Bird Sightings – The Hermits' Rest

Can you dig it?

Yes, I can. Today a lot got done around the house, and some of it was by me! I can dig that. I managed to go to the #1 Cameron meeting place, the bakery, and not be late. That’s because I mis-remembered the meeting time. So I got to talk to all the employees and other friends while I waited for Mike and Martha. We discussed our upcoming trip to Ruidoso (for longer this time).

My view as I waited. There’s a kid quietly playing in the kid area. A nice change of pace.

I steeled myself to be cheerful and positive as I did all the errands I was too slothful to do last week. I paid more for gas today than I ever have in my life. For some reason that inspired me to give the random sad-looking person sitting outside the station the change from buying my soda. Maybe it balanced out my irritation at the gas prices.

The first cheerful sight today was three Great Egrets all at once. That’s unusual here.

On my way to Tractor Supply to get animal feed in Rockdale, I passed all my favorite political candidates and waved. I also noted yard signs and a billboard. Wow! That cheered me up enough to enjoy the folks at Tractor Supply even when I had to wait to get loading help (I have tweaked my back). I got a shirt that says “Positive Vibes” to commemorate my improved mood. ) I could dig that, too!

Next I headed to the pharmacy, because I couldn’t drag myself over there to pick up a prescription before it expired. The bonus was my expensive prescription my insurance won’t pay was also ready. AND they had time to vaccinate me for flu and COVID, which we elders need. The new pharmacist is a very sweet young man who’s fun to talk to. He has a button earring. It’s so cute. I’m glad one of the new pharmacists is nice, since my favorite one finally escaped (I’m going into all this detail to show I made an effort to be a good influence in the world today.)

There was actual digging at the ranch today! The next phase of our water retention setup got into motion. It was great to see our ancient backhoe finally fixed and back at work! It’s more than a lawn ornament!

The dirt has to be dug away to build the foundation for the water tank next to the house, as well as pumps and filters. It was interesting to be reminded just how much dirt we brought in to create our foundation and get the drainage right. The black at the bottom of the reddish fill is the black land clay.

The white pipe is the sewer line that must move.

All went well with the digging except the sewer line out of our bathrooms got nicked. It was going to have to be moved anyway, it turns out. I’m relieved to report it’s fixed enough to work until the line gets moved into its new position.

There’s a lot of precise measurement required to do all the digging correctly, and I’m really impressed that the huge machine can be made to do such fine work. We’re lucky to have a resident tractor ballet expert at our house!He can dig it, very well!

What did Lee and I do during all the digging? We’ve been watching Lee’s favorite YouTube channel, which is a guy in Canada who does bookbinding. (Find the videos under Four Keys Book Arts.) What a complex process that is! The guy has a very pleasant demeanor, so calm and relaxed that you almost miss his puns.

Three books the guy bound for the author Andy Weir. The video series was called Project Hail Andy.

My favorite parts are when he does paper marbling and leather tooling, but it’s all more interesting than you might expect. I do think it’s funny that we’ve turned into people who spend their weekends watching stuff like this, but it’s certainly less stressful than the news.

And I can dig that!

Airport survey time

What’s the best and worst airport you’ve been to?

Today I rested, as a worker I supposed to do on Labor Day. You’re also supposed to protest, so once again I’ll complain about the irony of being a contractor and being told not to work, but also not get it as a paid holiday. Sheesh. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

I’m not paying attention, Suna. I’m just glad you’re home.

I’ll just answer the blog prompt, then. You can answer too, unless you don’t fly, of course.

Favorite airport? I have a few I like, especially any airport with clean terrazzo floors. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is one I recently visited with great floors, interesting seating, and lots of light. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it looked.

Weird seats, shiny floors, lights. Myrtle Beach.

My other favorite airport is Hilton Head Island, also in South Carolina. It’s tiny, intimate, and oh-so-easy to get in and out of. I think they’re expanding it, which is sort of a bummer.

Runners-up include Greensboro/High Point, North Carolina, with just enough space for a friendly bar if you need one, and Portland, Oregon.

