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.