Skywatch Friday: Sky Above West Palm Beach

Last week I spent a few days up in Maine. This was the view of West Palm Beach, FL when I departed. It's taken me a couple of years but I actually really like living here now. And it has nothing to do with the Spot-breasted Orioles in my yard or the Purple Gallinules and Black-necked Stilts at work...okay who am I kidding?

Don't forget to have a great holiday weekend and enjoy the other Skywatch Friday posts!

On the road again

In two weeks we have had our house broken into twice, the last time being this Monday. The first time they got the laptops and computers and the second time they cleaned up the rest of the electronics. Now that I am devoid of a computer, Ipod, video camera, etc. I feel like maybe it's time to move. My favorite part of my current landlord's attempt at scaring away thieves is by putting this nice Beware of Dog sign up, though we don't have a dog. We did have Chico (the super chihuahua) visiting last week and this is his best attempt at looking like a guard dog. Not too threatening, huh?

Skywatch Friday: Lake Worth Hawk Watch Tower, FL

The view from the Lake Worth Hawk Watch Tower aka my balcony.

Currently the yard list is sitting at 24 species but really, I haven't been home much to even see any birds. Here's the current list in order of appearance:

Northern Mockingbird, Eurasian Collared-dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Rock Pigeon, Cooper's Hawk, Boat-tailed Grackle, Turkey Vulture, Laughing Gull, Red-bellied Woodpecker, European Starling, Short-tailed Hawk, Spot-breasted Oriole, Monk Parakeet, Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, Osprey, Fish Crow, American Kestral, Common Grackle, Ring-billed Gull, Blue-crowned Parakeet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Cattle Egret.

Check out all the other Skywatch Friday posts this week. And enjoy your weekend. I hope you see lots of cool yard birds. I for one will certainly be looking for a few new ones.

Mystery Bird: Blue-crowned Parakeet

If you guessed the Blue-crowned Parakeet as one of my latest yard birds then you were correct. This pair showed up last week on the line outside my front door. I'm used to seeing Monk Parakeets flying all over South Florida but this was just my second enconter with the Blue-crowned Parakeet. This pair spent a good time preening and grooming each other and didn't seem to mind that I was freaking out below them. By the way, the photos are taken through my bincos so you will have to look past the low quality digi-bining.

Mystery Bird

Can you guess what birds showed up in my yard recently? Here is a photo taken of them in the early morning hours before work. Leave your guess in the comments.

1st Yard Bird

I have officially started my move into the new house. And my first yard bird is....a Northern Mockingbird on the power line. A close second was a Eurasian Collared-Dove in the back yard. It's fun to start a yard list again. I've missed hanging out in the backyard watching the afternoon settle in. And I've definitely missed keeping a yard list. I hope that this new residence exceeds my expectations and delivers a steady stream of birds.

707 North L Street

That's right folks it's that time of year again when I pack up all my belongings and move down the street (literally this time). It may seem strange but this will be my 6th move in 2 years. This time I'm not changing cities and the address is just moving a few blocks north. Check out the new place.

The kitchen is really the only drawback to the house. It's small and doesn't have enough shelving or a pantry and the stove is small but we are going to make it work. And from the photos you will notice my new roommate or I should say my old roommate returned, Mo.

The house has a lot of character. Weird colors painted throughout. A blue ceiling downstairs and look at how those stairs are painted! Clouds are on the ceiling up the stairway with grass down the sides. It may not match but it's kinda fun.

In my room there's a small balcony. Here's my view of half the backyard. Andy and I have renamed it the Lake Worth Hawkwatch. Wish my yard bird list luck.

I have a cute room with a nice fan and yes, that IS a fireplace. I'm not sure why they put a fireplace in a house in Florida but behind that wall is a bathtub. So I guess you can have a fire while bathing. That should be interesting.

Here's a view of the hosue from the back. That's my door/room upstairs. The official move in is Saturday but I'm packing and moving things all this week. Tomorrow is the scrub down day at the new place. It really needs a little cleaning but I know it will be great when it's all done.

We're having a house warming party on February 28th. Let me know if you'd like to come join the first of many house parties.

Alphabet Soup - Lake Worth, FL

Welcome to the entrance of my new studio apartment. This little guy guards the walkway. I think he's amazing and such a nice little gate keeper. And below is the view of what he's guarding. Not only does he watch the pathway but also stands guard by the mailboxes. I can't help but chuckle when I see him.

Here's the backdoor (or front door depending on your sense of direction) to my place. That little iron gate is my private entrance to my room in case I don't want to walk the front path from the road. This entrance is located on the electric right-away road and serves as a nice spot for unloading groceries and such.

This will be a short tour due to the smallness in size of my place but as you enter the studio you will find my little nook of a kitchen. I like the tile color and the large sink. For one person this set-up works perfectly.

Opposite the kitchen area you will find my dining area, which also serves as storage for my bike. The refrigerator tucks away nicely behind the closet doors. And my family helped me find that cute little 50's dining table. Thanks Mom for helping with the cost!

Across from the wall of closets you have my living area and bed. One of my favorite parts about this place is the skylight seen above the fan. It brings such great natural light and keeps me updated on the weather conditions outside. I failed to take a picture of the "dance floor." The area I'm standing in when I took the picture below is a nice open area that my friend Andy and the cable man (separately) referred to as a great dancing spot. So I guess that means you guys need to come visit so we can break it in. Consider it an open invitation.

If you're wondering about the title of this post it refers to the area of downtown Lake Worth that is a maze of alphabet street names like A Street, B Street, etc. I live on one of those.

Ocean Avenue

With an address like Ocean Avenue I felt I wouldn't be too far off target to include this post. Mostly ths is for my family and friends who are curious about my new digs. Let's go on a little tour of the property.

First we have the front of the house. It's pretty unique in layout. This building in front of the front door is a little covered shed area with a small closet that stores my roommates windsurfing equipment. By the front entrance we have some xeriscaping plants and rocks and old coral. And the colors are typical for a house near the beach, but I kind of like it in the tacky Florida sort of way.

If you walk around to the back of the house we have a fenced in area with a hot tub and a screened in porch. I'm standing on a little dining area that is raised and has brick tiles. The yard space is cozy. So far I've seen mostly European Starlings, Eurasian Collared Doves, Common Grackles and one lone Red-bellied Woodpecker. In the morning I hear Northern Cardinals singing outside my window.

This screened in area has our bikes and two doors, one to my bedroom and one to the kitchen. I like the house, all tile floors are an extra plus in the South Florida heat. Plus, a house with a yard is so much nicer than the townhome I was living in.

The kitchen is small but big enough for the two of us. I like to eat my meals outside in the backyard. We are on top of a hill so we get a nice breeze from the ocean most days.

Once past the kitchen we have the living room area and dining area. Also my room and bedroom are on the bottom floor of the house. That second story that you saw on the house is where my roommate lives. He has a room, bathroom, and lots of storage space; he also pays more of the rent.

The unpacking was mostly done by the time I took these pictures. You can still see some things piled up and my blue sleeping bag out on the bed. Hopefully, I will be cleaning out some accumulated clutter and giving it to Goodwill soon.

If you've made it this far, I'll leave you with a parting shot of my window area. There is an assortment of bones that I collected at Jekyll Island over the years, mostly marine artifacts. Some old whale vertebrae washed up after a tropical storm once and then there's a loon bone from my time in Maryland. All of this is coupled with candles and incense to make it a complete dust grabbing collection. I have an easterly facing window so I always have a nice breeze. It's great living in Florida this time of year....no A/C, windows all open. I'm going to dread the hot and humid summer.