New Hobby

Our newest hobby is RC cars. Bill helped to begin a new club here at OTOW and after just a month we have 24 members. Great fun!

This is one of our cars in action on the grass course. Plans are in the making to build a new course with jumps, a drivers stand, spectator area, etc. On Sunday after the weekly races, we gathered here for a hot dog bash to celebrate the club's successful beginnings. Bill grilled hot dogs and made delicious baked beans. Everyone brought a side dish or dessert. So much good food and great friends! We had a wonderful time!

There was plenty of room once I packed up my sewing area.

Here we are!

I thought this was a great picture to compare the size of a Downy Woodpecker (left) and a Red-bellied Woodpecker. The Red-bellied looks a little shaggy. Both birds are regulars at our feeders.

This is an uncommon bird!

I'm sure it was photographing our RC car races!

We've been lucky to have Ruby-throated Hummingbirds this year.

The American Goldfinches are FINALLY yellow! Up until now they have been dull greenish-yellow. They've been at our feeders for a couple of months in large numbers - but most have now moved on.

Our Great-crested Flycatchers are still in the neighborhood.

We took the feeders down yesterday as we prepare for our annual journey back to Colorado for the summer. We've had several birds today looking for them. Sad. I feel guilty but there is plenty of other food available.

This is a quilt I made for my daughter Pamela. She should get it in the mail tomorrow.

Back at OTOW

Bill and I are getting settled into our little home in Ocala after a long but pleasant drive from Colorado. We stopped to visit friends Mike and Mel along the way. I ALWAYS enjoy seeing them and spending time on their porch watching the amazing variety of birds they have at their feeders.

Back at OTOW, Bill is flying every day, I'm playing Mah Jongg and I finally finished the Bargello quilt top. Bocce begins next week and we are having some improvements done on the house: new counters in the kitchen and new -much larger - lanai on the back. I've been meeting with contractors, looking at floor tile, stainless steel sinks (who knew that 16 gauge stainless is better than 18 gauge stainless!), ceiling fans and blinds. It's great seeing our friends again; we've missed the active social scene here at OTOW. BUT, since we returned early, we got to experience Love Bug Season - the worst here in years. Love Bugs look like lightening bugs with out the lights and fly around in pairs hooked together at the tail - hence their name. They don't bite but their sheer numbers are mighty annoying! Fortunately, they don't stay very long and are now completely gone.

The birds won't eat the Love Bugs because they taste bad and they need to be washed off your car before they damage the paint. Needless to say the car washes love them! This is a Northern Mockingbird who sat in our tree in front of our house and sang the morning away.

Out back we have a daily visitor (he's there now) - a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

He likes the sun flower seeds. It's interesting how he uses his tail.

Polite as ever, he takes a seed and goes back to the top of the feeder post to eat it.

I also made myself a new purse. The last one had served me well (it was the first thing I made after getting a sewing machine). This one was inspired by a couple of my favorite patterns and material I purchased a couple of years ago in Denver. Now I can bird watch right in my living room!

Unique Birders

Today the On Top Of the World (OTOW) Unique Birders had their first field trip of the season. A dozen birders met at the nearby Shalom Park at 8:30 this morning. The weather was cool, but the sun was shinning and the skies were bright blue. Anne Merrick lead the trip down and around the various garden paths that criss-cross the well-manicured grounds.

It was difficult getting our resident birding expert Norm Lentz (far right) to put down his binoculars long enough to take this group shot.

This is the underside of a Yellow-throated Warbler. It's a lousy picture - but it sure shows how this small bird got his colorful name!

Action shot! We watched this Eastern Phoebe for quite a while while he scooted around looking for insects on a dead limb. According to Donald and Lillian Stokes' Field Guide to Birds, "25% or more of phoebe nests are parasitized by cowbirds."

Another shot of the Eastern Phoebe sitting high and mighty.

I believe this is a Palm Warbler. Norm adds "This [Palm Warbler] is a good, crisp representation of the Western (Brown) variant in non-breeding plumage. The Eastern variant is yellow in all plumages. Both are common in Florida during the winter (non-breeding) season."

He was shopping in the moss and it looks like he has some stuck on his beak.

This looks like a Northern Parula - but that wasn't on our list, so it probably isn't. * Norm confirms my identification and Northern Parula Warbler has been added to our list.



I love the adorable Tuffted Titmice.

It was difficult getting a good shot of this Red-bellied Woodpecker with the sun in the background.

The State Bird of Florida, the Northern Mockingbird. We saw quite a few on our walk. This one was enjoying the beautiful bright purple berries on the Beautyberry bush.

