up.

The butterfly garden was beautiful in the bright moonlight but we didn't see any of the Gopher Tortoises that call this home.

The tide was very low as we walked around the Point. Right at the end we saw a dolphin playing in the surf not far from shore - but he had other things to do and places to go so he didn't stay long enough for me to even try and take a picture. I just enjoyed seeing him swimming in the water.

On the other side facing west, just as the sun was starting to come up in the east, this beautiful Great Blue Heron was hunting for breakfast in the light of the full moon.

Success!!

Now to try and swallow it!

He almost looks like a Pelican as he swallows the fish whole.

Yum - that was good!

We enjoyed our walk on the beach and left just as the rest of the island was waking up.

I wanted to take one last trip to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary before we head back to Colorado at the end of the month. The air plants are starting to bloom and they are gorgeous!

Very exotic.

This is an immature Little Blue Heron - which is apparently easily confused with an young Snowy. After seeing this bird and having him identified by a guide, I wonder if I am mixing up some of the smaller white birds.

The Yellow-crowned Night Herons can't be confused with any other herons or egrets.

This is a rare sight! I always thought Armadillos, like Opossums, were born dead on the side of the road - since that's the only place I've ever seen them. It was hard to get a good picture of his head because he kept digging in the dirt looking for insects.

Tomorrow I am going on an all-day field trip to the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge with the Caloosa Bird Club and on Tuesday we will celebrate Saint Patrick's Day by going to the Naples Zoo followed by a traditional Irish corn beef and cabbage dinner at Mike and Mel's.