Least favorite airport? Just about any huge hub like Dallas, Houston, or Atlanta. I have PTSD about O’Hare thanks to being there on 9/11, so I’ll add it to the list.

Outside the US, I like Toronto and I really don’t like Heathrow. Thanks to marrying a non-flyer, I don’t get to go many places outside the US anymore.

Feel free to share your favorites!

I’m glad to be back to be with all the birds. I missed them. I restocked the feeders and sat in the birding hut a while, even though it’s still darned hot. The new shades that were put up for me help a lot. My garden spider companion didn’t mind me one bit!

Air can come through, but the sun is blocked

I’m also glad to be back with the family, too. Travel is fun but regular routine and being a hermit are also good.

I was really happy to have Penney take a nap on my lap this evening. She seems less anxious about Benito being around.

There’s a lot of Louisiana in Louisiana, too

We didn’t do quite as much wandering as we headed home today, but we did take backroads through Louisiana after successfully navigating the big bridge across the big river.

I didn’t take as many photos out the car window today, because it’s love bug season. If you’ve never experienced it, give thanks. These things were so bad when I was in college that there were special stations on the Florida Turnpike where you could clean our windshield and radiator. So many cars overheated! You can see below why they are called love bugs. I remember my dad struggling to explain them to my brother and me as we played in our backyard kiddie pool.

Common love bug (***Plecia nearctica)***

We met no charming locals, but did get to see some interesting plants around our hotel and when we stopped at a ranger station somewhere along the way. We didn’t want to do more jungle exploration. We did see the scary jungle plant, kudzu. I didn’t know before today that it has pretty flowers that smell nice.

I had nightmares as a child that I’d wake up and kudzu had swallowed my house. I think I’d seen too many buildings covered in it on the roadside.

Today I learned that it’s a common ingredient in Asian food, as a thickener. The roots can be eaten like potatoes but are stringy. It was also used in Japan to make kuzufu, a traditional cloth. Huh!

It can be used for netting and baskets, too.

The first article I read said that it’s hard to decide if it’s invasive or not, since it’s also a crop. The claim is the best way to get rid of kudzu is to harvest it. Hmm. So many ideas.

Here are a few plants I found at the hotel and on our stops. I’m always impressed at the variety of plants you can find wherever you go!

One thing traveling through Louisiana will tell you is that it’s a very wet place. No matter when I looked at Apple Maps I could see water, whether a river, a creek, a bayou, or a lake. No wonder they call it sportsman’s paradise! I noticed we went by many lakes that appeared to be part of where a river once ran. I wish I had photos. Thanks, love bugs!

We’re home now. Other observations I can report are that there are fewer songbirds in Florida than farther west, at least right now. And I only saw two signs declaring allegiance to the current US President.

That will have to do! Thanks for traveling along with me.

Phone apps, or favorite activities

What are your favorite 5 apps on your phone?

Today featured a four-hour workshop with much complaining, so I’m not up for any deep thoughts. I’ll share some photos of a quick visit to watery areas of Tomoka State Park here in Ormond/Daytona/Orange Beaches in Florida, as well as beachy and river-y views from happier parts of the day as I list my five favorite phone apps. I bet you can guess some!

Little Blue Heron, a hint at two favorite apps.

One. The Camera app, especially the one on this iPhone 17. I love all the zooms, the lenses, the Live Photos, the grid that helps you crop, and the indicators that tell you if your image is level. I have a ridiculous amount of fun taking pictures wherever I go, documenting all the life forms I encounter.

Sunset looking at an island full of roosting White Ibises

Two. Merlin Bird ID. Merlin brings me so much joy. It’s given me something to focus on that’s positive and educational, even in these troubled times. Days when I don’t get to go out and look for birds (like yesterday) are few and far between, which is fine with me. Now if only they made apps for identifying frogs and cicadas.

Three. iNaturalist. So far, none of these surprise anyone who’s ever read this blog. Right? Anyway, I’ve always wanted to know what I am looking at when I’m out in nature. This fantastic app helps me learn about my surroundings and allows me to teach others. I am in awe at the variety of living things around me, large and small. And iNat lets me learn and contribute to scientific knowledge. So much fun.

