The skies were beautiful this morning at Green Cay. The above photo was taken at 7:30AM. You can tell by the yellow coloration of the marsh plants that it's autumn in Florida. We don't see many leaves change color but generally everything becomes a little dull, more brown and yellow than green.
No matter what time of year, the marsh is always pretty at sunrise. I could take this photo every day for a hundred days and it would always look just a little bit different, the Green Cay Wetlands have become dear to me.
For those that don't know, I am almost done with my first semester of graduate school. So far, things are going quite well in my classes and I'm learning a lot which is the most important. When school is finished (or maybe before) I will be departing South Florida. I guess I better appreciate every sunrise I see at Green Cay until then.
Wow, I found this post today and for some reason it was never uploaded. I like the photos so much that I thought I would share it. It's a glimpse of the conditions at the boat dock before Rupp and I headed out on our Puffin expedition a few years back in May. This was a COLD afternoon and we probably had every stitch of clothing on that we packed. I'm planning to go back to Maine next year for a wedding. I hope that even better adventures are had and maybe, I'll see Puffins again.
After an exciting weekend up in Georgia/South Carolina for a friend's wedding I am officially back in Florida. The nature center's weather today has turned cloudy and off-and-on showers have plagued the afternoon. I forgot how nice the summers are in South Carolina. I miss those hot days and semi-cool nights. We don't have that in Florida. The heat index this morning at 8AM was 90 degrees. But despite the weather I am glad to be back home. I'm looking forward to shorebird migration later this month. And I have my fun but exhausting Jr. Naturalist Series starting this weekend at the nature center. No plans for any travel until August. So if you're in the area stop by Green Cay and you'll find me.
By the way, having a beach wedding is even better when the backdrop includes dolphins, Brown Pelicans, and Least Terns. Congratulations to Katie and Bill!
Welcome to Devil's Lake State Park, Wisconsin. Here's what the drive in looks like:
Recently on my trip to the Midwest we hit up the Devil's Lake State Park . The weather was perfect for camping with nice cool weather and sunny skies. First thing first, we set up the campsite and then headed down to the "beach" to have a picnic.
Our campsite above and the beach at Devil's Lake State Park below. It was really windy down by the water.
After our lunch of hummus and tomato sandwiches we hit the trail. My WI tour guide Melanie assured me that these were not mountains that we were hiking but when you're flying in from the flatlands of Florida everything looked like a mountain to me. We went up and up and up until we finally hit the top of the ridge that overlooks Devil's Lake.
The view from the top was spectacular. All the fall colors gave the landscape a surreal feeling. Above is the only group shot I managed from the whole trip (l to r): Melanie, Katie, Heather, and myself.
After hitting all the overlooks and being silly with our cameras we headed down the ridge to the lake's edge. On the way back we took the more leisurely Tumbled Rocks trail. It's here that I fell in love with the Baraboo Quartzite. Check out those purplish rocks.
After a full day of traveling and hiking we headed back to our home for the night in the Northern Lights Campsite. After many patient attempts we finally got a nice warm fire. Katie and Melanie made baked apples and we all enjoyed each other's company before heading to bed in our tents.
I really would have enjoyed staying at Devil's Lake S.P. for another day or two. There's over 29 miles of trail and we barely even scratched the surface. But we had miles before us and other adventures ahead. So we said farewell to the beautiful yellow trees and hit the road.
Check back later this week as I highlight a few more fun adventures in the Midwest including apple orchards and some hiking/birding in Illinois.
Over the weekend I had the privilege to do something totally foreign to me, sailing. I've seen sail boats on TV but never in person, so actually getting to be on one was amazing. The weather was perfect on Sunday and despite my uncertainty of wind, the boat picked up some speed. On the cruise around Lake Mangonia we also saw a few bird species. Mostly though, we enjoyed the peace and had a fun time out on the water. I still need to get use to the way the boat moves with the sail. Sometimes I felt like I was going to fall out but I trusted the skills of my friend.
Below is a peek at the inside of the storage closet. I love the colors of the sails and jackets and wood rudders. I could get use to riding in a boat like this more often.
With Tropical Storm Fay overhead Palm Beach County facilities closed on Tuesday. This gave me an unexpected holiday and a chance to hang out with one of my favorite guys. Andy came down Monday night and we had some out-of-work celebrations. Tuesday morning met us with high winds and some rain storms passing through. We dined on an excellent breakfast of grits, scrambled eggs with spinach, whole wheat toast, strawberries, bananas, and colby jack cheese paired with some Mango juice. Afterwards we walked to Starbucks and sat outside under a covering to watch the wind sweep through the buildings and people running about in the sideways rain.
