Happy Halloween!

Off to see lots of little kids today….a parade in Venice where TONS of kids participated in a short parade walk and then trick or treated on Main Street in Venice…Here's Sparky' favorite costume from the parade, "Little Big Bird"…and her mama was dressed as Mama Chick…

Then we hurried over to St. Armand's Circle in Sarasota….There was supposed to be a "Thriller" dance put on by Sarasota High School…we didn't know when it started so we waited and waited and waited…In the meantime, we checked out the costumes all the way around…kids AND grownups…
This little guy was dressed like a blues brother and his twin, the same way. The twin made a getaway before Sparky could capture the two of them together. Of course, the sunglasses wouldn't stay on no matter what, the little guy kept taking them off, but he was still adorable!

The merchants on the circle got into the act….The kids trick and treated the stores on the circle….

This little gal was walking along with her mom, grabbing her throat and gasping like she was dying…

She was a natural at acting…her mom said she had no idea what she was pretending to be….But she was fine….

The Greek style statues on the circle were all decked out in their Halloween finery….

This one has a somewhat bemused expression, like, "Well, if you insist, I suppose I must wear it."

After waiting about two hours, we learned that the Thriller dance was not for another hour and a half, so we decided to leave, we'll return next year, IN COSTUME…(Oh, geez…I can see it now…she wants me to be Thing 2 with her Thing 1, sighs E.) We're going in COSTUME next year and make our presence known! laughs Sparky…(She gets more gutsy every year, E. sighs again. At least maybe I'll have a mask so nobody will know me.) Heck, nobody knows us now!

Lots of Halloween spirit in this town tonight…It was FUN! No trick or treaters in our neighborhood, it's kind of an old neighborhood, so that's why we headed out. Hope you had fun in YOUR neighborhood! See you later…...

Bird Brained and Duck Dynasty

Sparky is definitely getting more bird brained in her golden years. Forgetting stuff right and left, losing keys and wallet on a regular basis (in the house usually), difficulty remembering occasions in the past year that she SHOULD remember, enough that she consults Alzheimer's checklists on a regular basis, lol. So far, fairly normal aging of the brain, she surmises. Eldy is not alarmed yet, older sis is not alarmed, and friends have not broached the subject yet, so guess Sparky is still on track for navigating her way through life each day. Heck, she can still navigate to Michael's and Hobby Lobby without help (although she DOES have instructions on how to get to Hobby Lobby in her phone in case she forgets), so things are ok....

Speaking of being a bird brain, Sparky has birds on the brain at the moment. She is enjoying Florida birds more and more, and focused on taking photos of them. Today we spotted a FLOCK of about 20 wood storks, behind a shopping plaza in a lagoon area.  WOW! TWENTY woodstorks...they've been scarce lately...and scarce in general, because they are an endangered species. They must be making a comeback because the National Fish and Wildlife agency is thinking about reclassifying them as "threatened", a step down from being endangered...Sparky ran home to get her camera, hopped on her bike and boogied back to the back of the shopping center, where there's a little marsh ecosystem tucked behind the center. It attracts lots of birds, and today, it was the wood stork convention!

Wood storks used to be called a wood ibis...They have similarly curved bills like the little white ibis that are all over the place here in Florida.The wood storks look like turkeys or vultures a little bit. Their heads are blackish and bald like the vulture's. They have a BIG wingspan with big black feathers that you can see when they fly. The wingspan is anywhere from 5-6 feet across!

You can see the relationship between man's flight inventions and the streamlined birds, can't you? What aerodynamics!

Sparky took lots of shots, and had to stay a fair distance away because the birds were wary....

"Come any closer and I'll bite!"

Sparky just thinks these are really cool birds....Here's one in the grass....

And a couple mirroring each other....

A pair in the sun...

"Maybe she won't notice me if I hide behind Agnes."

There were a pair of cool ducks there...These are black bellied whistler ducks, a biologist friend says...Cool! Never heard of those!

Saw these same species of duck in a little pond on the Legacy bike trail a few days later...A mom and dad pair with four little ones who were popping up and down like little bobber corks for a good twenty minutes practicing their diving skills. Sarasota's own duck dynasty!  Each time one little duckling went down, the other three went immediately in succession right after each other--PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! The water churned a little bit, then POP! POP! POP! up they came, one right after the other. It was fun to watch!

Duck diving....

A wonderful part of a morning spent watching and photographing nature right across the street, well right across highway 70 from us.

                                                                           The end.....  :-)

Glow in the Dark Boobs and Nokomis Drum Circle

WHA-A-A-T?  Sparky is going to have a titillating blog today, (hehehehehe)...Yes, we are going to talk about boobs for a brief moment..after all, it IS Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Actually, this blog is going to be more about the Nokomis drum circle, which can be experience every Saturday night at Nokomis Beach in Nokomis. But plenty of bra tops and bikinis could be seen down here this evening. (WHERE? I didn't see very many bikinis at all, complains E.) AHEM! It was great to get back to the drum circle. We haven't been in months...We weren't sure whether it was still well attended in the SL-O-O-W summer months, so we stayed away...But Kristi, Eldy's daughter came down to Bradenton for a weekend of R & R with us, so that was one of the things she wanted to see.