Four. Finch. It’s a game kind of app where you and your “birb” friend explore new things, work on mental health, and interact with friends to cheer them up. It borders on silly, but it helps center me in the morning and before bed. It can be very helpful for people dealing with an anxiety and depression.

Ada is my birb. She currently has a pet corgi.

Five. Crossword Puzzle Redstone. Lee plays this a lot, so I’ve joined him. The Hard ones are just right to keep my brain active and keep me from thinking I’m in mental decline. There are many different authors to choose from. We both like the G. Johnson ones. One good thing about the Crossword app is it keeps me off Facebook so much!

Runners up: Facebook, JetPack/Wordpress (blog app), Clime (NOAA weather), Apple Maps, Google.

I’d love to know which apps you like! Because I’m feeling better, here are other photos from today. Love that phone app.

Final note. Lee went to dinner with me and Vicki, but wasn’t feeling well and only ate a sweet potato. The place we ate was Aunt Catfish’s, a perfect old Florida seafood place. I could eat there again!

Another day, another park

Vicki wasn’t up to going to the farmers market today, so I pivoted. I can always come up with something to do! So first I put in new nail polish. It didn’t go on very well, but it’s growing on me. I don’t think the magnetic ones are my favorites.

Then I got in the rental car (have I mentioned how much I have enjoyed this Honda? It’s a perfectly reasonable car). I drove straight up A1A for 26 miles. I enjoyed brightly colored beach houses and stretches of just plain beach. I saw Flagler Beach, which I’d never seen before. At the swanky town of Palm Bay, I found my destination, Washington Oaks Gardens State Park.

The first thing I did was walk the nature trail, which included a half-mile stretch of the original A1A, the road built to get cars to South Florida. That was a fun piece of history.

You can see it was a road, returning to the earth.

It was pleasant to look at all the plants, and there was a good breeze. I was disappointed that there was hardly any view of the creek/intracoastal, but I did see some spiders. Focusing on spiders is not easy without manual focus.

I drank a lot of water (it’s humid) then walked around the formal gardens. I managed to find some insects for iNat along the way. There were many shady ponds, a sunny rose garden, and a place where they have planted Washington oaks from the trees owned by early settlers.

I enjoyed the rose garden, which had big, hardy roses in it, all of whom were blooming away.

After looking at the rest of the plantings, greenhouse, etc., I went in the gift shop, which was formerly the office of an early television pioneer. It was a cute place, and I enjoyed talking to the volunteers. I put signs in the photos, in case you want to read about the place.

I returned to Ormond Beach a different way, which took me through some fancy neighborhoods and a toll bridge. Then I drove down I-95, which was not bad, since it’s Sunday. I had time to go walk in the ocean a while. I got to watch some surfing, too.

Around 7 pm, Lee arrived after two days of driving. It was good to have someone in the condo with me!

Back to work tomorrow!

Twelve thousand steps later

Today was my only Saturday in Ormond Beach. So by gosh, I was going to make the most of it! While I’m still not back to the strength and stamina I had when I was working with horses and camping so much, I still managed 4.5 miles of walking at three different parks. I got my nature walking in!

I started off back at Tomoka State Park, where I walked the mile-long paved path on the other side of the road from the main park. It’s very smooth, and can be enjoyed by people with many disabilities in addition to walkers and cyclists. I’d have enjoyed it much more if there were fewer motorcycles on the road (it must have been a special touring day). There was a never-ending parade of buzzy small planes, too. But it was shady, and I saw a beautiful box turtle. Not many birds.

The woods is very uniform, with the same mix of plants throughout. I wonder how long it’s been recovering from being an indigo plantation? Here are some sights.

I left there and proceeded a few beautiful miles down the road to a truly special place, Bulow Creek State Park. Lots to see here! First I enjoyed the area around some huge, old live oaks, including the Fairchild Oak. All the trees are beautiful. My big surprise was spotting a raccoon family in the big old tree. Mom was trying to keep up with four very busy young ones. I enjoyed them a while, then showed them to a couple of other visitors.

