3/22/2025

 We are home!  Our last night was a good one.  We walked over to the beach after dinner and took a walk down to Point of Rocks on the sand.  We came across a large heart outlined in white roses with a bucket with a bottle of champagne and asked the photographer if there was going to be a wedding.  She said it was a surprise proposal.  When we came back we could see the young man on his knees and the squeal of excitement so we knew she had said yes.  I took a quick pic, but as we walked by I was hoping that someone had a coat for her as the wind was blowing and it was quite chilly.  We took our sunset pics and then hurried back to the condo to warm up.  We decided to play a game of pinochle, but got beat again!  

Saturdays morning we had breakfast, packed up last minute item and took off for the airport.  Russ and Cathie dropped us off very early for our flight and continued on as they were flying back to Vermont out of Tampa airport and also had to return the car.  We read and did some people watching for a bit.  A plane came in that had two medical emergencies onboard.  We saw two people being taken off by stretcher.  Later I went to the restroom and an older fellow fainted in front of me.  He was with a group and I only assisted by picking up a food back that he had dropped.  He roused very quickly and was sitting up by the time the EMTs got to him.  I was wondering if this was going to be a doomed flight, but the worse thing that happened is that we were on the runway for 45 minutes waiting for our turn to take off.  Amy picked us up in New Haven. It was very nice to be home.  We got to see Theo and Zoe as this was the last weekend of their spring break. In just a few weeks, we will go to Theo's graduation - hard to believe.

3-21-2025 Celery Fields

 We missed the sunset last night as there was a sudden rain shower so we will try tonight.  We played our last game of hand and foot and lost again.  Tonight we will try a game of pinochle.

We went back to Celery Fields today.  While we didn't see the painted bunting this time, we did see plenty of birds and ducks: Nanday parakeets, mocking bird, tree swallows, boat tailed grackle, red winged blackbird, blue jay, grackle, white ibis, glossy ibis, common gallinule, juvenile purple gallinule, cowbird, turkey vulture, mourning dove, tricolored heron, little blue heron, cormorant, purple martin, blue winged teal, cattle egret, great blue heron, sand hill crane, roseate spoonbill, bald eagle, blue jay, and red bellied woodpecker.  We also saw a rabbit.  We went back to the unit for lunch and then our last poolside reading session.  Fortunately, Russ found some chairs where the wind was being blocked as there was a cool breeze this morning.  We came back and cleaned out the fridge as we are going out to The Cottage again tonight to celebrate Russ's birthday.  We have had a wonderful three weeks here, but we will fly back tomorrow morning.  

3-20-2025 Red Bug Slough Preserve

 So we had a change of plans last night.  We did not go walking on the beach to catch the sunset, but instead walked over to get ice cream for and early birthday present for Russ whose birthday isw tomorrow.  Will try to catch the sunset tonight.  Hand and Foot has been a disaster for Cathie and I.  We had to concede two games to the boys last night as they were killing us.  Oh well, another year maybe.

We went to Red Bug after breakfast and had a good walk.  The first amazing thing that happened was that a red shouldered hawk flew overhead and landed on a branch right over our heads.  He than proceeded to pose on the branch for quite a long time so that we all could get pics of him.  It was quite exciting.  We didn't fare so well on the rest of the walk, but we did see a decent number of birds - red shouldered hawk, mourning dove, cardinals, blue winged teals, female mallard, mocking bird red winged blackbird, grackle, little blue heron, anhinga, glossy ibis, osprey, great blue heron, common egret, crow, and hairy woodpecker.  We also heard a blue jay and a red bellied woodpecker.  There were lots of yellow eared sliders and a first for us, a Florida soft shell turtle (long neck and pointy head).  We also saw a flower that looked like a yellow iris, but Cathie has a plant identification app on her phone and it was a yellow flag flower.  We also spotted a crested anole and a rabbit.On the way back to our condo, we took a left over the bridge and wandered down to Turtle Beach.  We found a restaurant that people have been telling us about called Ophelia's.  It looked like a modest ranch house from the outside, but people say the food is amazing.  We won't be finding out for ourselves as the entrees are $50 - $100 per person!  We will have leftovers tonight as we leave on Saturday morning and we need to clean out the fridge.  

3-19-2025 Siesta Key Beach

 We had a lovely dinner at The Cottage last night, but the drive home was a nightmare.  Apparently they shut the bridge down to one lane early and it took about 45 minutes to get home - a distance of 3 miles at the most!  When we finally got back it was too late to walk across to the beach to catch the sunset so we will try to do that tonight.  Dave and Russ won again at cards, but it was a fairly close game until the end when they whooped us big time.

Today was our last beach day and it was a beauty!  Clear skies and warm with a light breeze - perfect.  There were a lot of dolphins frolicking in the waves today.  There were also a lot of gulls on the beach.  The only ones I can name are the laughing gull and the royal tern (see pics).  We finally caught up with Eddie the Egret!  He was standing at the counter as if placing an order of shrimp and chips.  When he had no luck there, he went to the back door of the kitchen.  He didn't get fed while I was there so am not sure if he got lucky or not.  We all took walks on the beach at various times.  Russ and Dave bumped into Scooter shooting his facebook morning report on the state of the beach.  We saw several guys with metal detectors checking the beach for treasures.  Dave chatted with one guy who has found a couple of expensive diamond rings so as well as a hobby, I guess it can be profitable.  Russ tried feeding the seagulls his leftover french fries.  They wouldn't take them out of his hand, but did enjoy it when he tossed them on the nearby sand.  Dave and I left after lunch and spotted an osprey as we walked to the shuttle stop.  We will have fish tonight for dinner.

3-18-2025 Venice Rookery

 Well, last night was another exciting game.  Cathie and I started out 1300 points ahead after the first round, but Dave and Russ quickly overtook us and killed us in the last round.  Oh, well, we did have fun even if we didn't win.

As this is our last week, we have decided to plan each day with a favorite activity.  We went to the rookery this morning to check on all the chicks.  The egret chicks were in various sizes from tiny fluff balls to almost ready to leave the nest.  The anhinga chicks have grown quite a bit since last week.  I will try to put on a short video of them being fed.  We had lunch and then did reading at the pool.  Cathie and Russ are playing pickle ball while I am working on the blog.  The list for today: anhinga, cormorant, grackle, boat tail grackle, black crowned night heron, common gallinule, common egret, great blue heron, little blue heron, wood stork, purple martin, white ibis, glossy ibis, tree swallow.  I got a pic of a moon flower which is in the morning glory family and we saw an alligator. We heard, but did not see red bellied woodpecker, cardinal, and a red shouldered hawk.  We will go out to The Cottage for dinner tonight.