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February 2007: Snowbirds Wintering in Florida ...

28 February 2007: Clouds and wind have returned as a low pressure front moves through the area. We have enjoyed a few sunny, warm days. I went back to St. Andrews State Park and photographed the herons nesting and the egrets flashing their feathers mating. A young alligator was sunning on the banks of the lake, too. I am enjoying watching the backyard birds consume the bird seed that I put out for them. The cowbirds, grackles, red-winged blackbirds, mourning doves, chickadees, and a few warblers and finches keep the cats and me entertained for hours. And then there's Nashville Star (Go, Zac!) and American Idol to watch at night ... I have not yet finished Burro Genius, but it's on my to do list. Tom has gone foraging for food, then I MUST do laundry this afternoon. I hate using a commercial coin-op laundry; miss having my own washer and dryer. Time for a house.

20 February 2007: Warmer temperatures have returned, with rain, to Panama City Beach FL. Some pink azaleas and minature white irses were blooming today. Yesterday was laundry day and I did about 9 loads of laundry while Tom went foraging for food. I am finally reading Burro Genius by Victor Vallaseñor. There are some great quotes that I'll put on a page on k4teens when I'm finished with it. Here are just a few ...

• It was only my first day of school and I'd already failed.
• Putting any young healthy boy or girl in a room and telling 'em to keep still all the time is as unnatural as putting a beaver on a dry dock and telling him to forget about his river-damming yearnings.
• ... there is no such thing as a kids' game. ... there are only games with which kids are learning the facts of life, but it's the parents that are so tapados -- so blind and constipated that they can't see what these games are really all about.
• ... 'but' means you weren't listening.
• [Going back to school ... ] It felt to me like I was returning to prison. My whole stomach hurt ... [Ramon] was a changed kid. There was a darkness in his eyes like a horse that had just been beaten one too many times.

17 February 2007: Feels like we're in Kansas with the wind whipping around us! It's still cold and blustery. We took a drive around St. Andrews State Park today. Because of the cold weather, the animals were hunkered down hiding in bushes and nests. There's a rookery there for wading birds and many, many great blue herons and great egrets were nesting. We took a walk around 'Gator Lake, but no 'gators were sunning today. We did see a few white-tailed deer. The boats are not running to Shell Island during the winter season. I'm ready for spring.

16 February 2007: High temperature today was 49 F; cold for here, warm for up north. There are several things that I'd like to do here if/when the weather warms up. We're within walking distance of St. Andrews State Park which has two birding trails. I'd also like to take a ride on a glass bottom boat over to Shell Island to photograph birds, dolphins, and tortoises. The cold Canadian air's icy fingers now reach as far south as the Gulf of Mexico in the panhandle of FL. We may not get warmer temperatures until we move on into SE Texas.

15 February 2007: The cold weather has stopped spring growth in its tracks here in FL. Tom and I walked on the beach and I was still chilly with two coats on! Hope the warm weather comes back soon.

13 February 2007: Thunder storms came through the area today. Tom enjoyed them. Much cooler temperatures are supposed to arrive tonight. I don't think that we'll be making any sandcastles on the beach anytime soon, but we won't be making snowmen either, like folks up north.

12 February 2007: We continued our drive north through central Florida today, then west to Panama City. We're tired after three days of towing. Much of the landscape we have driven through has been hilly farmland. The temperature has cooled off quite a bit here in the panhandle with daytime high's in the 60's F and nighttime low's in the low 40's F. Brrrrr! ;-) I enjoyed the warmer temperatures in southern Florida. A cold front is moving in on Tuesday and the high temperatures later this week will be in the high 40's with near freezing temperatures at night, not exactly "beach" weather.

11 February 2007: We drove north on I-75 to I-10 West. Here in central Florida, spring is springing. Redbuds are popping. New leaves are sprouting on some trees that are still sporting their fall colors. Caterpillar and moth cocoons are hugging forks in branches in trees. I even saw a few early spring wildflowers along the roadsides. Shore birds are no longer visible, but there are cattle egrets, hawks, crows, and tiny bush birds. The further north we drive, the cooler the temperatures become. Tom loves it. I already miss being toasty. Tomorrow, we'll arrive in Panama City where we'll be staying for a month. The RV Resort is only one or two blocks from the beach on the Gulf. Time to buy a real beach chair so I can sit in the water and read when the temperatures rise.

10 February 2007: Harry Cat decided to be Harry Houdini this morning escaping from his harness and collar. Then he wanted to play "catch me if you can." We left Naples waaay after our check-out time, about 12:30. Lots of folks tried to help us catch him which made him hide even more. Cats will do as they please. We did think about leaving him as a snack for the 'gators, but we would miss him. Fortunately, we had a short towing day. We had a back-in site, hate 'em, then after getting set-up for the night, the folks behind us made us move our RV forward 3 feet because it was blocking their satellite dish. Tom had already showered and was ready for bed, so this did not please him or me. We had to store away many things inside, unhook all the connections, and then unhitch because our truck was then in the road. Those folks could have gone without their satellite TV for one evening, but no! Today, we hate towing and parking in trailer parks.

08 February 2007: I went back to the boardwalk at Big Cypress Bend National Preserve and spent several hours watching the show. There was no naturalist there today, so I was able to answer lots of folks' questions. I was teaching again and it was great fun. There were two momma 'gators guarding their young ones. A pair of green herons were chattering back and forth. A great blue heron, a little blue heron, and a night heron were in the area. Several anhingas entertained the visitors with their fishing technique, swimming underwater to spear their fish with their beak then flipping it up and swallowing it above water. Their feathers are not very water repellant so once they are finished fishing, they climb up on a rock or log or tree branch and spread and flap their wings to dry out. One anhinga speared a fish that was waaay too big for it. It hit its catch against a log to kill it, then lost it. Several kingfisher birds flew in, dove for fish, and flew away very quickly. A cottonmouth snake caught a small fish then crawled up on a log to eat it. There was a black water snake sunnning on a log. As I walked back to the truck, a gentleman pointed out that there was an owl over my head. It was a red shouldered hawk catching the late afternoon sun rays. They are beautiful birds. On the way back home, I passed a field of white birds. I stopped to watch wood storks mingle with snowy egrets, great egrets, and herons. I got lucky when a kingfisher bird hovered over a spot in the water and I was able to get a few good photos of it. Great fun. I enjoyed photographing the wildlife here and would come back to do more of it. Tom did not enjoy it as much and he hated the humidity.

06 February 2007: We've been busy socializing and it has been great fun. We ventured out further south into the Everglades with our friends Tom and Elaine and saw even more 'gators. In Shark Valley, we took the two-hour tram ride and saw many water birds. I have grouped the photos from the Everglades with the photos from Key West. We leave Naples-Fort Myers on Friday and head back to the panhandle of Florida to Panama Beach.