3-17-2025 Robinson Preserve

Well, the most important news first.  We had a very exciting game of hand and foot last night.  After four complete rounds, it looked like we were going to win, but it came down to the final count and the boys won by 10 points!  I don't think we have ever had such a close score!  The other news of the night is that we never got the promised storm last night.  It was very windy, but no rain.

We woke up this morning to more wind and the temps were a bit cooler so we decided to go for our bird walk at Robinson Preserve.  As it turns out most of the birds were hunkering down out of the wind.  It was blowing steady 25-30 mph with gusts at 40.  We did get lucky and found a few to take pics of.  The white pelicans are no longer there though.  t was so windy that there were white caps on the pond.  So the birds we saw: common egret, white ibis, cormorant, great blue heron, cardinal, osprey, crow, turkey vulture, brown pelican, tricolored heron, anhinga, palm warbler, swallowtail kite, mocking bird, tree swallow, great egret, cat bird, and blue winged teals.  We also saw a crab and two types of wild flowers: Indian blanket and red cardinal.  We came back for lunch and then read and relaxed for a while when Dave was napping.  After a bit, Russ drove Cathie and I to World Market to see what it was like.  I thought it was going to be like a 10000 villages shop, but it was not like that at all.  It was a mix of an upscale Pier One and an international food market.  Russ went to get gas for tomorrow and then picked us up at the store.  We had shrimp, sesame noodles and leftover veggies for dinner.  We will play cards again tonight.

3-16-2026 Sarasota

 We had mixed results in cards last night.  We conceded the first two games to the boys after two rounds each as they were killing us.  Then we were able to play a full game and were neck and neck.  The final scores were only 140 points apart and the girls won!  We only have this week to redeem ourselves so hopefully we will be successful tonight.

We stopped into downtown Siesta Key this morning to give Scooter (a life guard at Siesta Key Beach) an old license plate that we brought down for him.  He collects them and hangs them on his fence at home.  I told him this one was special because I had to have my bag checked by TSA because they couldn't figure out what they were seeing on the x-ray.  He laughed and I had my pic taken with him.  We then went into downtown Sarasota to walk around the Art and Craft fair.  Unfortunately, even though we got there at the time stated, they we packing up as there was a high wind advisory.  I overheard someone say that the airport was shutting down at 1 PM due to the wind.  It was cloudy when we first got up, but then the sun came out.  It was quite breezy though.  We went down by the waterfront to see the "Embracing Our Differences" display that is done by children from all over the world.  The artwork and quotations are judged separately and then paired by committee.  There were over 10,000 student entries this year.  There were some great finalists this year.  We also took pics by the famous kiss statue depicting a scene from Times Square on V-J day 1945.  We came back for lunch and each did our own thing this afternoon.  Russ and Dave are down at the grill while Cathie and I are cooking the sides.  Menu tonight is marinated steak, roasted potatoes, and a sauted medley of zucchini and yellow squash.  We are supposed to get thunderstorms tonight so that will be fun to watch from our balcony.

3-15-2025 Sarasota Farmer's Market

 So the boys won last night and they are still ahead so Cathie and I will have to get in sync again for tonight.

We went to the farmer's market in downtown Sarasota this morning.  It is quite large.  We picked up some fruits and veggies to last us through this next week.  We also stopped at the fish booth and got salmon, cod, and shrimp.  We will have the salmon tonight.  We came back to the unit to put away the items that needed to be refrigerated or frozen and then headed back out to stop at Yoder's Fresh Market for a few baked goods.  Yoder's is run by the Mennonites in an Amish village.  We drove a few blocks and stopped for a walk at Pine Craft Park.  It was a bit later in the day so not too many birds around.  The Amish men were playing shuffleboard on the court near the picnic area.  Our bird list today is short: mallard ducks, great blue heron, mocking bird, tufted titmouse, black vulture, and hairy woodpecker.  Also heard, but not seen: red-bellied woodpecker cardinal, and a red shouldered hawk.

