Gone Fishin ...

     One ugly stick, a couple of hooks, a box of night crawlers I bought from a vending machine at Wall Mart and off I went.

                

     Actually I was just planning to stop by to see the iguanas first. I did bring a fresh head of Romaine Lettuce and some Red Grapes in hopes of coaxing them over for a bit of lunch and an upclose photoshoot. But when I got there ...

                

     one of the first things I noticed was that someone had dropped off 30 or 40 loafs of bread as well as several melons and other assorted fruit.

     The next thing I noticed was that who ever the well intended stranger was that was feeding the wildlife, left several loafs of the bread inside the plastic wrapper. This can't be good ... actually it could be down right dangerous if some ravenous critter decided to eat the bread, wrapper and all. 

     I took the loafs out of their wrappers and felt like leaving a note (but didn't) asking that the feeders be more careful next time.

                

     There were actually several people fishing where the iguanas live ... several people fishing means very few iguanas around as you might imagine.

            

     Anyway ... I ventured a little farther than I did last time looking for my green friends and I did find a few. I also saw several curly tailed swifts which have also taken up residence there (swifts are also not natives). And then ...

                 

     I saw something that I have not seen in the wild since I was a little girl, it was a manatee. (yes, Mort ... they really do exist)Normally the winter time is when manatees come inland to warm up. They especially tend to congregate near electrical plants where the waters are at there warmest. Was very surprised to see one in July.

     The two photos below are the best I could do because it stayed just under the surface of the water, moving towards the bank a time or two to take a breath.

     Not sure if these guys are territorial, or if they just keep moving but I do intend to ask around and to check back myself from time to time to see if it frequents this place.

                  

     I did not intend to do any fishing in this location but when I saw the manatee and noticed the other people fishing, I thought I could break in my new rod and reel and wait to see if the manatee came back at the same time.

. 

                  

     It's been years since I've gone fishing, and really had to sike myself up in advance preparing to put the worms on the hook but the one thing I forgot to take into consideration was the chore of taking the fish off the hook once you caught something.

     The steep bank, shallow water and lot's of dead branchy things for the line to get caught up on did not exactly make for the most inviting location but what really caused me to cut the adventure short was all the little brim that would find themselves on the end of my hook the second I threw it into the water.

     Five or six of these guys in a row, needing to be removed from my hook and released back into the water was enough fun for one outing. This is one thing that was much more fun when my x husband was around.

     I'll try it again soon, but next time I plan to fish off the boardwalk at Loxahatchee sitting on a nice clean park bench instead of in the more primitive setting where the iguanas live.

     My one day vacation is over, it's Monday and time to get back to work. Don't forget our journals anniversary coming up soon. Stop by and visit Viviane HERE to find out how to take part.

                                                 

Lighting my torch ...

In celebration of our third anniversary.

           

Feel free to use this torch or to

create one of your own.

                              

 

It's that time again ...

      A lot of things have changed since we celebrated year one and year two ...

                      

     Now it's time to celebrate year three ... if you have some celebration ideas or just want to help go HERE now.  It looks like Viviane is ready to help get things started.

                                                 

    

    

       

Not exactly posing pretty, but ...

     now at least I know where to find them. Driving between appointments today I noticed these peacocks roaming free outside of Flamingo Gardens. I stopped for a few minutes to find out if they were in the mood to pose, as you can see they were not.

     I was short on time so I couldn't stick around but now I know where they are. Actually I think Flamingo Gardens used to be called Flamingo Groves, I haven't been there since I was a little girl. Maybe it's time for a visit. There are flamingos in them there gardens.

     Seeing these guys today, reminded me of the house in Louisiana I lived in when my kids were growing up. We had 10 acres of land so there was room for one of everything and peacocks were no exception, we had three. Actually it was one peacock and two peahens. If you've ever been around them you know that they are really, really vocal. The sounds while quite annoying to some were always comforting to me and they are much better as an alarm clock than any old rooster.

                         

     I'm starting to settle in with my new job a bit, still not sure that working alone instead of with a large group of people is the right choice for me but ... things are going ok and I'm stating to find a bit of time for myself between show times.

     I'm about 90 days into this thing, and have been able to focus on little else but work. But ... I am starting to enjoy taking photos again, collecting them daily the way some people collect seashells when they live on the seashore.

     I think I got the daily photo thing from reading Steven's Sometimes Photo Blog when his daily posts were such a big part of this community. 

     Have a good rest of the weekend.

                                               

An acquired exotic ...

                  

     Iguanas are not native to Florida, they have been imported as pets and over the years have established themselves into our environment.

                

      Today I ran across one of the many large colonies that thrive around here.

                  

      They are beautiful and relatively harmless vegetarians with very few natural predators to help keep their numbers in check. So ... sometimes you can find hundreds of them all in one place.

                

        Iguanas feed freely on vegetation which can become a nuisance to people growing fruits and vegetables I suppose. But today ... they were just an interesting subject for a photoshoot.

 

                   

     I don't want to leave out the part about my friend Mary Lou (photo above) agreeing to accompany me on this photoshoot against her will (well sort). Mary Lou is my best friend (unless you count David) anyway she and I go on many adventures together but I never ask her to join me on anything nature related, it's just not her thing.

     Today was different, I asked her if she would come with me, told her what I wanted to photograph and she said "I'm not sure I can do it, what if I'm afraid?" I assured her they were harmless and off we went.

     Judging by the shrieking squeal in her voice when we found what we were looking for, I can only say she must not have believed me when I told her how many of them we would see.

     If this were a friendship test, she passed with flying colors. She helped me when I asked her to do something she would not have ordinarily wanted to do and she did it. Thanks Mary Lou, I owe you one.

     No really all that pleased with the shots I ended up with, I will be visiting my scaly green friends again soon. Next time I plan to arrive bearing gifts ... maybe grapes, melon or a fresh spinach salad. We'll do lunch!

                                                           

Yesterday ...

       on my Loxahatchee walk, I met two local girls on a rescue mission and they asked me to take part in it.

              

     Noticing that I had a camera, they stopped and asked if I wanted to take a photo of their turtle. It seems that a new housing development is going up near where they live and to make room for the new construction, some wildlife habitat is being destroyed.

         

                

      They said that they rescued this turtle and wanted to release it in a place where it was sure to have a better life, I think they chose the perfect place.

                

         Good job Susan and Marissa. BTW ... I did take their E - Mail address and will send the link for them to stop here to see the photos and to read your comments.  

                

     The rest of the photos are other things that caught my eye along the way. I am so loving these walks, to me this is as much a part of what Florida is about as the sun, sand, and surf.

                

     Have a good week ahead.

                

                                                                  

Twilight ...

    dusk, nightfall, evening, sunset, sundown.

                

     It makes me feel happy to be able to share images of some of the magnificence that can be observed in the marsh. But ...

                 

      what I really wish is that I could share the symphony of sounds

                

     that crescendo so intensely in volume at the very end of the day

                

      that coupled with the sights of everything getting all settled in, can almost take your breath away.

                   

     Wish you were here, really ... I wish each and every one of you were here just for an hour to witness the sights, smells and sounds of the last few fleeting moments of the day.