3/4/2020

The sunset was quite lovely last night.  We didn't end up watching NCIS due to the political analysis of Super Tuesday, which we had forgotten about.  We played cards with the TV turned down low.  The girls won again!  The score is now 6 to 5 in our favor!

This morning we drove up to Longboat Key - tons of traffic waiting to turn onto the bridge to the key.  I don't know how the locals deal with it.  We passed the famous kiss sculpture from Times Square fame just before the bridge Apparently a WWII vet bought the sculpture and donated it to the city.  We dropped Cathie off at St. Armand's Circle so she could get her nails done and the rest of us went to Quick Point Nature Preserve on the key to look for birds.  There were some fishermen on the boardwalk and some great blues and snowy egrets just watching to see if they could get some leftovers.  At one point, an Amish man was chasing off a snowy that was getting too close while a blue was sneaking up behind him trying to get into the container that held the fish - very funny.  Along the path, we saw a shell tree - instant art, a baby osprey in a nest, and a new species of bird (check out the photo below).  We are back at the condo and will travel into Tampa tonight to have dinner at Bern's.  Russ and Cathie have never been so I am looking forward to sharing the experience with them.

The Kiss celebrating V-J day

Great blue heron

snowy egret (note the yellow slippers)

brown pelican

paddle boarding pooch

shell tree

anole

new species: a "mail" flamingo

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March 2/3. 2020

After our dinner of leftovers last night, we walked down to the beach across from our condo to watch the beautiful sunset.  Apparently this is THE event of the evening.  There were lots of people on the beach watching the sun go down.  At the moment that it disappeared, someone in one of the beach front condos played taps on a loudspeaker and then someone let out a blast from an air horn.  It felt like a modern pagan ritual for the sun god.  Cathie and I won at cards again - we are on a streak!

This morning was a beach day.  Dave stayed (he is so not a beach person) and walked around our little neighborhood, checked out a few shops and walked on the shore.  The rest of us went to Siesta Key beach with its talcum powder sand.  It was breezy on the shore, but that was a good thing because without the wind, we would have been hot.  Cathie and I took a long walk and then when we got back, Cathie and Russ went for one in the other direction.  Cathie got hungry so she took half of her sandwich out of the food bag and as she was chewing and holding the rest in her hand, a gull swooped down and snatched it!  The gulls here are very brazen.  When I got around to my sandwich, I kept it in the bag and ducked my head down to take a bite - I felt like I was doing something illegal, ducking my head into the bag to take each bite.  We read and people watched - lots of Amish people here walking the beach - women with their long dresses and men in their black pants with suspenders, both with bare feet.

Turn(or tern)ing into the wind

sandpiper

one of the many life guard stands

yoga on the beach

After showering, we went to Owen's Fish Camp.  Russ and Dave saved our places in line (at 3:30) while Cathie and I checked out an art/jewelry store and an antique store nearby.  We got seated just after 4, which was really early for dinner, but by the time we read the menu, etc. we ended up being served the main meal at 5 which wasn't too bad.  We have plenty of leftovers for tonight.  We stored the leftovers in the fridge and walked over for the sunset again.  It was not quite as brilliant as the one last night, but nice just the same.  Cards - we are definitely on a winning streak.  The score is now 5 to 5!

Dave keeping the old dude company at Owen's

For my vegetarian friends

We headed back to The Celery Fields today and added Northern Harrier (marsh hawk) and a red shouldered hawk.  We also saw a banded water snake, a red-eared slider turtle and two tilapia.  There were no painted buntings today.  We then drove into Sarasota to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens to visit The Souk - a collection of artisans from the area with their wares - jewelry, clothing, yard goods at very hefty prices.  I saw a lovely blue quilted jacket for only $1200 - needless to say, I left empty handed.  We came back to the condo for lunch.  Russ spent some time at the beach, Cathie did some computer work, Dave took a nap and I read at the pool for a short while.  We will have our leftovers for dinner tonight and go down to the beach to watch the sunset.  We may or may not play cards tonight as NCIS is on.  We have not watched TV since we got here.

purple martin

American egret

banded water snake (look in lower center of pic)

red-eared slider

tilapia

osprey

Someone's lucky number?

mottled duck

3-1-20

We ate dinner last night at Carrabba's Italian Grill.  We had lots of leftovers for tonight as we had two appetizers for half price, soup or salad, and an entree.  I had chicken parmesan with asparagus, Cathie had lobster ravioli, Dave had scallop and shrimp with pasta and sauce and Russ had fettuccine with scallops and shrimp.  It was a great meal and I was happy to have something other than fish.  We had another game of cards and the girls won again - hope we are on a streak - 5 to 3 now so there is hope.

