Event Update

So, the last time we did and SOS, I got severely dehydrated and felt awful for days after. So, this week, I took all kinds of precautions. My trainer told me about this electrolyte stuff you can get that doesn't have all the calories of gatorade or even G2, so I tried a packet of that. It tasted like vaguely cherry flavored spit, but  it really seemed to help (I drank 6 oz of that on my way to the water). I also got myself a fancy 70 oz Camel Back. That was awesome. Absolutely worth the $50, it was so nice not to have to carry multiple water bottles, and it also had pockets for my cellphone and keys, and the best part is that it is insulated, which meant that my water was still cold when I finished it at the end of the walk!

Speaking of the walk, if you didn't GOYB today, you missed some wicked cool stuff! Here's what we saw today:

I haven't seen one of these in a while! It was a very pretty golden orb weaver. He was way up on the power line.

Heather decided that she needed her picture taken in a banana jungle. I concur it was quite picturesque.

A banana bloom with lots of bananas.

 I'm not sure what this was. I thought at first maybe a Forester's tern as it had black eyes, but he just wasn't pointy enough. Perhaps a laughing gull in between plumages?

 A smiling bunny!

Some kind of really really really large moth.

I should know, but admit I have no idea what the heck these 2 birds were.

This was a first for us. Apparently one of the crabs got itself a fancy set of wheels! Or maybe it was just a toy car that a kid left on the rock. I prefer to picture a crab cruising around in it.

 This was another oddity today. It was a chunk of bobcat fur. There was no other evidence that the cat had been hit by a car or predated, so maybe something almost, but not quite got him.

I was trying to get a good picture of this willet when something bizarre swam by...

 This was by far one of the oddest things we've ever seen. It's a Snook swimming on top of the water. He didn't just come up once for air, he was swimming like this all the way up the river! Really weird.

Neither Heather nor I know what the heck this is, but the white stuff was on an Australian Pine. I am thinking that maybe the pine tree had a sinus issue and it's tree snot. But that was just my guess.


Now I ask you, while you were sitting on your couch today, did you see a Snook* swimming on top of the water, or did you see pine tree snot? I think not! GOYB and join us Tuesday for our next walk on the river!


* And for those of you who actually watch it, no, Snooki on the Jersey Shore does NOT count!

Event Update

This evening we did 3 miles on the river. It was nice, a tad warm, but we had a nice breeze, which is the good thing about riverwalking. Didn't see a lot that was tremendously exciting, but as always, it's way more fun to be out in nature than sitting home on the couch. If you didn't GOYB tonight, here's what you missed:

A duckie. We generally don't get many ducks along the river, in fact, I think this was the first I've gotten a picture of along this stretch of the water.

A great blue heron looking particularly photogenic.

We also saw lots of crabs and bunnies again. Both species seem to have been getting down a lot this year as there are TONS of them along the river.

Hope you can join us on our next adventure!

Event Update

No SOS walk, today was something totally different, got to see a sea turtle released. Her name was bubbles, and she can be tracked on the Tour d'turtle web site. The grey thing on her back is a transmitter so she can be tracked and studied.

Doing a walk out at Riverside park in Vero tomorrow at 7:00. Hope you can join us!

Event Update

I did a solo walk on the river last night. Saw lots and lots and lots of bunnies and giant land crabs. If you didn't GOYB, here's what you missed!

 A bunny...

... and another bunny... altogether,  think I saw around 15 or 20 bunnies. Insanely cute.

 I think this is an immature male giant land crab. I am making that call based on the color and the fact that he has one HUGE claw (I seem to recall on females, both of the claws are the same size.)

This was kind of a weird Cuban Anole, much darker than most.

This was a really pretty adult male giant land crab.


Make sure you GOYB this weekend for the Sea Turtle release! Depending on the weather, we might do a walk from the Barrier Island Center after the release. Be there or be square! (Or actually, be round from sitting on your couch instead of getting out and having fun!)

Event Update: SSOS - Sweaty Six on Sunday

Today was by FAR the hottest, muggiest walk we have done to date. I really wasn't expecting it to be as bad as it was. We both ran out of water, and for the first time since we've been doing the SOS walks, I actually felt terrible when it was over. I came home and chugged G2, water, tea, and eventually felt better. In the future, I will start bringing more water along, dehydration really is no fun at all. But, aside from the heat, it was a great walk. We saw a few new critters this week. If you didn't GOYB, here is what you missed:

This was some really pretty fruit on a palm tree. With all the rain we've been having, the plants are all just going crazy!

