Mystery bird

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - This interesting fellow was hanging out in a gnarled tree overlooking some wetlands near Tomoka State Park. This is probably a tricolored heron...at least that's the bird he more-or-less resembles in our Audubon Field Guide to Birds (Eastern Region) identifying photos. Sometimes you can't be totally sure.

Another day and not much else

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Urgent update!! Other than lots of birds flying around, the space shuttle landing just a couple of hours ago and lots of nice weather there isn't really anything to report. Snow levels in parks where we've applied for summer jobs are still deep. The folks in Montana's Glacier National Park won't even think of starting plowing the Going To The Sun road - - which connects the west side of the park with the eastern (St. Marys) side- - until mid-April. This is mainly because of deep snow and migration patterns of some park animals...elk, moose, wolves, bears, etc.

The remodeling of the OB Library has been completed and we have a new establishment in town called "Caffeine" So I thought, 'great, a coffee shop really close by'. It turns out the place is a wine bar and bistro. I need to stop by and ask how they came by the name of the place.

For those readers in Georgia or those who know what kudzu is and how it can take over, you might want to add bamboo in that category. Paving an area with bamboo over might work and spraying the area with Agent Orange might do the job too but that would not only kill the bamboo but everything else and then we'd be in a haz-mat situation. So I lop away knowing that next year at this time the scourge will be back again.

Time out

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - This brown pelican was taking a time out from the hard work (flying, looking, diving, and hoping to catch some food) while casting an eye on anyone moving past. There's a fish cleaning area nearby on the pier. No fool this guy, maybe somebody else will do the hard work and throw him something easy to catch.

"We have liftoff"

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - About 30 minutes ago, at 2:28am plus a few seconds the Space Shuttle Endeavour began liftoff from its launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. This is only the second shuttle launch this late (or early in the morning, if you like) so it's a rarity. Sadly, heavy cloud cover along the coast isn't. Seconds after this photo the shuttle, in all its brilliant glory, was blotted out by the cloud cover.

Backyard Bandit

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Our screened-in Florida Room looks out on our 'natural growth' backyard. Natural growth being a nice way of saying that other than the sidewalk the area is a bit like a jungle. While sitting in a beach-style recliner surfing the internet and keeping track of business news on tv, I spotted some movement outside. Mama raccoon must have been hungry as she climbed up one of the trees which has a sort of fruit covering it. Normally we only hear the raccoons as they play their version of football or soccer and scramble back and forth across our roof late at night.

I was able to go back into the house, get the camera with the long lens (200mm with a 2x extender) and bumped the iso to 800 because the area was in full shade, and needed to be shot through a screen window at an angle. The above pic of mama caught in the act is not the spot-on super sharp pics we like to post but this bandit was too good not to share. She stared at me after hearing the shutter, thought about it and then scurried down the tree and out of sight. She was back in less than 10 minutes to sample the fruit again. This time I let her eat in peace.

Possum on the half shell

CANAVERAL NATIONAL SEASHORE, FL - - In the South, Possum on the half shell is one of the names a dead armadillo lying on its back is called. The armadillo above certainly doesn't meet that criteria. Good thing these animals are darn near blind or I would have scared this hungry fellow. They aren't fast; they cross roads at will and when they get scared - - like when a car passes over top of them - - they jump straight up. Oops! Another one bites the dust.
What started out as an expedition to look for birds on the eastern side of Mosquito Lagoon ended about 3 miles after we entered the Canaveral National Seashore gate. The area we wanted to go to is closed for Wednesday's launch of the space shuttle. We should have known after last weeks trip farther south gave us plenty of info on closed areas.
The word 'armadillo' is Spanish for "Little Armored One." It's quite easy to see the armor shell which makes up their outer covering in the U.S. version of the species - - the nine-banded model. Armadillos are native to the Americas. There are smaller ones and one - - the Giant Armadillo - - which weighs in at up to 66 pounds.
If you are interested, Google 'Armadillo Online!' to get the (long) site address for plenty of info.

Standing Guard

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - This Great Blue Heron appeared to be standing guard Sunday (3/2) over an abandoned building on the west shore of the Banana River in the Melbourne / Indian Harbour Beach area.

Reflecting on a great day

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Sunday morning dawned clear and warm. So it was time to head down to Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge again. Additionally, there are now ideas/locations in the planning stage by the u.s. government to turn a part of Cape Canaveral space center into a commercial launch pad. Doing so with one location being looked at would cause the loss of the area where we get these great photos. Stay tuned.

The photos of an adult snowy egret (above) and a juvenile snowy are just 2 of what amounted to over 100 shots LH and I took. And this was an 'average' day ....grade A weather but grade C
on the amount and variety of birds we got to see. Our last trip was 'C' weather and "A" birds. We've yet to encounter a Florida Panther like we did in one of our first trips to the Refuge in 2005.