But first, we got her in our pool....

Then, we took her to breakfast at the Anna Maria Island Gulf Gate Tiki Hut Bar and Grill which is undergoing renovations and expansion...It's just a really great atmosphere despite being under improvements. Not very many places can you eat your meal on the beach with the sand between your toes and watch dolphins swim by! The food is so-so, and the service can be very slow, but what the heck?! We've got all day, we retired!

We saw several dolphins swimming in the water aways out, but still a thrill to see them. And wouldn't you know, Sparky heads to the restroom just as we were about to leave and a WHOPPER dolphin comes in close to shore for Eldo and Kristi's benefit, and Sparky missed it! And no, they weren't in cahoots telling a whopper of a story, there really was one! But no one had a camera, so they didn't catch the moment.

And then, for her last night here, we took her to Nokomis Beach where Saturday nights reign as a well attended drum circle....We have the cast of characters down well....

The "Shaman"...at least that's what we call him...He performs ceremonial rituals as the sunset nears, chanting and using feathers and graceful movements in a prayer like manner blessing someone, something, we are not sure which or maybe it's both. This guy is BUFF for his age, don't you think?

And such a cool bowler hat....At sunset, he blows the conch shell....

The scarf ladies were there.....

The belly dancers were there....

The jester came...He's a retired school teacher...Teachers are game for just about anything to get  attention in the classroom, and sometimes we're still workin' it long after we leave the classroom..That enthusiasm for learning and life is still very much with us! (Oh yeah, I can attest to that, says E. Sparky is like a little kid often!)

The jingle skirted ladies were there in abundance....Masks were worn by several of the ladies, that seems to be the newest trend...

And a wee lass who's learning to participate at a very early age...She did a great job shaking her little jingle skirt right along with the grownups!

This little guy was having a pushup contest with another little boy....They sure get competitive early, don't they?

The cast of regulars in the rhythm section was awesome as always! And if you feel like drumming, bring your own set of drums.The tourist/participants along the sidelines had their own sets of drums and percussion, some very simple like a single tambourine, some very elaborate, like a set of bongos. Even little ones had their own.....

If you feel like dancing, get up and dance! All shapes and sizes have no qualms about getting out there and shaking their booties and other things as well....The rhythmic drumming really moves most of us..This little gal had had ballet classes, at first she was trying to pirouette and use her ballet moves to the hippy beat of the drums. Finally, she kicked off her shoes and just did her own thing to the beat.

Some of the little kids can really hoop it out there!

If you don't have a hoop, they are there for sale....

How about this glow in the dark bra top? That caught Eldy's attention! And everyone else's, too....It's hard to tell here, but it's NEON green and it was already starting to have a glow about it as she walked around.

It's a cool venue, that's for sure....People seemed to respect the circle for the most part, so people who had the hoops and the scarves had room to perform...

Although after awhile, Kristi said it seemed a little chaotic...Oh, yeah...That's what happens....Anything goes in the center, people performing, people pushing their children into the circle so they can film them, people taking pictures, people taking pictures of people taking pictures. It's a great photo op for everyone there! Love the two little girls on the right sort of oblivious to what's going on behind them...

We had a great time and were so glad the rainy season has ended this past week so that we had good weather this evening...We went from rain nearly every day in the afternoon and early evening from June, July, August and September, to five straight days of sunshine now...Temps are starting to come down, snowbirds are starting to arrive, and Eldy is complaining already about the traffic increase. You can really tell that October 1st was a starting date for snowbird arrival, at least for some...It feels funny to having gone from being a snowbird last winter to being full time residents and complaining about snowbirds coming this season! Maybe we'll meet some neighbors finally. Our street has been very empty since we moved here in June......We're ready to meet some people our age! Most of them are still up north, the full time residents that are here are in their seventies and eighties...Looking forward to "season" as they call it, experiencing it from the opposite end this winter.

Kristi left today..We'll have a quiet week, then Eldy's son, Brian, comes in for the weekend. He's going to get his dad out on the golf course a BUNCH!

Bye for now....Safe travels to our blogging friends who are on the move, wishes for great weather to our blogging friends who are staying put at the moment, and to everyone still reading, thanks for staying in touch. We miss the traveling, but we are loving our location and how our home is shaping up.....See ya later!

Sparky's Spoonbill Study and a Dolphin Tale

Sparky had a sandhill crane study on the blog, now it's time for a spoonbill study....We were at the Gulf  Drive Tiki Bar and Grill on Anna Maria Island on a Sunday morning. We have been there several times and had seen dolphins every single time so we were hoping to see them today. Nope! The fish weren't swimming in close to shore, so the dolphins were somewhere else. We still had a wonderful breakfast and saw some great shorebirds and pelicans in flight early this morning. This is a snowy egret taking off. He's got black legs and brilliant yellow feet, that's how you know it's a snowy egret, although you can't see his yellow feet in the photo.