After breakfast this morning we headed to Myakka State Park.  This is a lovely park and huge (37,000 acres) with a big lake and several small ponds and marsh areas.  We went to the birding area first and saw some shore birds - most of which we have seen before on this trip, but added a white pelican and an adult and juvenile bald eagle to our list.  A volunteer there had an awesome scope as most of the birds were quite far away.  We then went to the weir area where there were lots of birds just hanging out - roseate spoonbills, anhingas, limpkins, glossy ibis,  and black stilts.  Unfortunately, my camera battery died and I didn't have my backup with me.  Dave has some better shots of the stilts if we have the correct connecting cord with us.  We also saw a deer, a gator, and a feral pig. 

juvenile bald eagle

white pelican

great blue heron

roseate spoonbills

I wonder if they eat them or what?

ibis and limpdin

stilts

So far there are two parks I would return to: this one and The Celery Fields.  We stopped on the way out to do the canopy walk and then headed back to the condo for a small bite.  We have to save our appetites for tonight so we can get through our leftovers.  Dave took a nap while I did a load of laundry.  Russ, Cathie, and I sat near the pool for an hour and read until the sun became too hot for me - I came in to fold the clothes and blog.

I was able to connect. So here are a few from Dave's camera.

purple gallinule

Stilts - look at how delicate their legs are

Russ and Cathie on the canopy walk

2/29/20

Because we had to change condos today, we decided to go into the village for grouper sandwiches (Cathie and I split one) for dinner so that we wouldn't have leftovers to deal with.  We had to be out of the first condo by 10 and check in for the new one was 4PM.  The ladies at the new condo office let us store our milk and juice for the day in the office fridge which was very nice.  They also got us into the new place at 2 - an added bonus.  This place also has wi-fi in the room.  In the old unit I had to go down to the lobby to blog.

Two things of note: The girls won last night - yeah!!!!! So now the score is 5 to 2.  On the other hand, I thought we were meeting John, Lana, and Kelly for breakfast tomorrow morning.  Instead we were supposed to be there this morning.  I felt so bad for the misunderstanding.  We couldn't have done it today because of the move, but they had to drive for an hour to get to the location and then we didn't show up and it is John's birthday today!  I hope that the breakfast was worth an hour's drive - we were very sorry to have missed seeing Kelly and wishing John a happy birthday in person.

We went to check out two new parks this morning.  The first, Urfer Family Park, was small, but interesting.  We saw 13 species of birds including two scrub jays (that elusive bird from yesterday).  We also saw a snapping turtle sunning himself in the parking lot and a family of 5 raccoons across the pond.  The second park (Rothenbach) was much larger, but less interesting - 4 species of birds including some white pelicans flying overhead and a good sized alligator.  We drove into Sarasota and spent an hour at the farmer's market in the historic district where we grabbed a bite to eat.

Russ and Cathie have gone down to the pool and I will probably join them when I get the pics loaded.

little blue heron

snapping turtle

racoon

wood duck

anhinga

Russ decided not to shave while on vacation

alligator

Cathie and Bernie

2/28/20

Okay - Cathie and I tried our best last night to beat the boys in Hand and Foot.  We were actually doing well until the fourth and final round - the boys came out of nowhere and beat us by 200 points.  I really thought we would win last night - oh, well 5 to 1 - not impossible to come back from, but we will try.

After breakfast this morning, we drove to Oscar Scherer State Park for a bird walk.  It was a bit chilly starting out, but we soon warmed up and were actually hot after a couple of hours of walking.  Russ chose this park because they are known for their scrub jays - the only species of bird endemic to Florida.  We only saw 12 species this morning, but were lucky to see a pileated woodpecker, a red-bellied sapsucker, and a black vulture to add to our list.  We were upset that we couldn't find a scrub jay, but just as we got to the parking lot, we spotted one way up in a tree.  That little stinker was teasing us on the whole hike!  We came back to the condo for lunch after which Dave had a nap while the three of us went to the pool to read.  We will probably get something simple for dinner tonight as we have to move condos tomorrow.  There was a huge mix-up with AirBnB and this unit was double booked for next week.  We will be moving just a couple of miles down the road, but we are trying to cut down on what food is in the fridge.  I did stop in to the new place today and they said we could leave a few things in the office fridge tomorrow morning as we have to vacate this place by 10 and can't move into the new location until 4. 

unknown woodpecker

pileated woodpecker

a stuffed bobcat on the trail

Old tortoise shell on the trail

red-bellied sapsucker

the elusive scrub jay

2-27=20 continued

For some reason I couldn't get the last two pics on so will try them here.

17th century Moonlight Landscape

Restored Asolo Theater