Birds, Birds and more Birds ... December in Florida

 

Around here we have so many types of birds...Sea Birds, Birds of Prey, Backyard Birds, and Snowbirds.  (The latter don't have wings, have arrived, and makes driving along US-19 an interesting adventure.)  Here is a collection of some of the birds, many Pelicans, that I got pictures of the past few weeks.

(These three above show the flight, landing, cleanup.)

(There are a number of man-made platforms which the Osprey use to make their nest.)

Most of these pictures were taken at Anclote River Park, and a few at Crystal Beach.  The Osprey, which is the last picture above, was actually taken along US-19.  Some years you can see Bald Eagles, but this year all I have found so far is an empty nest.

Above is a picture taken at Crystal Beach.  Shortly after taking the picture I hear the roar of a helicopter.

Which is smack in the middle of this picture above, and a closer picture below.

These Coast Guard Helicopters frequently fly along the Gulf Coast.  Sometimes we hear them going over our Condo.

Here are a couple of snowbirds (guessing) walking by where I was parked.  It is very unusual to see anyone in a mask, and it is very rare to see people wearing masks while they are out on a power walk.

My "guess" as them being snowbirds is because of the lack of a tan on their legs.

After I took this picture of the birds flying around the boat launch at Anclote River Park, I noticed the boat in the distance.

I guess we did have a casualty from Hurricane Nichole.  Below is a picture of the same boat taken the afternoon after the Hurricane blew through.

I figure it must have hit some rocks during the storm, and water leaked in slowly.  An earlier picture I took of it had it about 50 feet to the left of this spot, so I knew it had moved.  I wonder how long they will allow the boat to sit in the water like this...

Note:  Marcia, Indy and I are doing well...no sickness, no doggie parks (still), and we just learned yesterday that Marcia is NOT going to need Cataract Surgery as we had suspected.  She does need "Prism" added to her lenses, and we will get those ordered on Tuesday.  Will try to write another blog before or around Christmas.  For those wondering, the past two weeks has found our 'highs' in the 70's and mid-80's, lows in the high 50's and mostly lower 60's.  We had rain one day for a whole 30 minutes.  Had a few foggy mornings.