Sarasota is a HOTBED of Birding Activity!

Sparky has been SUPER busy subbing....almost every day since school started back in August. She LOVES it! She gets to get dressed up, be silly, and read her favorite books when she does kindergarten. Her latest favorite book is, The Day the Crayons Quit. The kids love the part where the beige crayon asks his owner to stop peeling the paper off the beige crayon because he feels "naked" and doesn't want to come out of the box. They love this book so much that they asked Sparky to read it twice while she was there. Her favorite grades are kindergarten, first grade, and fifth grade....Just this past week, the little kindergartners have been celebrating St. Patrick's Day all week long. They made leprechaun traps to catch pesky little leprechauns. The kid that made this one said he made it all by himself, haha. 

The kids come up in front of their classmates and tell how their trap works. One little boy went totally blank when Sparky asked him how his trap worked. You should have seen the deer-in-the-headlights look when she asked. There was a big pause, and finally he says, "Uh...I don't know. It was dark. My mom made this after I went to bed." All righty, then.....

Each day or so, the teacher does something different to indicate that the leprechaun has visited. She might sprinkle glitter to leave a path like he's been through their room on one day, and in the room Sparky subbed in, the assisting reading teacher went through and created a chaotic trail of glitter, notes, and mischievous deeds. 
The notes were like, "Haha, you almost caught me!" and "Thanks for all this gold, I'm going shopping!" The kids went crazy when they saw what happened. "He broke my ladder!" "He left me a note!" "I almost got him with my trap!" One little boy said, "My dad says there is no such thing as leprechauns, but I think there is!" So there, poopy dad!

If Sparky is not subbing on a particular day, she is out looking for birds and nature stuff....There are TWO eagles nests within a few miles of our home...One has chicks that are about ready to leave the nest, the other has chicks just beginning to flutter their wings in the nest.

They are always magnificent to see and watch....Here is a youngster who looks like just about ready to fly the coop.

And sure enough, in a few minutes, he did....


We are so fortunate to have these sightings here in Bradenton and Sarasota....


See you soon at the Venice Rookery, another terrific birding spot!