 It was sprinkling when we started, so I had my camera in the back pack. Of course, that is when we saw this beauty. I got a picture with my iPhone, but it really doesn't do him justice, it was one of the most magnificent red rat snakes that I've ever seen. I'm bummed that I didn't get a better picture.

The divine Miss H. with a horse shoe crab molt. This was a  new one for our SOS list.

A tricolor heron. Nothing unusual, but I really like the way the water looks like jelly in the picture.

Our deceased critter of the day. From a distance, I thought it was an anhinga, but Heather pointed out the curved beak, making it a cormorant. The skull was really neat, would have loved to have collected it to draw (which, as we all know is illegal, so I did not.)

 A great blue heron looking particularly great.

A dolphin! This was another new critter to our SOS list. We might have seen them before, but this is the first time I've gotten a decent picture.

This was an empty egg we found. Have no idea what it was, but as you can see, it was pretty big. Maybe something hawk sized?


As always it was a great walk, full of stuff that you can't experience if you are sitting at home in front of the TV.  Be sure to join us for future walks, and get out there an experience life!

Event Update

So, last night, I decided at the last minute to do county park instead of Hardee as I thought the mosquitos might not be as bad (which mercifully there were not.) Unfortunately, I forgot to update the site with the change,  my sincere apologies for those who showed up at Hardee.

The cool thing about GOYB is that even on inland walks in the county park, there are still very cool things to see if you look for them. Cases in point:

 This was weird. This snake (probably a young racer or maybe rat snake) had wedged himself in the crack in the sidewalk. Very weird. I don't know if he was alive or not, but wasn't feeling confident enough to get close to find out.

There were  a ton of millipedes on the side walk, maybe trying to escape of all of the rain.

Don't forget the walk at Riverside in Vero tonight (Thursday at 8:00 p.m.) and the SOS walk this week, meet at the Jungle Trail lot at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.  You can only experience nature if you get out into it!

Event Update: SOS Walk on A1A

I did a solo SOS (Six on Sunday) walk today. I love walking with other people, but today was kind of nice too, I downloaded a ton of new music lately, and finally had the chance to listen to it on my 6+ mile trek. The mosquitoes were very very bad at the Jungle Trail parking area, and I of course forgot my bug spray, but once I got out on the water, there was a nice breeze, no bugs and it was a pretty great day. If you chose not to GOYB today, here's what you missed:

I wore my official "I Survived Boot Camp" t-shirt today.  They assign nick names to everyone at boot camp, and I was soooo afraid that I would accidentally fart while doing sit-ups and be forever after known as "GASSY" or worse. The back of my shirt said, "DAILY D" (cause I go to the gym every day.) I thought that was not only clever and cool, but a massive relief:-)

By the way, these shirts were designed and made by  a woman in our class who has her own design business. (If anyone reading this knows the name of Amber's business, please reply, I'd be happy to give her a plug as I love the shirt!)

 I saw lots of little baby lizards today. As I went on, I think I discovered why (keep reading)...

 Lots of flowers out today.

I thought this railroad vine flower was particularly spectacular.

 This could possibly be why there are lots of baby lizards around... I love how he is whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

As I've said before, the bad part of walking on A1A is that there seem to be a lot more dead critters. This is a green heron that I think got hit by a car. It didn't appear to be predated as there was too much left of him.

This is one of my favorite birds, the wood stork. This is the first bird I identified on my own in Florida.

 We always see great blues out here, but I thought this one looked particularly magestic.

 Here is something  I've never seen before - a hermit crab outside his house. I was told that they really can't survive too long outside, and he appears to have either died of natural causes or was killed by something when he left his house (presumably the shell shown here).

This is another relative rarity, a reddish egret. I haven't seen any around in a while.

I think this is a female fiddler crab. If it were a male, he would have one really big claw.

Remember, you might see stuff like this on the internet or on TV, but you will never really experience it until you GOYB!  Join us this week for some weekday walks, possibly at Hardee Park in Sebastian or Riverside Park in Vero, details TBD.