Purple Galinule

Purple Galinule at Shark Valley, The Everglades - a good bird, but a mediocre photo. It was at entrance and one of very few birds we saw mid day in Shark Valley. Saw more birds that day outside the park than inside.



Everyone goes to the Everglades to see alligators. Not moi. Most Floridians who go to the Everglades are into fishing or boating. Saw more German tourists there than any other nationality.

Outside of Shark Valley we saw two Everglades specialties - the endangered Snail Kite and the Limpkin. Both have a diet of apple snails. We had views of both male and female snail kites, the male - gray as pictured below - flew very close.

Male is slate grey - female is brown for better camoflauge when on the nest.

Limpkins can hide incredibly well. That day we saw at least three, two were flying.

Cormorant

Immature Double Crested Cormorant at Anhinga Trail.

The Keys

Banana Frond and Leaf at Motel.

The Everglades

Palm trunk at Anhinga Trail.

Back Home

Back home, house cold and heat is on. Back yard is full of perfect daffodils which I thought I would miss. Forsythia not past its peak.

Working on new computer with horrible wireless mouse. New keyboard is also typo attracting.

Good vacation, enjoyed the warmth, beach and the birds. Learned to use my Blackberry which did not work on the plane.

Took a lot of pics with pocket digital camera. Couple seem good. Missed painting and creating.

Florida has been hit by a couple of hurricanes since I last visited and some of my favorite places are changed as a result. No more burrowing owls at Sombrero Beach - habitat destroyed by tidal surge. Eco Pond in Everglades is devastated - wonderful fresh water oasis flooded and out and destroyed by salt water surge. The once idyllic freshwater marsh is a barren dead mess with almost no bird life.

No more hotel in Flamingo. A ten foot wall of water demolished one of my favorite places to stay....actually the only place to stay in the Everglades unless you camp (which is an insane thing to do most of the year due to heat and mosquitoes).

More later....pictures at eleven.

Eco Pond as I remember it.....paradise.

Burrowing owl

The right to remain silent....

Going on vacation- to Miami and some of my favorite places - the Everglades and the middle Keys. No posts, then - not that anyone ever reads much here.

Here are some pics gleaned off Yahoo of Bahia Honda - my favorite beach in the USA. The beach is white sand and waves tiny. Possible to snorkel and not over crowded. Considered in travel magazines as \one of the best beaches in America. Only one of a few good ones in the Keys.

Key West does not have one good beach. You go there to drink or to shop and the shopping is poor, unless you like things gaudy, over priced and gaudy, or if you are into Jimmy Buffett. I like two Buffett songs.

Best line is "Some people say there's a woman to blame, but I know, it's my own damn fault."

Me, I will take the middle Keys, anytime. Sombrero Beach in Marathon, for example, where you can walk up to tame wild borrowing owls in the afternoon. Or birding early in the morning on Boot Key. Once in September I saw 2,000 broad winged hawks take off from a grove of trees there once there were enough thermals (hot air rising that they could use to float up without spending energy) to help with their migration south. It was an amazing moment. Breathtaking and defining. First five hawks then, then ten and then it was like a bee swarm in the air.

I live for these miracles of vision - whether in nature or about town. I know wonder and beauty when I see it. I am a sponge. A good thing except that sponges have no brains.....






Hope to take a few good pics down there. Still have not bought a good camera.