Florida Days

 The House in Cape Coral, FL 3-7-2014

It’s been a month since my return from my visit to Cape Coral, Florida. Already those sunny days have faded into a blur of memories. This was my brother’s house. He signed a contract on it the night before we left and sold it 2 weeks later. I will never be able to visit him here again.

From the first day I arrived I was surprised to see Loggerhead Shrikes in his yard. They were there everyday until the day I left, yet another new Florida bird for me.

So many mornings I sat by the pool drinking my tea while watching and listening to birds. Several pairs of mockingbirds called and sang and fought over his backyard. Mom loved to hear them singing in the mornings. Grackles, starlings, and catbirds were seen and heard in his yard. Palm Warbler’s flitted to the ground wagging their tails, then jumped back up to the bushes. Almost every day a Northern Cardinal brightened the greenery of the backyard while catbirds mewed from deep inside the bushes.

I walked the streets of this Cape Coral Neighborhood counting birds for 14 days.

In those 14 days I counted 46 species on those streets!

I discovered that while lots of people count lots of birds at all the eBird Hotspots in Florida, very few people do backyard bird counts or neighborhood counts. I like to think that perhaps I contributed some important data and filled in a few blanks outside the birding hotspots.

Everyday I was there I added at least one new species to the neighborhood list, but I must say I was surprised when on our last full day in Florida this bird showed up on the front lawn. My heart skipped a beat hoping against hope that my eyes were not deceiving me. Could it really be…

…a Common Ground-dove!

The picture is a bit blurry because I had to take it through double pane windows, but still, you can see the black-tipped red bill and the shorter tail and shorter neck of this bird. While the plumage is similar to a Mourning Dove, the body shape and tail are quite different as well as the bill, and when this dove flew, I saw the rufous-colored underwings which are absent on a Mourning Dove.

My, how the days did fly, and so did I.

 

Mom and I took wing on March 7th. We arrived back in Connecticut on the 8th.

Gus picked us up at the train station in New London, CT and then we dropped Mom off at her house and drove all the way home to Maine that night. It wasn’t long before we were hit with snow, but now it is finally starting to melt.

Since my return I am not trying to hide…

I’m just trying to get used to living near the ocean and taking in all there is to see!

New birds are arriving daily as the snow continues to melt and migration gets into full swing! I find it so amazing to have woodland birds and sea birds on the same bird count! Today I added Common Eider, Great Black-backed Gull and Brown-headed Cowbird to my Mere Point Cottage Yard list, which now stands at 40 species (You can see the complete list in the sidebar)! There are so many birds in my yard and I am so full of wonder that I find it hard to focus or get anything else done. I’m just relaxing and counting birds!

Herring Gull on Bailey Island 3-16-14

Since April is National Poetry Month and I am Celebrating with poems on Birding is Fun and Kathie’s Poet Tree! Pop on over and see what’s happening!

Cowgirls!

Celeste and I astride our horses on December 23, 2013.

Besides our love of birds and nature, Celeste and I also share a love of horses. Last year I took my daughter on a horseback ride through Saguaro National Park as one of her Christmas presents. This year I invited Celeste to join me and we both did this as a Christmas present to ourselves. By now we both knew I would be moving at the end of January, so this made a nice memory for both of us.

Celeste's Horse is named Shooter while mine is named Soldier.

They were both well behaved horses and just look at Celeste holding those reins like a pro! Not bad for a Brit!

Off we go!

 

 

 

 

 

Many Thanks to Dominic, Celeste’s husband, who ran behind us in the desert and took all these pictures!

“Happy Trails to you…until we meet again!”

 Click this link to see-Scenes from last year’s trail ride.

Artsy Fartsy Friday 15: A Bridge to Cross

We are on our way to Brunswick, Maine, so this photo I took in Idaho Falls last September seemed appropriate for this Artsy Fartsy Friday as we metaphorically cross a bridge to our new life on the coast of Maine! I’ll see you there!

• Artsy Fartsy Fridays 
• From Tucson to Brunswick
• Trip to Yellowstone and Utah 2013 

Notes from my Nest-Moving

mourning dove nest building 4-13-13 

I have just ended a five day birding spree with friends from all over. My 2014 Year List has grown from 86 species on January 19^th to 131 species by January 27! I awoke this morning knowing that the end is near. In four more days I will be gone. Though I have delayed this reality as long as possible, it is time to take the feeders down and wash them so they can be packed all together. I want to be able to find them and hang them as soon as I arrive in Maine.

The yard has been fairly quiet lately with the same 8 species returning on a daily basis: Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Anna’s Hummingbird, Gila Woodpecker, Yellow-rumped Warbler, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, and House Sparrow. Sporadically I see Cooper’s Hawk, Costa’s Hummingbirds, Common Raven, Say’s Phoebe, and Verdin. Once in awhile I hear a distant Cactus Wren or a Curve-billed Thrasher. Sometimes I see a Red-tailed Hawk circling overhead, but that is all for now, and I will be gone before it gets exciting once again.

I am trying not to think about what this move means to my life, for I know it will change. The birds and the habitat change are obvious, but the change in relationships is what I am finding hard. I will not have my little grandson running downstairs every morning calling out “meme!” in a joyful voice, arms open wide. I will miss him asking me, “meme, can I help you?” when he sees me baking in the kitchen or filling bird feeders in the backyard. It will be a long time before he snuggles with me in a rocking chair at night while we watch nature shows together. And before long, he will be too old to snuggle.

I will not be here to greet my dear friend, Celeste each time she returns. I will miss Earl Grey tea and bird watching on the patio with her.

I will miss the daily interaction with my son, his sense of humor and his insights about life and people, and the most obvious person I will miss I can barely talk about. What will I do without Chris?

Chris Rohrer in Empire Gulch 9-16-12 

When I first met him 18 months ago I knew he would be a friend, but I could not have predicted this kind of friendship. I try to relate it to another relationship in my own life and all I can compare it to is my birding mentor, Trudy. She not only taught me about the birds, but she taught me about Life and she loved me unconditionally. Wherever I moved in the United States she stayed in contact with me; first through letters, and then through email. When she was in her late 90’s and I started my Sycamore Canyon Blog she was thrilled. She followed my birding escapades with longing and she would write me long and enthusiastic emails encouraging me to get out and see the world as much as I could and while I still could. To her dying day she loved birds and nature and longed to be outside immersed in it all. I tease Chris that one day I will be the old lady birder and he will have to call me and tell me all his birding stories and adventures and as I grow older he will have to come and get me and take me on birding walks and I will always love him.

Kathryn Kelly and I birding Ft. Frederick in Maryland 8-22-12

I know this trip across the country with Gus will be different. We will not be stopping to watch birds like I did with Kathryn 18 months ago. This time it will be all about the weather and trying to beat the storms or drive around them! But once I get to Maine, watch out birds, because Kathie’s Birds is coming and I am going to count you all! I do look forward to living near the ocean. It will be a new life experience for me and I am ready to embrace it and all there is to see.

Links:

• A Bright Beginning
• A Parting of the Ways- Celeste’s Post
• Las Aventuras
• My Backyard
• My Mountain Green
• From Andover to Tucson

Shorebirds in Maine 8-7-2012