Manatee Watch - Sick Manatee!

I had a manatee that was just lying in shallow water, other than breathing now and then, it wasn't really moving at all. I also noticed white around the snout, which indicates cold stress. I called Fish and Wildlife, and after laying there for over 2 hours, the stupid manatee just up and swam off literally 1 minute before FFW got there. But here are some pictures, I really did see a sick manatee, we just couldn't do anything about it cause it took off. Hopefully it will warm up or at least find a warmer place to hang out.

Birds of a Feather Fest

We had a great time out at the Birds of a Feather Festival this weekend. Thanks so much to all the folks who came out for our field trips and classes, we really enjoyed it. For those of you who didn't get out and join us, here's just a few of the things that you missed!

On our Saturday field trip started with great looks at a Pileated WoodPecker.

We also got great looks at some Red-bellied Woodpeckers.

 This picture makes me laugh - I didn't realize there were 2 woodpeckers there until I downloaded it!

 Another Red-bellied Woodpecker.

 This was some really neat lichen. It looked just like snow, except we didn't have to shovel it!

This is me, welcoming my beginning birding class. Doesn't the clipboard almost make me look like a responsible adult? Ha! The class quickly learned better.

Our next even is teaching beginning birding at the Enchanted Forest in Titusville on February 21. Hope to see you out there. Remember, you can only see cool pictures here on the web, but to really experience the fun, you need to GOYB!

January Nature Walks

I've been so busy out having fun that I have gotten behind in updating the site. If you haven't GOYB and joined us, here are the highlights of what you've missed this month.

There have been more White Pelicans out at the manatee watch landing than I've ever seen before there! On some days there have been about 60.

Two manatees om-nom-noming.

 They really like this green stuff that comes over the spillway.

Long one of my nemesis birds, I finally added the White-eyed Vireo to my life list on my Pish-free birding trip at the Space Coast Festival. This is proof that you don't have to harass the birds to get them to pose!

Another one from the Pish-free Birding trip, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Another manateee watch.

A barnacle covered manatee.

A wild turkey who posed nice for me.

Be sure to keep checking back, I do walks almost every weekend, drop me mail and come out to join me! Remember you can see this stuff on line but you can only experience it if you GOYB and get out there with me!

Viera Wetlands

So, I heard a rumor that there was a Black Hawk at the Viera Wetlands today. I went out to investigate. I didn't see any sign of a black hawk, but I did see tons of other cool stuff. If you didn't GOYB and join me, here's what you missed:

 This was weird. I was just trying to get a close up, but when I downloaded it, his eye was all weird. I took a few shots, and it looked like this in all of them. It looks like the eyes of someone in a cartoon after they have take mescaline.

There is a story here... I would bet that this armadillo's name is Betsy and she likes flowers.

Check out is feet! It's weird, they look like a combination of gallinule feet mixed with duckie feet.

My nemesis bird. I don't think I will ever get a decent photo of a Kingfisher.

Ring-necked ducks.

A Tri-colored Heron posing nicely.

This is not a white faced ibis, it's a glossy ibis coming into breeding plumage. Otherwise it would have been 296.

I think they were tired of me taking their picture, they mooned me en mass.

A Shoveller. Such a cool bird.

I love his exuberance!

A Green Heron, looking sneaky.

Better, but still not a great Belted Kingfisher shot.

A butter butt, aka, Yellow-rump Warbler.

I love this picture. He could use this as his high school year book picture.

I like the one lone curl, he looks kind of emo.

Great Egret. I think the key to getting a good photo of these guys is to take it on a cloudy day so they contrast more.

This is not a @$@#@# white faced ibis either.

I think this is a Red-bellied Slider.

This little guy and his mom were so close to my car I couldn't get them both in the picture. Look at his lips, how they have these little red spots...

This is his mom, notice how she has the red spots on her lips too. Eww, I just realized, maybe they are  blood spatters from an annoying photographer!

Sometimes  I feel really ugly. But then I see a Soft-shell Turtle and think, "Well, at least I don't look like a Soft-shell Turtle." Don't get me wrong, all nature is beautiful, but I think given my druthers I'd rather look like a Roseate Spoonbill.

Another gator. Around lunchtime as it got warmer, they all came out .

This picture just struck me as adorable if I do say so myself.

I love to color of Green Herons, even though they aren't green. This would be a perfect picture if that reed wasn't there.

I looked for the hawk down 4 Mile Road. Didn't find it, but this Kestrel came out to say hi to me.

It was another awesome day out there! We are getting into breeding season, so it will only get better. Make sure you GOYB join me for a future walk!

Manatee Watch

I was having an allergy attack and wasn't in the mood to stay and take pictures today, but there was something wierd going on, and I wanted to get at least a few pictures. Through the binoculars, I thought maybe it was a mama and baby, but after I took the picture and blew it up, I think not:

This was a manatee nomming on some grass that had come over the spillway.

This was a manatee feeding near trash floating in the water. That makes me so furious.

This is the weird one. I thought it was 2 manatees at first, but if you click to enlarge, you can see that it's one manatee, lying on her back just playing with her food!

The manatee watches have been great fun this year. You can look at the pictures here, but it's way more fun to come out and see them in person! Drop me an email if you want to GOYB and really experience a manatee!

Annual Unofficial Christmas Day Bird Count

We had a lovely outing today where we were joined by Pat, Bill and Kim. We saw lots of cool birds, duckies seemed to be the specialty of the day. If you didn't GOYB to join us, here's what you missed:

I didn't get hardly any people pictures at all! I hope Pat took some. Here is a really nice one of Pat and Bill though.

This is a Coot. I can't quite put my finger on it, but this picture reminds me of Barty. I think it's the inky blackness.

3 Pelicans in formation.

 It wouldn't be the Viera Wetlands without an Ibis striking a pose.

Two male Hooded Mergansers. I've seen these a million times, but didn't realize till I got home that I had never added them to my life list! They are officially number 295 on my photographic life list.

This guy was sitting on a post. EVERYONE was taking his picture, and I swear, he knew it. I could hear him saying, "Shoot my right profile dahling..."

Northern Shovelers. Probably my favorite ducky for many reasons. Mostly because the live up to their name, their beak is like a shovel.

This is one of those stories that tells a story. "Look at me! Look at me!"
"Oh man, Steve's been drinking again... Let's just hide and pretend he's not with us..."

The female shovelers make me laugh. They remind me of those stupid actresses who get their lips plumped up to look like bee sting victims. Except it looks good on the ducks, on people they just look like idiots.

Ring neck ducks. Another story....
"I don't want to talk about it."

"Aw, come on, it's not that big of a deal, it was just ONE time..."

"Alas, we are just two ships who are passing in the night..."

"Woo hoo! She came back!"

It was a great day out in the wetlands! Be sure to come out and join us one of these days for exercise, birds and most likely silliness!