Troutbirder Gets Dressed

He clears the fog from his brain, rolls over and says, "I suppose church is on the agenda for this morning." He knows the answer, so gets up and looks out the window and utters the first prayer of the day. "Oh God help us."

Then, gathering the essentials, he sits down on the bed and puts on his cotton socks and underwear, followed by his "long johns", a sweat shirt, long woolen socks, a fleeced hunting vest, and his quilted pants. Now venturing into the mud room, followed closely by Mrs. T., what happens next is remindful of those scenes, where the astronauts were helped into their space suits.
 He puts on his felt lined snow boots followed by the winter parka. Then comes his stocking cap, personally knitted for him years ago by his mom. The Mrs ties up and adjusts the hood, cinches the various zippers and a velcro tab across the lower part of his face. He peers out through the narrow slit and shakes his head when she asks if he needs a scarf. "Gloves. I need gloves." Mittens and "choppers" would be better but he couldn’t find them . Hoping the snow blower will start, he steps out into the garage and opens the door looking out. A momentary shock. Its -15 below zero with a strong wind chill factor. That could be - 30 degrees something. There appears snow drifts on the driveway. Mrs T starts shoveling the sidewalk. He gets the snow blower going and heads out of the garage onto the driveway. Paraphrasing Bill the Idaho blogger.... Just another day in wild Minnesota.

Florida Birding Part II

We've been birding in Florida since our first visit to Fort Myers in March 2010 for the Minnesota Twins spring training. March seemed the best month since the locals were complemented by the songbirds heading north from Central American.  Our vacation this year encompassing the local waders, shorebirds, raptors and other random locals in late Jan. and early Feb was still great though songbirds like warblers were rare.  Take a look....

The snakebird (Anhinga) swims along with only its head showing above the water.

Not the Turkey Vultures we see in Minnesota in the summer, these Black Vultures are very common in Florida circling everywhere.

And you thought Pinocchio had a big nose... Mr. Brown Pelican.  Who can? Peli Can!

Cattle (Egrets) grazing on a local golf course.  Mooo!

Lots of red shouldered hawks were seen,  a rare summer sight in Minnesota.

Huge and gangly wood storks are  slowly coming back from endangerment.

A small falcon - The beautiful Kestrel

The tri-colored heron stalks his prey in shallow water

Some of the birds seemed very tame like this Sandhill Crane standing right along the highway.

A flock of these White Ibis landed on a front lawn as we were driving into town for groceries in Homosassa.

One thing  for sure,  all these big birds like the White Pelican are sure a lot easier to photograph with my little point and shoot than   the tiny songbirds we see  at home in the spring.

Glossy Ibis

A long distance traveler who winters in southern Argentina and breeds along the Artic coast in Canada.

The first time I saw a Reddish Egret hunting I thought he was drunk.  Staggering and lurching about in shallow water to stir up food is accepted "technique" with this large wader...:)

A strange looking but beautiful wader The Roseate Spoonbill

 

The Florists Daughter

A great book reviewed on Troutbirder II.  Click on the link  (picture above) with Mark Twain and Troutbirder

Florida Birding

Standard procedure some years ago for me was upland game and duck and goose hunting with my Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. Then about ten years ago changing health circumstances and new interests brought me to birding with binoculars and my first German Shepard Baron.  Now Lily, another GSD, and I carry on with twice a day hikes and the same trusty binocs.
From our first trips to Fort Myers to see the Minnesota Twins in spring training I realized Florida was a birders paradise.  This year in January I knew the vast flocks of song birds wouldn't have arrived yet on their migrations north but there were plenty of waders, shorebirds and various raptors to be seen.  The plan this year was more laid back than in the past.  That meant some hiking in nearby parks and refuges and also a lot of reading from the screened in porch and the dock with keen eye on the creek across the front yard.  Take a look....

Friend Gary and Mrs. T. keeping a lookout.

Visiting every day and known locally  as the "W.B.s" (the white birds) aka Great White Egrets.

The cottage came equipped with both a canoe and a kayak so Gary and Rosie headed upstream. The following photographs by Gary Anderson.

A rare Wood Stork.

Little Blue Heron

 Black Skimmers

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Rare Migrating Minnesota Lovebirds

 

Daydream Relaxing

It was the evening of Feb. 5th as we watched the sunset over the Gulf on the last day of our month long Florida vacation. The next day would begin our two day 20 hour trip home to snowy Minnesota. What a fun and relaxing  time we had with Daydream Cottage as our home base. Mrs. T. takes a final look and a rainbow is seen as hopefully an omen for the long ride home.....

 

We were looking for a place that had room, privacy and was pet friendly and VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner) provided the answer. It was at the end of a long driveway with three acres surrounded by woods and one creek close to the Gulf.  To our Minnesota eyes the woods looked more like a jungle though.  Here Mrs. T. and Miss Lily are on the driveway ready for their early morning walk.

The front porch and the dock proves to be great spots for some relaxing birding and reading.  Here our friends Gary and Rosie who joined us for a week joined in the action.

As to the birding, we counted almost thirty species from the front yard, flying over,  swimming and wading by..... More to follow.

 

Daydream Cottage

So there we were less than a mile downstream on Mason Creek to the Gulf of Mexico. Hidden in the woods was Daydream Cottage, so remindful of a north woods Minnesota cabin but with all the amenities and a tropical atmosphere. We knew at first sight we would love it.....  Come on along down the driveway and take a look.....

 

Actually besides hanging out on the porch and the dock we've been hiking/birding all the local parks and refuges with Miss Lily who is being kept a safe distance from the alligators. I'll have lots of pictures to post when we get home.....

 

A Note From Florida

 

For the benefit of my blogging friends in the Gopher State I won't emphasize the high of 75 degrees today here in sunny Homosassa, Florida as opposed to the -45 wind chill when we left home almost  two weeks ago. Our friends Gary & Rosie flew back home to Apple Valley, MN. yesterday. We had a great time with them as always birding, sight seeing (even some manatees), canoeing, and playing cards. We also revisited our old haunts at Cedar Key where  I was able to order some of Tony's world championship clam chowder.  Yummy!

In addition you may have noted I was finally able to attach a few pictures to this post using Mrs T's laptop. I hate this cumbersome machine for typing with my awkward fingers and its jumpy cursor. Hopefully when we get back home my trusty desktop will be in top form and I can get back to my regular blogging routine.......

 

take care,

Ray & Barb

Anne Murray

I loved that Canadian gal in the days when music touched your heart.  Yes we are going but we'll be back soon enough to the land we love best.   Yah. You betcha.   Eleven months out of the year.....:)






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0oc3IR4qGQ