A spring morning out

The water around the Safety Harbor fishing pier was really low the morning I was there in mid-March. There were a lot of shorebirds far out on a tiny spit. A few black bellied plovers, red knots and dowitchers were mixed in with tons of willets, gulls and terns.

Heading around the edge of some mangroves I could just make out 3 Canadian geese.

Several manatees were coming up for air.

A red-winged blackbird posing on the mangroves.

I stopped by Folly Farms on the way home. Lots of little critters there.

I rarely see butterflies mating.

BLUE MONDAY BADGEan image of a red sports car with a lady caricature going at Vroom Vroom high speed, Senior Salon Pit Stop Vroom Vroom Linkup

Fun morning at the farm.

I hadn’t been to Horsepower For Kids (sanctuary/farm) in a long time so I stopped by for a visit at the end of December. All of the baby geese that had grown up in early 2020 were still there making the duck pond a busy place.

They had 2 new canadian geese at the pond. They swam close to the dock and I noticed they both had angel wings. Angel wings is a nutritional deficiency caused by improper diet. It means someone was feeding these geese too much bread when they were young and their wings didn’t grow properly. It can keep them from flying well and that’s probably why they are living here now. At least they have a great home to live in now. That’s why it’s so important not to feed the wildlife bread.

It’s fun seeing all of the different crazy “fowl” running around here.

Some of the other residents.

I was admiring this salad. These guys eat better than I do.

Butterflies are seen all year long here.

Growing up at work

For several years an osprey couple have raised a family in a nest on top of a light post in the parking lot at work. The nest is fairly high up so we don’t see the babies until they are pretty big. I kept my camera in my car and in April I caught Mom feeding them when I was leaving. One night Dad was right over my car feeding himself.

Later I realized there were 3 babies. This was the first year we’ve had triplets. Now I know why Dad was eating alone across the parking lot.

Another week goes by and boy was that nest crowded. At this point the babies are as big as the parents.

All 3 grew up and eventually left the nest. Now in early July, the babies are still visiting the nest. I’ve been seeing one or two sitting on the nest in the morning but they are gone when I leave.

We had some Canadian geese hanging around the parking lot as well in late spring.

 

A quick look at City Park in Denver

A few shots from our quick walk around City Park near downtown Denver. It’s always fun to see Canadian geese walking around. We don’t see them often in central Florida. After a sunny morning, the clouds had started to move in. Our last stop on our visit to Colorado was Rocky Mountain National Arsenal Park. More on that later.