I thought I was going to have to crawl under the bushes to get a decent shot of this Brown Thrasher. He was hunting in the leaves for a meal of insects, lizards, snakes, or berries.

The Eastern Bluebirds are not as blue this time of the year as they are in the Spring - but they are still beautiful. We have lots of them in our backyard.

After our walk we went to the Oasis Restaurant for brunch, and compiled our list of the 25 birds seen on our walk. Nice outing! Thanks everyone!

Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

Sanibel's Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge is a short $6 ride over the Sanibel Causeway from Fort Myers. Ding Darling features a Wildlife Drive through the 6,400-acre refuge. It is open to visitors everyday BUT Friday. Guess what day we picked to go. Another $6 - and we were back on Monday. Since I have a National Parks Lifetime Senior Pass, the $5 per car admission was waved.

This Red-bellied Woodpecker is enjoying the berries on a bush by the side of the road. He is named for the tinge of red on his belly - which I have yet to see. He is often misidentified as a Red-headed Woodpecker which has an all red head and solid black back.

Ding Darling is home to a large flock of White Pelicans. Their cousins, the Brown Pelicans, perform the wild aerobatics - diving head-first into the water - that visitors find so entertaining here in Florida. White Pelicans just kind of stand around in big groups looking pretty.

Loggerhead Shrikes are common around here. I like this picture because you can clearly see the hawk-like bill.

Another common Florida bird is the Osprey. They are large eagle-like birds and the only raptor that plunges feet-first into the water to snag fish. I usually see them flying overhead or sitting in a tree - so it was a treat to see this one standing in shallow water.

I love the profile of the Belted Kingfisher - his head looks too big for his body. He is sitting in a tree over-looking a large tidal pool deciding which fish he wants for lunch.

Little Blue Herons are fairly common near both fresh and salt water.

I think this is the rarer, slightly larger Reddish Egret, also part of the heron family.

Isn't this grumpy old man just wonderful? He is actually an immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

There was a large group of Pied-billed Grebes on the water but they did not want to be photographed and quickly swam away as I got closer.

I know these are just common Mourning Doves - but it is so rare to get a picture of them in a tree instead of on their usual perch - overhead wires. The nest-like mass on the limb is an air plant.

These two doves were singing love songs back and forth and did not seem to notice me.

I saw several Roseate Spoonbills and an outstanding male Magnificent Frigatebird flying overhead - but did not get decent pictures of either. Maybe next time.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

The Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary continues to be one of our favorite places. Yesterday was damp and overcast. We were on the boardwalk shortly after the 7 a.m. opening.

The White Ibis were also enjoying the boardwalk. We watched a small colony for some time before moving on.

They are so interesting with their long red bills constantly probing looking for insects and small fish. My sister calls them the "Sewing Machine Birds" because their heads go up and down like the sewing machine needle.

We often see small herons nearby hoping the ibis will scare up some food for them too.


This is a Yellow-crowned Night Heron as is the bird in the next image. Notice their heads. The first one had a bright yellow cap while the other bird, sitting near by, had a duller cap.

We assume they were a pair with the more colorful one being the male.

I was excited to see this Green Heron sitting close to the boardwalk so I could get a good picture.

This is a Red-bellied Woodpecker. I can't see where the name comes from!

The Great Blue Heron is a beautiful bird. This one was sitting on the railing ahead and we waited for some time before moving ahead.

He heard something in the distance, came to attention and flew off.

This is an Anhinga - the birds we usually see with their wings spread out to dry after swimming. I like this shot as you can see the white on her wings. Males have more black on their neck.

After we completed our 2.2 mile walk, we hiked back to the bird feeders as we heard a Painted Bunting had been seen earlier.

There was a lot going on at the bird feeders.

These are Goldfinches with their winter coats.

Isn't this pair of cardinals just beautiful?


Finally we were rewarded when this beautiful Painted Bunting arrived with his mate.

Bill and I filled the memory card on our camera taking pictures!

Neither of us could get over the vibrant colors! These are small birds - about the size of a sparrow.

While we were watching the buntings, a Pileated Woodpecker flew by and landed behind us. The naturalist pointed him out but we were not quick enough to get a decent picture. But, I had the binoculars and got a really good look.

There were other critters at the bird feeders.

This squirrel was not bothered one bit by the anti-squirrel cone around the rope!

And, while we were watching, these two racoons came up and started eating the seed that had fallen from the feeders. They scared the squirrel off - and most of the other birds. They looked so cute - it's sometimes hard to remember what nasty animals they really are.

We had a wonderful morning at the Sanctuary and will go back again soon.