3-14-2025 Siesta Key Beach

 We had a lovely dinner at Walt's Fish Market Restaurant and then came home to cards.  The first game was one we started the night before and got too tired to finish and then we played another . . . and the girls won both!  

Russ, Cathie and I got up around 2:30 to go out and see the lunar eclipse.  It was awesome!  We took lots of pics, but unfortunately, I don't have the tools on my laptop to brighten the image.  I will have to wait until we get home.  Happy Pi Day everyone!!  We went to the beach this morning.  Dave stayed back to rest his knee which was feeling a bit tweaky.  I came back at 12:30 and Russ and Cathie came back at 2:30.  It was cool at first, but got hot quickly and despite sunscreen, I was concerned about getting too much sun.  When we got to the beach, we encountered a large group of kids (about 4th grade) who were having Kite Day at the beach.  Apparently this is an annual event.  The kids had a great time flying their colorful kites.  We went several times to see if we could get a pic of Eddie the Egret, but were unsuccessful.  Cathie spotted a dolphin swimming by while I was taking photos of the kites.  There were hundreds of gulls on the beach.  I don't know the names of them all, but took close-ups of a Bonaparte's gull and a black skimmer.  There also was someone parasailing overhead.  Tonight we are grilling burgers and will cook up some veggie sides.

3-13-2025 State College of Florida

The girls won again!  We are on a roll.  Hope we can keep it up.

The other day at the rookery, someone suggested the pond at State College of Florida.  We went there this morning and although we saw some birds, the variety wasn't nearly as good as at the rookery and it was hard to shoot through the many reeds that were there.  Our list for today: mocking bird, palm warbler, boat tailed grackle, red winged blackbird, anhinga, cormorant, common gallinule, purple gallinule, tricolored heron, snowy egret, great blue heron, little blue heron, mourning dove, cattle egret.  The best part was the nest of good sized anhinga chicks.  I thought I counted six chicks, but may be off as they were moving around a lot trying to be first in line to get fed.  They were quite vocal and fun to watch.  We came back for lunch.  Russ and Cathie took a walk on the beach.  I did a load of laundry and Dave took a nap.  We will go to Walt's for dinner tonight.

3-12-2025 Longboat Key

 We had a wonderful evening yesterday.  We took a walk on the beach - wind blowing in our faces on the way out, but behind us coming back.  We looked for dolphins, but only saw gulls.  Usually we can see sandpipers, but I think it was too windy for them.  When we got back, the girls ruled at hand and foot!  Maybe we are getting our mojo back!

Today we went to Longboat Key to hit a couple of our favorite places.  Unfortunately we could only walk out on one pier at our first stop as the second boardwalk was damaged by the hurricane.  We did manage to see a few birds.  We went to our second stop and couldn't walk far at all as the trails were closed due to the damage from the hurricane.  We did however see our favorite great blue heron keeping watch over the fishermen just in case they sent a fish their way or they could steal one.  He is there every time we come back to this site.  The best shot was at the parking lot when a common egret decided to try out one of the paddle boards being set up for customers to use on the bay.  We then walked around Armand's Circle.  There was plenty of evidence of the hurricane there too.  We decided that at least 30% of the stores were boarded up and empty.  Someone told Cathie that the water surge was five feet throughout the area.  We stopped on the way back at Detwilers for more fresh fruit and veggies and then came back for lunch.  We did some poolside reading and are just relaxing before making dinner.  We will have grilled shrimp, rice, and peas for dinner tonight.  Cathie and I picked up some small desserts at a Greek/Turkish bakery on Armand's Circle.  

Sightings today: mocking bird, brown pelican, little blue heron, great blue heron, crow, red-winged black bird, osprey, sandpiper, cormorant, royal tern, and common egret.  We heard a red-bellied woodpecker, but weren't able to spot him.