Next I took the shorter trail that goes through a wet area. It has a collection of fascinating seeps that flow across the clay substrate to form the larger creek. Since it’s rained recently, they were flowing nicely. They are very similar to the seeps on our property, and now I understand them more. It made my day (that and the raccoons).

I endeavored to go on as much as possible of the next trail, which is a six-mile loop. I did not go that far. I did make it to where the trail turns and follows Bulow Creek before turning back. This was a lovely trail that even had some birds! I saw a Pileated Woodpecker fly by. There was also ample evidence of wild hogs. And since there was NO evidence of bears, I concluded that the large black animal that snorted at me was a hog. Yow. But the ferns, flowers, and trees were great. I also enjoyed many brown anole activities.

I had one more stop on my route, which made a nice circle. I wish I could have taken photos as I drove, because the drive between Bulow and North Peninsula State Park is through some of the prettiest wild east coast scenery I’ve ever seen. Woods making tunnels over the road lead to stunning swamps and to wide-open marshlands. I may take Lee there just to see it again. I also enjoyed going over a small drawbridge.

At this park I went on a trail that’s supposed to be a birding trail. I didn’t see any, nor any alligators. I did see a very large gopher tortoise. It made a noise at me for interrupting snack time. I also found what had to be its hole (huge) nearby.

If it wasn’t so hot, I’d have enjoyed more of this trail, which crossed hammocks and scrub. But I got too red and knew I needed to get a drink and rest. That led me to a shiny Anhinga. A bird!

I came back to the condo and enjoyed putting my observations in iNaturalist and rehydrated. After cleaning up, I got Vicki and we had a fancy steak dinner at the fancy restaurant I ate at last week. Other than very happy and loud revelers next to us, we had fun.

Lee is halfway here, after dealing with bad traffic and wonky GPS. Tomorrow I won’t be alone in the condo!

Hope you enjoyed the photos. I sure enjoyed my day. All positive.

Visiting Mom (and more)

When I was planning this trip to northern Florida, it occurred to me that I wouldn’t be too far from the ancestral home of my mother’s side of the family, and their last hurrah in Green Cove Springs. (That town name took up lots of trace when addressing an envelope so I will call it GCS from now on.) It was, in the middle of the 20th century, when I used to visit Saintly Aunt Belle and all the Canovas, a quaint small town centered around a sulphur spring and a grand bath house for taking in the waters, which then flowed into the St. John’s River, which famously flows north.

I had not been back since December 1984, at my mom’s funeral. Let’s just say that was an episode my dad, brother, and I wanted to put far behind us as we raced away vowing to “never see those g-d people again” to paraphrase Dad. Since all “those people” are dead, and the neighborhood is a Walgreens, I felt it was safe to return. I brought Vicki so she could beat away any ghosts with her cane.

First we had to see Elvis. I asked for his blessing

We stopped for lunch in scenic Palatka, which still resembles Palatka but with some new stores. We ate at Florida’s oldest diner (apparently only since an older diner closed). Angel’s Dining car is in a real old dining car and has lots of milkshakes. We ate other food, however, and and I especially liked the sweet potato fries.

As we drove to GCS, I needed to stop to do a meeting with my boss (I took off most of the day). As I slowed down to turn into a driveway, we passed two Highway Patrol cars that had pulled someone over. The next thing I knew, we were being pulled over. I was confused. It turns out that I should have jumped into the left lane when we passed them.

I was all perky and nice, so I accepted my warning and promised to do better. As Mr. Trooper headed back to his car, a red truck went by in our lane. He got immediately pulled over! I guess there’s an information campaign going on about slowing down AND getting in the left lane, which I would have done if I wasn’t trying to turn right. Lesson learned.

While much of the area near GCS looks unfamiliar, the cemetery looks the same. In fact, I drove straight to the right plot where all those Canovas and their spouses are interred. Then I got confused because there were pinwheels all around, so I drove around a bit. Mom’s headstone had a pinwheel thing next to it. Perhaps my estranged sister put it there before she moved to Texas. If so, that’s an old pinwheel.

