Grumpy Bird

"Bird wakes up feeling grumpy. Too grumpy to eat or play - too grumpy even to fly."

I wonder if Jeremy Tankard had this bird in mind when he wrote his book;-)

Monochromatic

To celebrate Earth Day 2008, I am going green...

How will you mark the day?

I spy Sunday

I spied an Anhiga, surveying his territory, but if you enlarge the photo, you will spy something else in the water...

Little helper

The rabbit on the right (please click to enlarge) is on our payroll - he trims the arbor so we don't have to.

(Sorry, can't visit, I am travelling).

Standoff

"You wanna piece of me?" challenged the Hawk.
The pair of Blue Jays, chasing him away from their nest, took notice.

Big Al

I wanted you to experience Al up close and personal. This image was obviously zoomed in...

...however, this was the distance between us.

Fearless or foolish? You decide ;-)

Couplehood V

Mourning Dove: "For a relationship to work, you need good communication...but I feel like I'm doing all the talking!"

This is the last of my "Couplehood" series. Hope the course of your relationships run smoother ;-)

Couplehood IV

To celebrate the arrival of Spring (and all that it implies), I am continuing with the series titled "Couplehood".

Glossy Ibis (leaving in a huff): "I can't believe you won't share your catch with me..."

Little Blue Heron (munching on the fish): "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times - what's yours is mine, what's mine...don't touch!"

more tomorrow...

Couplehood III

mallards in my pond

To celebrate the arrival of Spring (and all that it implies), I am continuing with the series titled "Couplehood".

Female duck: "We still have so much to do today: preening, fishing for dinner, feathering the cove for the night...
Male duck (disinterested): "I know you are talking, but all I hear is "quack, quack, quack..."

more tomorrow...

Couplehood I

Even the pelicans enjoy Naples white-sand beaches

To celebrate the arrival of Spring (and all that it implies), I am starting a series titled "Couplehood".

Pelican 1: "I can't believe you forgot the towels again!"
Pelican 2: "Oh, stop nagging and just flap your wings to dry off!"

More tomorrow...

Double trouble

photo taken through the screen

As I was debating which photo to post today, not one but two bunnies hopped into my yard (which explains the sorry state of my plants!).

What could be more appropriate?

HAPPY EASTER!

Predator

Dragonfly: A Haiku

"Blue mosquito hawk
Swooping in to catch your prey
Mighty dragonfly"

Melyssa Sprott

St. Patrick's Day hangover?

And you think you're having a bad hair day?

Fish story

I caught this wood stork catching a fish...

...now fish for my catch here ;-)

Hem cat

So by now you probably heard that when Hemingway settled in Key West, Florida around 1931, he was gifted a six-toed (polydactyl) cat by a ship's captain. Today there are around 60 descendants of that cat roaming freely around Hemingway's Home and Museum on the island.

Most of them are named after a famous artist (Pablo Picasso, Emily Dickinson), but I could not find out the name of this black beauty so I baptized him Nikon - for our fellow blogger and lover of cats and all things Hemingway...

Day 5 and a quiz

For the past 2 weeks we hosted our good friends from Germany. We knew that they were both athletic and adventurous, but they totally wore us out!!! For the next few days I will show you just some of the things we did on their vacations!

I will end this series with our weekend escapade to Key West. What can I say about the Conch Republic besides its being the southernmost city in the continental United States?

It assaults all of your senses: it is funky and sexy and oh, so tropical...For more, visit here .

I will combine this post with the old perennial favorite (!) - Quiz Tuesday# 41. Today's question: Can you guess where this photo was taken?

Here are some clues: 1. yes, we are still in Key West, and 2. some of those cats are polydactyl...

Day 4

For the past 2 weeks we hosted our good friends from Germany. We knew that they were both athletic and adventurous, but they totally wore us out!!! For the next few days I will show you just some of the things we did on their vacations!

Are you still with me? Well, hold on tight...
One morning we drove to Everglades City and bravely climbed onboard an airboat for a Safari Tour through the swamp...What fun! I highly recommend it, if you are in the area. Click here for a short video.

Later that day, we visited an alligator farm. If you ever wanted to hold a (baby) gator or watch an adult one swallow a snake - this is the place for you! For more info, click here.

BTW - how would you like to have that job?

Day 3

For the past 2 weeks we hosted our good friends from Germany. We knew that they were both athletic and adventurous, but they totally wore us out!!! For the next few days I will show you just some of the things we did on their vacations!

One overcast morning, our visitors on steroids (as we lovingly referred to them) insisted on paragliding on Fort Myers Beach. It was an exhilarating experience, gliding in the air, water dips at extra cost ;-)


You'd think that would be enough excitement for one day. But nooooo...That afternoon we took a 4 hour kayaking trip through the alligator infested Spring Creek to Estero Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. Fortunately, the gators stayed away, but we could almost touch this 6 foot tall Great Blue Heron, fishing in the mangroves.

Day 1

For the past 2 weeks we hosted our good friends from Germany. We knew that they were both athletic and adventurous, but they totally wore us out!!! For the next few days I will show you just some of the things we did on their vacation!

One morning we ventured into Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and took the 2.25-mile raised boardwalk through four distinct environments: a pine upland, a wet prairie, a cypress forest, and a marsh. Encountered quite a number of wildlife but no bears! Whew!

Click here if you want to take their virtual tour.

That evening we took a boat to Big Hickory Island and went swimming in Estero Bay as the fog rolled in. We had to leave sooner than expected as the fog became a safety concern for the boat trip back.

Believe it or not, we considered spending the night on the beach ;-)

The signs of spring...

A pair of Stinkpot turtles feeling frisky in the marshes...

Are you getting spring fever?