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

Eblog Surprise

Eblog surprise

Instead of repeating my recent whining about eblogs complications I got a fun surprise a few day ago with an interesting comment on my newly reopened and updated Troutbirder II blog.  I reposted and updated a post from years ago on a trip we took to France focusing on a visit to the D-Day invasion beaches in Normandy.  This allowed me to use pictures from my Picasa storage bin, so far so good, though the spacing and arrangement of the new text was terrible. Just two comments (you have to click on the red van near the top of this blog to go to Troutbirder II) but the second one is very unusual.  Here is just a part of it….

La France est championne :

- du racket des biens d’autrui ; du juteux business sous couvert d’une certaine mémoire……..

- de l’information arbitraire par les médias………. .

- de la persécution à l’encontre des victimes qui résistent…………..

Now if I could read French I’d have a reply but what I do know is that

Francoise Gondree, the author of the comment, has the same family name as the owners of the house/ shop I mentioned in my post on Pegasus Bridge, which you can see here http://troutbirder.blogspot.com/ or by clicking on that little red van (top left) 

Around the world our blogs go and what fun it is....

And if any of you followers out there can translate French to English.... :)

Additions and Corrections

Ok my recent off and on difficulties with uploading pictures to eblog have uploaded my frustration level to new heights.  Numerous people offered kind suggestions for a fix but my age & technological ineptitude has led to the following:
1. Being of German  ancestry and thus inordinately stubborn I 'm not giving up blogging entirely. I will not join the billions of people Facebooking because trying to get lots of "friends" and strangers to sign up is not my style and as you may have noticed I like to make long windy posts. Facebook doesn't then itself to that..;) I was a history teacher after all....
2.  I looked into Picasa and tried to delete some pictures from the overstocked "web albums" but  that didn't help.
3. I looked for new blogging platforms, found a few, and decided they were more complicated that the mess I was already dealing with. Starting over from scratch.... Nah! I don't think so.
4. Then I found the part where Picasa wants money for me to continue adding pictures.  Now I'm not totally cheap and not an ideologue on the subject of the "free" and "universal" internet,  but providing my credit card for an automatic monthly withdrawal ranging from 12 to 60 dollars a month. Nope.
The temporary solution is -
(1) I'm going to revive Troutbirder II blog as the platform for new book reviews and the occasional revival and updating of some old posts from 5 or more years ago.  This can be easily opened by clicking on the Red Van on the top of the Troutbirder blog.
(2) Troutbirder blog will continue as I experiment perhaps with less pictures and new formats.

Hawk Ridge - Minnesota’s Birds of Prey

One of the premier raptor migrations spots in North American is Hawk Ridge overlooking Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota. Here in the fall thousands of humans migrate to a hillside to watch tens of thousands of eagles, hawks and falcon funnel overhead avoiding crossing Lake Superior on their journey south. Each of the twenty some species is described by author, radio personality and one of Minnesota’s top birding experts Laura Erickson.  Her book Hawk Ridge - Minnesota’s Birds of Prey includes wonderfully evocative woodcuttings and sketches by Betsy Bowen.  The book is neither a field guide nor one of those giant and expensive table top tomes.  Factual, fascinating and funny at points it’s the perfect book for planning a trip to see the wonders of raptor migration at Hawk Ridge.  I found it most enjoyable. Incidentally, I briefly met the author this year at the Quarry Hill Nature Center in Rochester Minnesota.  She gave a most interesting talk on her Big Year of birding in the United States.  All on a limited time and budget….:)

Some years over a hundred thousand broad winged hawks fly over the ridge.  Far rarer numbering annually in the hundreds is the beautiful red shouldered hawk much more common in the East. Actually photographed by Mrs. T. in Florida where they're easier to get close to....:)

 

And so on this Christmas Day 2014 another reason to be joyful..... my ability to download pictures to eblog has mysteriously reappeared. Merry Christmas!

Thanks and Help!

Several weeks ago with much ado and the help of several bloggers I was able to recover my "word free verification status" which had mysteriously been taken away.  Now this week eblog won't allow me to put pictures on my posts...... Grrrrrr.   Is this a common problem and is there a fix?
Thanks,
Ray (Troutbirder)

Lily Leads The Way

The first snowfall of the winter had already melted some when Miss Lily and I headed down to Forestville State Park for a hike. We parked by the closed 1898 bridge and walked across the Root River to the small town of Forestville and its post Civil War buildings. Maintained by the Minnesota Historical Society  it comes to life with re-enactors most the year except winter as an adjunct to the State Park.

 

 

 

Looking across the Root we can see the deserted picnic shelter. With miles of trails in the park we're probably alone today as we hike into the woods. There will be several feeder streams along the way. All good trout water.  As a matter of fact this is where I first learned how to cast a fly many years ago now. 

 

After hiking some I find a bench to sit down and rest a minute. Lily hops up along side of me. There are no dangerous critters in these woods but after having this "rescue" dog for less than a year one thing is for sure....... Miss Lily "has my back."

 

A couple of miles later we easily cross a low Forestville Creek on some concrete slabs. It wouldn't have been a good day to get wet...

"Lets go home Lil. Your Mistress promised us both some treats...:) "