Sparky likes to watch the pelicans soar and glide so low across the water....One of the names for a bunch of pelicans is a squadron. They are so unified in flight, they look like a squadron! This was the leader, there were about four more behind him.

(Uh, Sparky...the spoonbill study? She's always getting sidetracked, you know....explains E.) OH! Yeah! We went looking for dolphins on the other side of Anna Maria Island, but first we spotted a roseate spoonbill outside an apartment complex with some ibis, foraging for food. Here come the spoonbill photos.....First, Sparky's favorites...Coming or going? Not sure which....

"See this lady in front of us? I think she's stalking us!"

"Maybe if I hide this tree, she won't see me."

And here's a compilation of the rest with some repeats....

And here comes everything else about them....They are so beautiful, you'd think they'd be the Florida state bird but they are not. (The mockingbird is!) Spoonbills were once almost extinct, but they have made such a comeback due to conservation and preservation efforts, there are quite a few of them and they no longer need protection.  Spoonbills weigh 2-4 pounds, and stand about 3 feet tall. They are a member of the ibis family--those white birds in the photos with the curved orange beaks.  Spoonbills are fun to watch as they feed, sweeping their bills from side to side, scooping up tiny little fish, crustaceans, snails, shrimp, insects and frogs. Immature birds are lighter in color and have white, feathered heads. The mature birds have a greenish cast to their heads. The spoonbills get their beautiful pink and red colored feathers from the food they eat, like flamingoes. Just like if you ate a bazillion carrots, your skin might get a little orangish tinge?  Sparky's mom told her that one time....

Spoonbills nesting time is November and December, and they build their nests in trees....They are very social birds and usually hang out together in flocks or with other birds like the ibis, heron, and storks. Their wing feathers are amazing! If you are lucky enough to get to see them fly, the underneath feathers are a brilliant pink/red color. Sparky captured one flying away from her today. A little blurry photo, but you can still see the brilliant pinkish red tinge....So gorgeous! This spoonbill was hanging outside an apartment complex on Anna Maria Island, so you can see them just about anywhere in Sarasota and Bradenton, you just have to be on the watch for a turkey shaped big bird with pink feathers in a crowd of other wading birds in marshy areas, or anywhere for that matter! Sparky saw one in a ditch outside of Sun 'n' Fun RV park on Fruitville Road last winter.

Sparky hopped back in the car, and we headed towards Bradenton. As we were driving through Anna Maria Island and crossing one of the causeways, we saw dolphins in the water! Awesome! Gotta stop, Eldo, so we did!  And here they are, just lazing around on an early Sunday morning...a pod of at least five or six, and more than one pod in the area....

We kept watching and saw a few more....and got to see them spout as they came up for air...cool!

What a great morning for bird watching, dolphin watching, and nature watching in general! It's one of our favorite things to do...A drive of about 20 minutes from our house, and we are in Anna Maria Island, one of MANY places to see dolphins and beautiful birds.....Thanks for coming along today....

Sparky's Sandhill Crane Study

Sparky never tires of seeing wildlife and nature...we are so lucky to have beautiful birds who regularly visit the golf course behind our house. Every day we see ibis, plenty of cranes, and an occasional roseate spoonbill flying overhead. We remember making a special trip to the Jasper-Pulaski Wildlife Area in Medaryville, IN when we lived back in Indiana, to see the flock of sandhill cranes who were regularly migrating back and forth from the northern parts of the U.S. down to the southern states twice a year, in the spring and again in the fall. Jasper Pulaski Wildlife Refuge is directly in line with the migration flyway of the Eastern group of sandhill cranes who fly from the northern states to winter in the southern states, Florida being one of the top destinations just like it is for people! We got up extra early one morning, driving a couple of hours from where we were staying in Indiana at the time, to try and see them take off at dawn to feed in other marshy areas. Dawn and dusk are the best times to see them coming in and flying out from the Goose Pasture area. There are tens of thousands of cranes who visit that area each year, peaking around the middle to late November. In one day, if you are lucky, you might see as many as 30,000 at one time! The day we went, we saw maybe a couple hundred or so, and it was kind of disappointing as they were so far away in the meadow, too.

The sandhill cranes that are in our backyard are here all year round because of the nice weather. Granted, we only see pairs, but these on the golf course let you come right up to them and get very close. They just go about their business of eating and tearing up the greens looking for bugs! That area around the crane's feet is in the middle of the greens and he did all that damage. Looks like a golfer who tried a whole bunch of times to hit the ball and missed, and then didn't fix all his divots. Bet the golf maintenance guys have a time with fixing all these birds' divots!

Sparky loves to watch them do their thing and listen to their sounds they make when they talk to each other....It's a very gentle, special sound, almost a cooing rapid clucking sound when they are not threatened and feel comfortable in your presence.....

After watching them for awhile, and talking to them..Sparky said, "Hey, guys...why don't you give me a little wing action, please?"  So they did!

"A little higher, please?"

"That's it! Just one more shot, you guys...."

And soon after that, they decided they'd been accommodating enough and it was time to go. But first, gotta check the wind direction for flight path...

And, we're outta here!

Bye for now......