Lake Okechobee

I got out to see Lave Okechobee this weekend. HCF David and I braved the cold and wind and were rewarded with some nice looks at ospreys. If you didn't GOYB and join us, here's what you missed:

Poor David. While I have the never ending thrill of staring at a computer 10 hours a day, he is forced to be outside and look at stuff like this while he works. The poor, poor boy, I don't know how he survives this torture.

 Ok, enough sarcasm, here is an awesome picture of an osprey.

If I had gotten my camera up one second earlier, this photo would have made it on to my critter porn page. Apparently male ospreys don't spend a lot of time of foreplay or cuddling after.


Anyway, I didn't get a lot of pictures this week, but it was still pretty awesome to get out. Make sure you keep an eye on upcoming events. We will be joining Space Coast Audubon for a trip to Lake Apopka, we will be doing a road trip to Devils Millhopper, and much more. Remember, doing something is always better than doing nothing, so you might as well do stuff with us!

STA5 and Green Cay

Today started out very very cold. I can't believe  I got up that early, in that cold weather, but as always, was very glad I did. I was joined by HFC David today, and if you didn't GOYB to join us at STA5 and Green Cay today, here is what you missed (click to enlarge):

 A small herd of woodstorks

 A turkey vulture looking picturesque.

Swarms of terns flying back and forth. They were amazing to watch, flying as one. They reminded me of that toy we used to get in our stockings for Christmas every year where you draw hair on a guy with a magnet, they just looked like they were being dragged through the sky as one by an unseen force.

 It warmed up by the time we got to Green Cay. The colors were incredible. I never noticed how pretty coots are. Check out his eye!

 There was something dead on the side of the road. I thought maybe a vulture?

 Another coot.

 A common galinule, but with these colors, looking anything but common.

 Common galinule.

 Check out the feet on this coot!

 Even something as simple as a grebe looks spectacularly beautiful in this light.

What chooo lookin at, Willis??

 A HUGE soft shell turtle.

I never noticed iridescence on these guys before - check out the purple stripe on the neck.

So an anhinga and turtle walk into a swamp... This picture looks like it's just waiting for a punch line.

The secretive sora.

The day started out very cold, but it was totally worth it, as it always is. Remember, it's always better to GOYB and do something than to just watch what someone else did on the internet! We have some great events coming up, make sure you  check out our upcoming events page and GOYB and join us!

First Official Event Update of 2013: Bike Ride at Goodwin

We had a spectacular bike ride today out at Goodwin WMA. They recently opened up a new area which I have not yet explored. Since there was hunting going on in the other area, we decided to head to the new area. It was awesome for bike riding; firm, flat road, not open to cars, incredible scenery, fantastic company! If you didn't GOYB today, here's what you missed (sorry for the lack of quality in some pictures; I think either my camera or my eyes need cleaning and adjusting!) :

 This area is more open water than the other area of Goodwin. Very pretty and different. We didn't see as many birds, but that could well be due to the temperature and time of day.

We biked for about 2 miles, then walked about 1/2 mile out to a shelter. The walk was nice, but we were covered in sticky burrs and beggar's lice by the time we got to the shelter.

 A view from the shelter. Truly magnificent day.

The divine Miss H at the shelter.

Me, being all dramatic like at the shelter.

A blooming moon flower.

There were tons of nesting great blue heron out there. No babies yet that we could see.

Lots of birds resting on these logs in the water.

Back at the parking area, the roseate spoonbills are in breeding plumage.

The great egrets are also in breeding plumage. I really wish I had a longer lens, this picture doesn't do them justice, they were so in breeding plumage that they looked like those weird white dogs in the dog shows that look like muppets.

 Great egrets with a roseate flying by.

More roseates. I really need to invest in a BA lens some day.

The color was incredible. The adults were in full breeding plumage, and the juveniles were this soft fluffy pink that made them look just like cotton candy. Or maybe I was just getting hungry after the bike ride.

This was a brown pelican resting on a piling. Nothing spectacular, but I thought it was a pretty shot.

Me and Heather. Not our best picture. I look like a stroke victim trying to do an Elvis sneer, and Heather looks kinda like a bobble head. I think it's been too long and we are out of practice at looking like our usual lovely photogenic selves. Obviously we need to get back to weekly trips!

Due to my ongoing foot issues, we will probably do more biking or kayaking than walking for the next month. So, if you ever wanted to try something different, now's the time to join us! Keep an eye on the schedule, we are back and ready to take on nature. Come join us - remember, you can see this stuff on the internet or TV, but you can only really experience it if you GOYB!

At Long Last Update!

Sorry for the lack of updates, December and January were long and somewhat rough. I didn't lead too many walks due to continuing foot issues in December. In January I had a death in the family, then was flat out with the birding and wildlife festival. But I'm back now and raring to go!

Today we are doing an afternoon bike ride out at Goodwin WMA. I heard a rumor that the Roseates are out there in full breeding plumage. Come join me and Heather, my partner in crime, for a cool bike ride. Heather and I are volunteer manatee watchers now. We will be over at the buffer preserve at 3:00 taking a manatee survey. If you want to know what's that's all about, let me know and I'll tell you where to meet us.

I'm looking forward to getting back to regular outings and events. Please leave a reply here if you have any suggestions for future trips. We also have a tentative road trip to Devil's Millhopper coming up, stay tuned for that!

Hope to see you out there!

Why No Updates?