Sometime in the late afternoon we decided that the winds were calm enough to check out Lake Worth beach. If you want to know where the people go after and during storms like these then you should stop by the beach. The boardwalk was lined with people out watching the waves and surfers. We were in search of some pelagics that may have come ashore but we came up empty. The only birds we found where Ruddy Turnstones, Sanderlings, and Rock Pigeons.
On the way home we stopped at Bryant Park in Lake Worth to see the Intercoastal up close. The Intercoastal was full of white caps and this unfortunate boat somehow got away from its dock and was slammed into the sea wall.
As you can imagine we were quite shocked to find a boat that was sinking but we were even more shocked to find this puffer fish washed up on the trail near the boat. The waves were breaking hard against the sea wall and there was a high water line of debris spilling into the park. A quick walk over to the adjacent golf course proved to be fulfiling due to the multitude of birds. The open grassy areas were littered with White Ibis, Laughing Gulls, and herons and egrets of all kinds.
I don't really like tropical storms and hurricanes because they're not predictable and you never know what kind of tornado may come barreling through your house but after the storm there's pretty cool stuff to see. You never know what's going to wash up on shore or what kind of wildlife is going to be out and about. And even in the destruction there can be beauty.
We've been having lots of rain storms recently. On a whim this past week I headed down to the Homestead area to search for a Horned Lark and a Buff-breasted Sandpiper. The lark wasn't to be found and then the rain came down. It rained and rained and it cleared up again just before nightfall. Needless to say, I came up empty handed. These would have both been lifers for me. There's always tomorrow. Well, tomorrow we have a tropical storm (or hurricane) hitting but there's another day of birding in my future and chances are I will hit 300 on my list soon. Enjoy the storm pictures from earlier this week. I imagine that things are going to look like this for the next few days with Fay on her way.
The weekend on Florida's western shore was quite nice despite the occasional shower. The photo above is one of the many storms I drove through to get across the state. Surprisingly, this was the worse weather of the weekend.
It's that time of year when the afternoon showers roll in like clockwork. The humidity is intense and then during the shower the temperature cools to a more liveable state. I like living in South Florida but I'm not a huge fan of the summer weather. The one consolation is going outside on the deck at Green Cay during a thunderstorm and watching the rain blow over the wetlands, now that's beautiful stuff.
My family is descending upon me for a fun-filled week of adventure. Last year we had a great trip to the Keys where I found a beautiful mermaid woman. I have no idea what we may find to do this year but I'm sure it will be equally as crazy. So for now, I'll be on a short hiatus until they leave me at the end of June.
Yesterday and last night the rain just poured down. We had scary lightning storms throughout the evening. The best part about these showers is the cool temperatures they bring. Living in South Florida in a house without A/C can get a little old after 3 or 4 days in the 90 degree range. But yesterday I went and picked up my new studio key and I am going to start packing up the car this evening. If all goes well, I will be totally moved in by Sunday.
Meanwhile at Green Cay, the summer is in full swing with baby birds Everywhere. We have baby Purple Gallinules, Common Moorhens, Mottled Ducks, Boat-tailed Grackles, Black-necked Stilts, Limpkins, and Anhingas. The Killdeer nests are empty (seen below) and the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks are all paired up flying around. I can't wait until those guys have their young. I'm not really into duck babies but there's something about those markings on the Whistling Ducks that get me.
A new breeding bird for Green Cay is the Fish Crow. For the last few weeks it's been guarding a nest somewhere on the Chickee Island. I went out there last week when it was frantically making a lot of noise. I'm not sure if something attacked the nest but there was a mess on the railing and it was extremely agitated. With the boardwalk maintenance I haven't had a chance to go back and check it out but it seems that something had gone awry. So that puts the Green Cay breeding species population up to 21. When I first started working here 1.5 years ago we only had 12 types of birds nesting. Green Cay just turned 3 years old so there's hope that even more birds will be finding it and making it their breeding grounds in the future.
The storm clouds were rolling in Tuesday afternoon at work but over the walkie-talkie I heard that one of our volunteers had some unusual ducks on the mile boardwalk. With the work's digital camera and binoculars in hand I sprinted out there and boy, what a find. Our first Black-bellied Whistling Duck babies! On my weekly bird counts I've seen one lone duck but I guess the mate was just hiding nearby. Today I went to check on them and snapped this picture. The solitary pair and their ducklings were accompanied by 4 more pairs. I'm hoping that we have a whole Black-bellied Whistling Duck nursery soon.
Here's the view from the nature center deck. When it finally started raining Tuesday all the ducklings hid under one of the parents' bodies. (This technique was also used today when the sun was blaring down on the young ones.)
With all the excitement at work I totally forgot about the big storm brewing. My commute home wasn't nearly as pleasant as I had hoped. Anytime you see traffic stopped and the oncoming lanes non-existent, you know there's trouble. My 30 minute drive turned into a little over an hour drive. The one good thing about stand still traffic is that it allows more time to look at the birds flying over head especially around the landfill.