The round thing under 13 is a blue marble the color of Mom’s birthstone. I added that.

I told Mom, who is not there, of course, that I miss her but am fine. By the way, Mom was not Catholic; the person who arranged for her funeral and headstone was, though. See why we left? Anyway, here are some of my other dead relatives’ markers.

Maternal grandparents – my grandfather was a great guy.

We looked around a bit more, identified some plants, and went to Spring Park, very near the Walgreens where the crazy Canova children grew up (actually that house was one street over and now has a funeral home on it).

Here’s the spring now. The circular opening is what used to have a fence around it.

The Spring Park has been made very nice, which pleased me. The bath house is gone, but there’s a grand city hall across the street. The refurbished spring-fed pool is lovely.

Spring facts. What is doesn’t mention is the sulphur smell.

My happiest moment came when I saw that the outflow into the river was just as it once was. Crystal clear water briskly flowing into the river, full of fish and water plants.

The river area is not all built up, which pleased me. The only birds were Boat-tailed Grackles, but they were entertaining enough. We did see a Roseate Spoonbill on the way back, so all was well.

We made it back to the condo through some bad rain, which they need here, too. After a rest, Vicki and I ate so-so Italian food. She was a trooper today. I’m not gonna force her on my marathon of parks tomorrow, though. That will be solo.

Vicki found this green lacewing larva wearing its disguise of lichen. How cool!

It was good to have someone with me today. I didn’t know how I’d take visiting the source of childhood negativity again. But mostly I remembered how my father took care of me when relatives were snippy, and how kind the compassionate family members were to our nuclear family. I’ve done the work and came out healthier! Whoop!

Drowning my sorrows?

Today I tried very hard to find happiness amidst sadness about so many good people passing away lately (famous and not-so-famous). I should get used to it, and normally I am. This is just a rough week.

I did find beauty! This is Ohio Spiderwort.

I got up early and dragged myself to a nearby park, Michael Crotty Bicentennial Park, where I wandered around and enjoyed many beautiful plants.

I then walked across the road to a nice dock with great views of the Intracoastal and native woods. I got to see birds and talk to a couple of nice folks. I still made it back in plenty of time to start work.

It stormed pretty spectacularly this afternoon, with lightning right on top of me. I enjoy watching rain over the ocean, and it brought peace except when the big booms came.

After work, I went for a nice walk. I ended up with more birds today than any other here so far. To reward myself for working hard and because I was kind of lonely, I took myself to a nice dinner right across the road from the condo. I had old fashioned and a dessert. Good thing my meal was nice heathy fish and kale!

I’m looking forward to reading and relaxing for a while. This condo might not be fancy, but it sure is nice and quiet. Time to reflect.

Also, thanks for all the good feedback on Stephanie’s poem. She is full of understanding.

There’s a lot of water here

Since it’s Monday, I had to work. But since it’s Eastern Time, I didn’t have to work until late morning. So I took the opportunity to head over to Tomoka State Park, which is quite close to where I’m staying in Ormond Beach, Florida.

The park is surrounded by two rivers, the Halifax, which is also part of the Intracoastal Waterway, and the Tomoka, which joins the Halifax here. As you can imagine, there are beautiful views, many without any signs of humanity. My kind of place.

There are lots of kayak trails and camping areas. The nature trail and the trail around the point were what I focused on today, though I have plans to return and either go on a boat tour or hike another path.

Oddly, I didn’t hear many birds, just a very persistent Osprey and a Belted Kingfisher were loud. Blue Jays, Cardinals, and Carolina Wrens rounded out the songbirds, and I spotted an Anhinga, some Ruddy Turnstones, and a Great Blue Heron. Nothing too exotic.

There were plenty of very interesting plants to distract me from the lack of birds, however. The scenery was lush and verdant, with some new plants, like a hog plum (Ximenia americana), also known as a sea lemon. Apparently they’re common on the Florida coast, but I don’t remember them.

Take the tour of the nature trail with me! It’s fun.

