More Nature...Are We Bored Yet?

Nope! Not only does Sparky see lots of nature USUALLY on her weekly or semi weekly bike rides around Bradenton, lots of other people see really cool stuff here in Florida...

On the news tonight, it was reported that people driving on highway 41, a.k.a. Tamiami Trail, saw two bald eagles duking it out along the roadside. It was a brutal fight over territory, and there was a winner. The injured loser, ended up getting the sympathy vote as LOTS of calls went in to the local wildlife rescue organization. He was captured and taken in to receive veterinary care and then released back into the wild. A happy ending!

Sparky would have LOVED to have seen and taken some photos. Unfortunately, she wasn't there, so we don't have any. BUT---another productive bike ride today...Very early in the morning, on the one day Sparky was not subbing this week. Throughout the neighborhood, there are many many ponds and wetlands. Sparky usually sees quite a few birds and today was no exception. Down at Jiggs Landing, the dragonflies were like sentinels, guarding the marsh grasses. There must have been fifty dragonflies all perched at the very tippy top of the marsh grass stems. This one looked like he was in line for take off at the local airfield!

Jiggs Landing is a beautiful spot to stop and rest for a bit....The clouds were reflected in the water this morning, with not a breeze anywhere in sight. It almost looked like snow on the ground, just for a second. (Sparky is still missing snow and cold, but when everybody up north starts complaining about the bitter cold and the ice storms hit, she will be happy she is in Florida. :-)

The limpkins were out and about today...Sparky apologizes for the dark photos...Not the best time of day for catching the best light on subjects. This was a limpkin and a tri colored heron (?) passing each other on the marsh....

Here's a slightly better photo of a limpkin...A little blurry because he was bogeying down the grass line, worried about Sparky and getting his breakfast at the same time.

Sparky's ride is not complete without spotting a gator....She read just the other day about a guy working in his backyard on a golf course here in Sarasota...He heard a commotion behind him, and a gator came charging full blast out of the pond and after him, getting a grab on his leg! He managed to get the gator off him, and made it to his house, where he then got himself treatment at the doctor for the leg bite. Yikes! Sparky still likes to get a little too close to gators to get photos, but she is becoming more cautious after hearing stories like this. ("One of these days....."---says a worried Eldo.....)

This gator is in the big pond right on our street, just a few doors down. He was out today as Sparky rode by--on the opposite side of the bank. He looks like a decent size, doesn't he? You are supposed to be able to figure out how long the gator is, by estimating how long his snout is to his eye ridge. Sparky wants to know how the heck can you get the approximate "guesstimate" snout measurement without getting a lot closer to the gator?! (DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!! warns E.)

And Sparky passed this one in another pond, keeping cool......She's glad she has a 30X zoom lens.

No spoonbills today, that is a VERY unusual sighting in the neighborhood to see one of those...Usually we have to head out to other parts of Sarasota and Bradenton to find them or we just get lucky like Sparky did last bike ride out. But, the cranes are back in force all over the place in pairs  as they usually are, and drilling the golf course for bugs. This one was beside a pond, busily preening as Sparky biked by...He didn't even blink an eye as she stopped to get a photo.....They certainly can contort themselves around to get at those itchy spots!

Another great day in the neighborhood! Sparky is looking forward to the fall temperatures coming....The rains are diminishing...We had over 10" last week, and Myakka River State Park flooded and closed most of the park. Sparky thinks soon she will want to get back over there to go gator watching....(What is it with my woman that she has this thing about alligators???? wonders Eldo.)  Don't know, dear...they are just very cool looking and so dinosaurish.....And ever since we saw a gator capture his prey and heard the bones crunching as he chomped down while we were watching at the bridge at Myakka River State Park, Sparky wants to go back again and again.....

Until next time.......See ya!

Back to Normal, for Now....

We're back home and it's hot....Sparky is trying to forget about those wonderful temperatures in the mountains...She's dreaming of a way to return next summer...She's dreaming of hiking...She's dreaming of a month in the mountains.....(Dream on, sweetie...that's gonna be EXPENSIVE! states E., just stating the facts.)

Hmmmmm....let's see....If I sub X number of days a month....If we cut out eating out...(THAT'S  not gonna happen! exclaims E.) Eldo is right about that...Sparky is the one who loves to eat out....If we play the lottery.....lol......Well, a gal can dream, right?