It's been a while since I last updated. In the past month I have done a few unofficial, unscheduled events. Hiked in GA with family, attended the Vero Christmas parade (see pictures below). But in general, have been slowed down a bit with !#!@#!@#! plantar fasciitis. So very annoying. I've had cortisone, PT, stretches, night brace, day strap. As a last ditch effort before surgery I am now in a boot until the end of December. This has put somewhat of a damper on my walking goal. Despite the valiant effort, I don't think we will make our goal of 1000 miles for the year. 

But next year, oh yes, next year... I think maybe we should set something slightly more realistic - 750?  We will see. I am proud of the fact that we easily sailed past last year's goal of 500. I've been in the boot for 2 weeks now, and my walking was pretty hampered long before that, so I think were I healthy,  we would have sailed (or strolled) past 1000 as well. 

Anyway, I plan to resume events as soon as I get this stupid boot off. In the mean time, I will still be participating in the annual bird counts, although mostly as a passenger in a car, not walking. If anyone wants to help out in any way with the bird counts or post-count potluck, let me know!

In the mean time, here are a few pictures from the Vero Beach Christmas parade:

I just don't remember stuff like this in the parades back home. This was a giant bloodshot eyeball. In the Christmas parade with elves.

This is MacGruff the crime dog's little house. That is him waving from the back. I felt safe knowing he was on the job.

Kidney Walk Fundraiser Videos

Last year, my beloved aunt Kathy was diagnosed as being in stage 4 renal failure, and is now on dialysis. Her daughter, cousin Beth, got together a team to walk in the Kidney Foundation walk to support Kathy and to raise awareness of kidney disease. I joined the team, and wanted to raise as much money as possible. With that in mind, and inspired by trainer who did a similar fundraiser, I promised people that I would do some kind of gym related torture for every dollar raised, and would post the results here.

The fund raiser was this weekend. I raised about $700, and our team totaled over $1900. I'm very proud of us, and can't thank my donors enough. And extra special thanks to Heather, my partner in crime and videographer, and David, my partner in life and sound man, these videos couldn't have happened with out them!

Without further ado, here are the results. I didn't embed the videos to make this page load faster; just click the links to view the videos.

Joy decided I should do a warm up routine to the blue danube waltz. In a bizarre coincidence, a different pair of donors, Paul and Dawnell, requested that I wear a tutu for these tortures. Which worked out either quite nicely, or completely horrifically, I will let you decide.

Next, Wayne wanted 6 minutes of stretching. It just so happens that The Smiths, his favorite band ever, has a 6 minute song. Music in the background is  The Smith's "How Soon is Now?"

Joy also requested that I do calisthenics to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now".

Allison requested clean and press with the 8Kg kettlebell (75 of these). Song in background is "Equalize" by Gomez.

Vikki requested tricep bench dips (90). Sharon requested catch and release kettle bell swings (with 12Kg kettlebell) (100).  Songs in backgound are Vampire Weekend's "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa" by Shakira.  At this point, we realized that the camera wasn't big enough to hold all the video we shot and we had to start editing for time. But I really did do all of the required tasks. If I had been alone, I would have cheated, but David and Heather were there to keep me honest.

Lisa requested high press (with 12Kg kettlebell) (30). Songs in backgound are "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" by the Weavers and "But It's Alright" by J.J. Jackson.

Margi requested jackknifes with a ball, but my back wasn't quite up for that and I had to switch to crunches.

Heather requested 2 miles in 37 minutes, which we wound up doing 2 miles in 35 minutes! Woo-hoo. Also shown in this video, Mom and Dad did't specify anything, so I finished with a 100 second wall sit.

And last but not least, Shirley requested that I never ever take another picture of myself in a public rest room. (Part II)

Thanks again to my donors, I joke around a lot, but your support really means the world to me, and I really appreciate you all making me be able to do this for aunt Kathy!

Now's Your Chance: Torture Dee (Updated)

Click Here to Donate!

A while back, my trainer did a run for a children's cancer charity. To sweeten the pot, she agreed to do a burpee for every dollar pledged. Given that I get matching gifts at work, I pledged a lot just because the thought of her doing twice as many burpies made me laugh:-) So, inspired by her, I decided to offer a similar deal. If you pledge me for the "Kidney Walk in Tampa" I will do horrible things for every dollar raised.

$ 1 - 100 - 1 crunch for every dollar

$200 - above plus 100 pushups

$300 - above plus 100 squats

$400 - $900 above and will let a donor decide on each torture (let me know when you pledge your preferred form of torture)

$1000 - Above plus 100 burpies. With the push up. I hate burpies which is why I set the number so high here.

Bonus: For every dollar over 1000, I will perform a minute of interpretive dance and will have someone record the hightlights and post them here.

I know I've annoyed a lot of people with my bad puns and horrible facebook posts. This is time for your payback. Make me suffer! And thanks for your pledges, it's for a great cause and in honor of a great woman, aunt Kathy!

Note - if you get matching gifts at work, please let me know so I can add it to the torture tally.

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Update 28-Oct-2012: I have the coolest friends - Alison and Joy are pledging me two dollars for every day between now and the walk that I eat like a grown up (at least 2 real meal a day, and NO junkfood). I'm doing ok so far, and by ok I mean I haven't killed anything yet! So far, I am at $48 with that pledge, and $340 in other donations.  I also have another friend, Vikki, who is pledging me $1 for every day I get in 1/2 hour of exercise, and $2 for every day I get an hour in. Luckily she is letting me count walking, I'm up to $24 on that one, with matching gifts from work, which makes it $ 48!

Please pass the link to this page along to help me raise money for a good cause!

Click Here to Donate!