Life Birds in Puerto Rico

That's the face of a happy birder.  I was just ending a day with countless lifers in Puerto Rico when Ana, my birdingpals guide, said she knew a spot for Bridled Tern.  She made a couple of phone calls and we were told it was a little early but we tried anyways and boy, was I glad!  Not only did I see 3 pairs of Bridled Tern on their nest site but I also reveled in the occasion with my lifer White-tailed Tropicbird sighting.  It was the beginning of a great vacation and by the end of day one I had 18 new birds on my lifelist, many of them Puerto Rican endemics.

Tomorrow I'll fill you in on the other bird finds!

Picabo

My little Boo is back in Florida to visit me! She's 16 years young and fiesty as ever.

Phone photo: Atalas

Most of the Atala butterfly larvae are in chrysalis now. This photo was taken in the parking lot at Green Cay.

Jekyll Island 2011

Well friends, another great trip to Jekyll Island was taken this past weekend and I must say that place never ceases to amaze me. You would think after living there for 3 years I would have seen it all but it's not possible. We started the first night off by seeing two sets of sea turtle crawl tracks and then we ran up on two guys shark fishing. We watched them catch and release two lemon sharks before we called it a night.

The next day we spent a large portion chilling on the North End, also known as the Boneyard Beach. After bocce and sun we headed to St. Andrews sound for some rope swing fun and a little wading in the intercoastal. It was a nice day and we topped it off with dinner at Bubba Garcia's, the best food on St. Simon's Island. After calamari and shrimp tacos we had some shuffleboard round at Brogen's before calling it a late night.

On Sunday we slept in and then took in the beach at the 4-H Center. It is still my favorite beach on the island. We saw a pod of 20 dolphins swim back and forth as we wiled the day away playing more bocce and just relaxing. It was sad to say goodbye but like an old friend I know I'll see her again. Jekyll, you are so good to me and I miss you more than you know.

Gopher Tortoise at ONC

I scurried this guy off the road today at Okeeheelee Nature Center.

Colorado Blue Skies

Taken near Boulder, CO

Oh Florida

Gator feeding at a putt putt near Orlando.

Campsite number one at HP

We spent two nights at Hopkins Prairie. Waking up to the calls of Sandhill Cranes was so nice though I do admit loud. Our Great Backyard Bird Count totals will be posted tomorrow. It was really fun birding this "yard" for the three days.

Cathy

Cathy our Americorps student graduates to holding Oliver.

Pumpkin patch

I went to the Farmer's Market this week. I picked up some lovely vegetables. In South Florida it's very difficult to grow pumpkins so the market lines the pumpkins in rows almost like you can pick your own. It's cheating a bit but it is festive. And I loved the amount of families I saw with little kids in hand, picking their own pumpkin. It's important for children to know where food comes from. Now if only I had assurance that the families were EATING the pumpkins after carving them. One can dream...

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Green Cay Owl

Oliver hard at work.

Sunday sunrise

Another beautiful morning at Green Cay.

From the science symposium

Bees! One day will have my own hives and honey production. This one was set up at the Palm Beach County science symposium.

Score!

Found at a yard sale for 50 cents.

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Birding Key Biscayne

Went for the La Sagra's Flycatcher on Saturday but came up empty. At least the scenery was nice.

Working hard

The view from my office today.

Oliver the Eastern Screech-owl

Oliver our little education owl at Green Cay is doing quite well. He's eating three mice a day in addition to assisting in our bird classes and storytime sessions. On our monthly night walks he comes in to give our visitors a special treat. All in all, he's been very well behaved. Yesterday I had an animal handling training workshop with our volunteers and they had a chance to pick him up for the first time. Soon we will have a perch in the nature center so that more visitors will be able to see him. For those that don't know, Oliver was hit by a car this year and had a wing amputated. He now lives at Green Cay and serves as an animal ambassdor to school kids and the general public.

If you're into birds and educational opportunities come out to Green Cay on October 31st (Halloween) for our annual Migration Celebration. We will have crafts for the kids, speakers, a raptor show, and hopefully a rehabbed bird release into the wetlands. For more information see our website.

Feeding time!

Mice for the snakes

BBWD Babies

The Black-bellied Whistling Ducks are growing up. This pair still have 5 young so they must be doing something right. The bird count today was great. I'll fill you in tomorrow on what was seen.

Boiled Peanuts

My favorite snack food in the South is by far Boiled Peanuts but especially when the are still warm! I picked up a large bag of these at the South Carolina/Kentucky game on Saturday. Not only did I eat half the bag but my football team won as well. It was well worth the plane flights and hours spent in the airport to have such a fun weekend with my family.