There was lots of turtle and tortoise evidence here. I saw a nest that had recently hatched and found a beautiful gopher in its hole. I sure enjoyed gopher tortoises as a child!

Here’s more on the Gopherus polyphemus.

Okay, I’ll just share a few more interesting plants and insects I saw.

After exhausting my eyeballs from all this, I headed back to work and tried not to let the pelicans distract me as the majestically sailed by. The ocean was very blue.

After working I took a short walk on the beach to enjoy the sea birds and the shifting sands. This is a great place to come in summer after school starts. It’s warm but quiet. There are so many beautiful colors to enjoy.

And finally, I got to hang out with Vicki, whose headache was over, thankfully. We ate at a fun place in a non-touristy area with a great ocean view. After an amazing grilled cheese sandwich and much conversation about taboo topics like politics and religion (where we disagree less now than at other points in our lives), we went to a quiet beach park and watched pelicans dive as the sun set. A fine day with much water!

The cordoned off areas are turtle nests.

Sleepy time!

Hooray for friends and nature endorphins

I’m having a good time in Ormond Beach, which, by the way, is just north of Daytona on the east coast of Florida. I spent the morning getting set up and organized, then went to get my friend Vicki for breakfast. We went next door to her apartment, which is an old local favorite. The food was good, but the conversation was the best! I love being around people who know me very well but still like me. Having known each other since we were teens means we can poke fun at each other about stuff others are unaware of. That’s fun.

After lunch we rode around town, so now I’m much better oriented and know where all the vital places are, like where to get socks (I forgot socks). I just love looking at all the pine forests that cover north Florida and all the houses that look like the ones we grew up in, only more brightly colored. Sorry, but the only photo I got with Vicki was this Cattle Egret we saw while in line to get a soft drink.

I took Vicki back home to have a migraine (I’m such a good influence), then set off on a trek to get socks, an extension cord for my laptop monitors, and some food. It all went fabulously. Marshall’s had socks and nothing else that tempted me. I got all my groceries and nail polish remover at Publix (yay, the chain Mom shopped at when I was a kid), and I got an extension cord at Dollar Tree, thanks to a helpful Publix customer suggesting it.

I can see the ocean from my desk. The only place with a good view.

In the afternoon I got my nature endorphins. I really needed them, since I didn’t get much solo nature time in Ruidoso. First, I took a walk along the beach, which was pleasantly uncrowded and full of friendly shore birds. I like the beach sand here, which has a lot of pink in it.

I kept walking and crossed into the neighborhood across from the beach. I tried to listen for birds, but there weren’t too many, other than a persistent Osprey and many Blue Jays. I enjoyed all the houses in various states ranging from disrepair to perfection. Of course, I also recorded weeds/native plants.

I was surprised to see a small garden and trail that the garden club made fairly recently. I mostly took pictures of specimen plants, but it was a nice, neatly labeled, oasis of semi-wildness, right next to a pretty cemetery.

I continued walking and was about to turn back when, suddenly, there was a sign directing me to a museum and garden. Garden? Yes! I found a woodsy wonderland at Ormond Memorial Museum and Gardens. Coming the back way, it sneaks up on you.

Okay, someone really loves this place. It’s beautifully designed and cared for, with sweet surprises everywhere you look. So much tropical greenery, with water trickling everywhere. What a gem! My heart was filled with pleasure at every turn, even if it was bursting with non-native plants. They were still beautiful.

Entrance, which would be prettier with fewer signs

The turtle pond was my favorite surprise in the garden. It was so lush with water dripping and bubbling everywhere. And so many turtles! I didn’t try to ID the ones I saw, since they have so many kinds, but I did sit and watch them for a while. I love a good turtle pond.

By this time, I was a bit warm and tired, so I headed back. It was 104° at home, so I’m not complaining about the high 80s. I realized I’m really out of shape since I stopped doing horse stuff and hiking all the time. I’ll just use this trip to get back my walking legs. At least my last pleasant sights didn’t use my sore muscles. I got all these sunset photos from my balcony, from where I can see a sliver of water. I liked how the colors of the water and sand also changed.