Event Update: Goodwin Wildlife Management Area: The Good, The Bad, and The Owie

The good: Had awesome weather for a bike ride and I was joined by the lovely and always interesting Christy Pruett. We saw lots of cool stuff. The official bird list from Christy was: Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Gossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Turkey Vulture, Black Vulture, Northern Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, Common Gallinule, Sandhill Crane, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Loggerhead Shrike, Barn Swallow, Tree Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Mockingbird, Common Yellowthroat, Palm Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Eastern Meadowlark, Red-winged Blackbird, Boat-tailed Grackle, a deer and a snake.

The bad: I had a bad start to the trip. I was trying to top off my bike tires with air, and wound up spending $3.00 in quarters, and I accidentally let all the air out of my tires. I finally had to admit I didn't know what I was doing and I had to ask a little boy to fill my tires up for me. Duoh!! And even worse - don't tell David this - but once I got to Goodwin I realized that I had forgotten my binoculars. There is a reason I'm known as a very bad birder!

The owie: Once I finally got out to the park, I met up with Christy and we started off for a great ride, but then at the 3 mile mark, we stopped off at the tower to look out. The tower was a bit over grown, but we ascended with no problem. Coming down however, I accidentally ticked off some bees and they attacked us. Christy got out unscathed, and for all the cussing I did, I got out of it with only 2 stings. Unfortunately, one was on my knee, and I had still had to ride back 3 miles!

Here are the official pictures from the trip:

 This is a deer that just stood right beside us while I futzed with the camera. It was a little strange - I took this with the short lens. The deer was not afraid of us at all and just stood there watching us.

This was a cool owl pellet that Christy found on top of the tower.

This is Christy at the end of the bike ride.


Overall, the good far outweighed the bad, and any day outside birding with friends is always better than one stuck inside! Keep watching the web site and come out and join us for an outing soon!

Turkey Creek Video!

We had an awesome walk out at Turkey Creek today. I was joined by HFC David, and Suzy and Bob from Space Coast Audubon. Here's a video of some of the incredible stuff we saw out there today!

September Update!

Been a long time since I updated here. I've still been walking but haven't led any official events in a while. I had a rough time over the summer, but things are looking up now, and I'm planning lots of cool trips for the fall, including looking for falcons in St. Augustine in October.

I am also starting to devise a long range plan, and it's a big one: I'm planning to hike (part of) the continental divide trail. I've already been warned that I not only have to be in be in good enough shape to cover 10 miles per day, but I also have to learn how to poop in the woods. 10 miles a day I am confident I can handle. Pooping in the woods, not so much!

I am still working on my 1000 miles. I am so proud that Aunt Kathy was the first to hit the 1000 mile mark. David is in the 900's, the rest of us are sorely lagging behind. I calculated it today that I need to do 4.3 miles/day from now till the end of the year to hit my 1000 miles. I have been getting a lot in in the gym with bike riding, rowing and the treadmill, but need to step up my game. I'll die of shame if I'm the only one who doesn't hit 1000 miles!

And speaking of walking, we (me, HFC David, and my partner in crime, Heather) had our first official walk in a while on Labor day. If you didn't GOYB and join us, here's what you missed! (Click to enlarge pictures.)

 The day was blisteringly hot, but it was a great day for butterflies. Here's a common buckeye.

 It was also a great day for spiders! Here is a beautiful golden orb weaver with either her boyfriend or her kid, wasn't sure which. At any rate, she is the much larger one. Golden orbs rock!

 Did I mention it was a great day for spiders? We saw hundreds making webs on the telephone wires.

 It was also a great day for bananas.

Lots and lots and lots of bananas.

This was wicked cool, wish I had my video camera out - hundreds of fish all jumped out of the water at the same time, most likely disturbed by a predator.

Heather found this - as we were coming back to the parking lot, right over our heads in a tree - was a golden orb weaver giving her buddy Mr. Dragonfly a big old friendly hug!

Now where else, but out in nature can you see a golden orb weaver snuggling her buddy? Remember, you can see stuff like this on the internet or TV, but you can't experience it, you can't hear the dragonfly giggling with delight at the warm fuzzy snuggles - unless you GOYB and come walking with us!

Be sure to join us soon!

The Oatmeal on Running

I love this cartoon, it made me cry. With the exception of the fact that I walk not run I know what he means, the blergh monsters that follow me around, quieting the mind, all so beautiful. I love the oatmeal so very much.

 http://t.co/YmvFwOdAty

Stormwater Park III

I am still walking 2 days a week out at stormwater park if anyone wants to join me. For those of you who aren't up for getting up and wet at 7:00 am, here's what you missed:

Lollygagging at Sebastian Stormwater Park II

I've been trying to walk at the Stormwater Park a few times a week on my non-weight training days at the gym. Here is a compilation video from my last few walks. Sorry it's so shaky, I need to start hauling my tripod with me. If you haven't GOYB to join me on my morning walks, you have missed bunnies, duckies, baby woodpeckers, and tons of other cool stuff. Watch here, and join me for a future walk!

Trip to Sebastian Stormwater Park

Hot as blazes out there today but we had a nice breeze that made it a lot more tolerable.  I was joined by HFC David today. If you didn't GOYB, here is what you missed, for the first time ever, on video! (I still learning the video camera, I apologize for any weirdness in the video.)