Seriously, we will look hard and work hard for a solution to get back to the mountains--some mountains, somewhere-- next summer, so Sparky can hike and we both can get relief from the hot, humid temps.....

Sparky went back to the Celery Fields in Sarasota.....A beautiful place with a couple hundred species of birds they say....Lots of marshy areas, lots of water...prime bird and duck habitat. Sparky met a lady photographer here one day, and she takes the most awesome photos. 'Course she has a really big lens and a super duper camera. She was kind enough to share some other locations in town where she looks for birds. Sparky will have to check those places out one of these days, when it's not so hot.

Usually the fields and marshes yield something interesting to see...but not today....Maybe over at Jigg's Landing, the pretty park that is on the Braden River?

view from the porch of one of the little fishing cabins

Yep! A baby moorehen chick or a common gallinule, not sure which. The two birds are VERY closely related and were just recently split into two separate family categories in 2011. The moorhen is also known as the "swamp chicken"! Whatever, this bird is, the baby chicks are cute, well, sort of....

The mom was supervising....

And keeping an eye on Sparky who was a little above the action on the nice boardwalk that runs through the park.....Sparky really enjoys riding down to this park, less than a mile from her house. This is where the horned owlets were earlier this summer....

Time to head back home and see what the yard birds are up to....the pileated woodpeckers are still at those carrotwood tree berries, which are coming to the end of their lifespan....

The carrotwood tree right in front of our house is a messy tree...we have to sweep the sidewalk twice a day while the berries are developing...The tree throws down little brown hard kernels at first. If you step on them, they release an orange fluid and it can stain the carpet if they come in on your shoes and you crush them, so we have to really watch that. But boy, do the birds love the berries when they come out! Sparky saw THREE pileated woodpeckers all munching on berries at the same time in the tree today!

And this little bird (Sparky doesn't know this species) had something to say about the pileateds eating all the berries.....

"Save some for me!"

And that's about it for now....

Sparky and Eldo are getting ready for another trip...time to head to Traverse City tomorrow for Sparky's family reunion....which will be a week at the Windjammer Resort on the Lake near Traverse. It's actually not much of a resort, but more of a campground. More about that later.....like when we get back! Sparky is looking forward to seeing her brothers and sister and enjoying cooler temperatures once again...Looks like the mid seventies during the day, and fifties at night. Woo hoo!  Until next time......

Birds of a Feather Flock Together

Sparky loves riding over to Jiggs Landing in Bradenton, just about a half mile from her house to see what birds are there…This past two months, it was a great horned owl family that flew the coop recently (an osprey nest they overtook from the ospreys who built it) and the ospreys came and claimed it back….It looks like the ospreys might be incubating some eggs up in the tall pine tree. Sparky captured one of the parent ospreys feeding on a fish it recently caught. The tail was still flopping around when Sparky started taking photos.  Ew-w-w-w-w! But that's nature. Sparky had another photo where the osprey had taken an internal part of the fish and had it in its mouth. Double EW-W-W-W-W! So she decided it was too gross to publish.

At Jiggs Landing, there is a boardwalk, and out at the end of the boardwalk is a nice little viewing platform. There were some pretty little marsh plants blooming today…

Sparky sat down to watch some least terns, the smallest members of the tern family, who were congregating on the boardwalk.

They sat in a row on the boardwalk fence…..

They took turns getting ready to fly one by one in search of a meal. And pooping….

When they got something, back they came, chattering with the fish in their mouths, like "Look guys, I'm telling you, there's food out there, you just gotta look for it!"

And off one would fly again to catch another skinny little fish…..

"I'm not impressed," says the buddy.

It's a beautiful little park with a kayak launch. Sparky went out kayaking once so far on the Braden River from Jiggs Landing, but it's time to get back out again, she thinks!

Sparky has been watching all over town for baby sandhill cranes. They've been very elusive…They seem to be born about March, so they've already hatched and are growing. FINALLY--a pair spotted while we were out garage sale shopping….and with only an iPhone to capture the moment….sigh…Gotta start carrying the little Canon Powershot everywhere!

Bye-bye little birds…..