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.

Still Sewing and Watching the Birds

My sewing machine has been smoking this season! I've made several quilts, matching pillow cases and pillow shams, aprons, market and mondo bags and lots and lots of small crafty items with our sewing group. The past couple of weeks I have been trying to make purses.

I just finished this one. It has a zipper inside which, for me, was a challenge.

This is the first one I did for Bill's daughter Laura. The blue material is pre-quilted and thick enough that I did not use batting. This one does not have a zipper - I put in a magnetic snap.

My daughter spends her days in the OR and needed some fun scrub hats. I couldn't find a decent pattern so made several prototypes before hitting on the right method. So far Laura has 5 she can wear and there are several more ready to go.

 This has not been the best birding year. Not until the Cedar Waxwings showed up!

I swim every morning from 7 to 8 and the trees outside the pool building were full of berries until hundreds of birds arrived to eat every last one.

Our droves of American Goldfinches are finally getting some color.

For the last 6 weeks they have all looked drab like the 2 birds on the upper left in the picture.

I believe this is a Savannah Sparrow.

Our wonderful Florida Fox Squirrels continue to visit every day. We have had as many as five at a time under the feeders. This is the one that is missing most of his tail.

This is what their tails should look like.

Yesterday, Bill thought he saw a humming bird. Today we bought a hummingbird feeder and tonight we had two amazing little  Ruby-throated Hummingbirds come to visit.

More Birds! ...continued

Northern Bobwhite

Cardinal

Northern Parula

Orchard Oriole

Painted Bunting (F)

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Summer Tanager (immature male)

Summer Tanager

Western Tanager

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Saint Marks II

Another view of the St. Marks Lighthouse.

According to what I've read online about the lighthouse, it is still being used but I saw no signs to confirm that. I understand it is open to the public once a year.

The Water Lilies were in full bloom on all of the numerous ponds. We kept looking for the frogs that we could hear croaking thinking one of them sitting on a lily pad would make a great picture - but no such luck.

The Pied-billed Grebes were well represented...

as were the Scaups. I believe this is a Greater Scaup, which we don't usually see here in Florida. You can just barely see the green sheen on the head. His bill is blueish.

We had to stop the car and wait for this Black Snake to pass. He wasn't in any hurry so I got out and took a picture. The little no-seeum bugs were biting like crazy and we had to cover ourselves with bug spray. In addition, the mosquitoes were making their spring appearance. We all have numerous bites.

I think this a Rat Snake. He has a full belly and was trying to climb up the side of the lighthouse, but was too heavy.

There were several groups of what I think are Savannah Sparrows (just a hint of yellow over the eye) along the road looking for insects. They were not eating them fast enough!

The Bald Eagle on the left is probably 3 to 4 years old as there is very little brown mixed with the white on his head and tail
.

The Cattle Egrets are really cute with their puffy pink heads.

In Colorado we see (and hear!) the Broad-tailed Hummingbirds. This is a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. They move quickly and when the sun catches their neck feathers - they flash bright red. It's really hard for me to get a decent picture showing the quick flash of red.

This is probably the best picture of the bunch.

Our Belted Kingfisher was once again sitting by the road...

having a bad hair day.

St. Marks NWR

The town of St. Marks is 3 plus hours North and West of Ocala, 17 miles South of Tallahassee and home to the St. Marks National Wildlife Preserve. We stayed in an Art-Deco Bed and Breakfast "Sweet Magnolia Inn" with a "get-comfortable-and-help-yourself" relaxed style. The Inn-keepers, Andy and his wife Denise, were great hosts - making breakfast to order and visiting over wine and munchies in the evenings.

 But our destination was the huge - 68,000 acres - National Wildlife Preserve just down Route 98. The entrance is a beautiful seven-mile drive to the St. Marks lighthouse and the preserve is home to many species of migratory birds.

The Saint Marks Lighthouse

We saw Bald Eagles all three days we visited. One of the volunteers told us there are 23 nesting pairs in the park. The light was not great for pictures - but I took lots and lots anyway.

I love these Cattle Egrets with their pink blush indicating they are ready and willing to begin mating.

Boat-tailed Grackles were everywhere.

We saw many kinds of shore birds and ducks. This is a Laughing Gull sporting his mating plumage with the black head.

The Great Blue Herons are always fun to photograph. They stay still - unlike the little birds.

The Thistle were blooming along the road and I was surprised to see Ruby-throated Hummingbirds flitting from flower to flower showing off their bright red throats when the sun hit them just right. I really tried to get a great picture - showing the whole bird AND the beautiful flower AND his ruby-red throat, but it was a chore! I have a couple of so-so sucesses that I will share in future blogs.

The Red-winged Blackbirds were also everywhere - making lots of noise.

One of my favorites - a Belted Kingfisher. It may look like he has two eyes on the side - but the one closer to his spectacular beak is a white spot.

The State Bird of Florida is the Mockingbird - and they were well represented in the park.

The Wisteria was blooming - everywhere. Bill took this picture in the parking lot of the Sweet Magnolia Inn. Ocala is too far south for Wisteria, so we were thrilled when we realized our short trip to the Forgotten Coast coincided with the plant's short blooming cycle.