Birds and Beach Before the Storms

Thursday January 19-Monday January 23, 2017                                             Most Recent Posts
Oscar Scherer State Park                                                On to Oscar Scherer and Warm Temps in South Florida
Osprey,  Florida                                                                                       Hikes at Hillsborough River

 

 

On Thursday morning as I walk out into the scrub the fog looks like just a low layer. But when I get there, it’s not.

 

 

It’s eerie and beautiful as the sun rise peeks through the trees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I arrive at Lake Osprey, the fog hovers there too. The name just makes me laugh. Look at the size of this body of water. You could cross it in a kayak in less than a dozen strokes.

 

 

On the bank, I find a juvenile little blue heron.

 

Same bird, different stance. Wouldn’t it be great if we could do that with our necks? Maybe that’s just me since I’m short and that would sure give me a better view.

 

 

From “Lake” Osprey, I walk on to the beginning of the nature trail which goes along one side of South Creek for a little less than a mile.

 

 

This is not a wide trail and I haven’t gone very far when I gasp as two HUGE birds fly right  toward me barely above my head. I actually duck. I’ve obviously scared them too as they fly up and off to either side. From their size and the legs going out behind I think they are great blue herons. How can two great blues fly so close together between trees??

I turn around to see where they have gone and find that one has flown up and over to the creek and the other has stopped in the tree behind me. Perhaps like me he’s catching his breath and getting over the shock

 

He ruffles his feathers and wings as though shaking the whole thing off.

 

And then it’s back to his usual stoic attitude.

 

 

The views of the creek along the trail are lovely.

 

 

 

I reach the boat dock and check it out for a future paddle. Nothing has changed. I think I’ll walk on over to the Lester Finley Trail which goes further down the river only to find it closed. The park is preparing for controlled burns. Fire is required to keep the natural habitat here but with all the constantly encroaching development, it is difficult for the park.

 

It’s another beautiful afternoon so again we head over for a few hours of sand and sun.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe the life I live. Would that I’d started 10 years earlier!

 

We take a walk along the shore. The blues today are exquisite.

 

 

The willet enjoys the beach.

 

 

 

 

This beach is particularly covered with shells and apparently lots of people collect them. We laugh as we pass person after person hunched over looking at the ground.

 

 

Here’s what attracts their attention. Most folks “shelling” have shoes on.

 

 

Young beach walker as John from Oh The Places They Go would say.   Not a beach comber.

 

 

Friday is a pancake morning. Make em’ outside, eat em’ outside. Life is good!

 

 

I thought I could get out of the sun for reading in the screen room but it follows me in there.
These are certainly not the gray skies of winter I remember from my working days. Happy happy!!

 

 

David is back under the coach. We’ve been having trouble with what sounds like a weak battery or a weak starter are my gueses but he doesn’t think it’s either one. His solution is to wait and see. We’ve had to use the starter boost several times and that makes me nervous. I don’t want to come out on a day we have to move out of a site that will be someone else’s in the afternoon and find the coach won’t start. Of course we could always jump it with Ruby but still. So to placate me, David checks the battery with his tester which says it’s fine. But the problem persists in sounding like a weak battery. He takes the battery out and to be professionally tested. Tests fine at two different locations.

At that point he inspects the cable that goes to the starter motor to make sure it doesn’t have corrosion and is tight and not rusted. He finds evidence of corrosion, so he takes the cable off, dips it in bicarbonate of soda and water. Then he sprays it and brushs it with battery terminal cleaner, reattachs it and seals it with battery terminal protector. We’ve started the coach up a couple of times since then and everything seems fine. PIA to troubleshoot but not too bad to fix. And very easy on the wallet.

 

An early Saturday walk out on the trail to the eagle’s nest nets me several bird sightings in addition to the eagle including the increasingly rare Florida Scrub Jay.

 

 

Oscar Scherer State Park is a perfect scrub jay habitat and at one time there were 130 birds. Now the population is estimated at 12 and I’m very lucky to see one. The reason for the decline is habitat fragmentation. Looking at an aerial map of this area from even 7 years ago the decrease in the amount of undeveloped space around the park is unmistakable.

I simply don’t see how we can or why we must develop every square inch of land. An economy based on eternal growth cannot be sustained. The strain on the aquifer here in Florida is putting its drinking water in jeopardy even now. What do we do for an “economy” once we have developed it all and hemmed our wild places in on all sides?

The more numerous blue jay is also here. He manages to flourish as a back yard bird but not all birds are designed that way. Their needs interfere with our wants and we all know who wins in that case.

 

 

 

 

I recognize other common Eastern birds, the cardinal, the mockingbird, and the tufted titmouse.   They are all very familiar and I often unfairly take them for granted.  The cardinal is striking, the titmouse cute and the mockingbird quite a singer.  The later was great fun to watch.  He was in excellent form this morning.  I saw he or his fellows several times.

Only the cardinal didn’t suffer from the early morning light in these pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I get a good look at this common flicker.

 

The sun is getting high in the sky and when taking a picture of the flicker above, I notice my shadow. Love seeing myself with long legs.

 

The sun is really in the way for my picture of this red bellied woodpecker.

 

Today at the eagle nest the adult is on the nest and one of the chicks is very visible.

 

I watch for a while and eventually the eagle flies up above and keeps watch over the nest. Time to head back.

 It was a nice and easy first week at Oscar Scherer state park but everything came to an abrupt halt on Saturday when the forecast turned dire.  Serious rain, high winds as in 27-30mph with higher gusts were predicted.  

I don’t care much for high winds for a number of reasons not the least of which is that I can’t go to the beach – blowing sand, it’s too windy to bike or kayak so what normally happens and happened this week-end too, is that we clean the house.   Now that’s a good thing but it’s not much fun.   More fun was looking into spring and summer plans.  Stay tuned.  Maybe Maine??

With the advent of the winds we took everything down, awning, flag, put everything away and waited.  They eventually predicted tornadoes on our weather radio.  I was receiving constant weather alerts on my phone.  Our site is close to the bathhouse if the warning had turned to a watch but it sure isn’t big enough for all the folks who would need to be in there from this end of the campground.

Thankfully all we had were the rains and winds for two solid days through Monday.  The campsites were a great place to be parked because all of the scrub foliage blocked much of the really heavy gusts.  So we’ve weathered it all fine and things are back to normal this morning.    Many other southern states were not so lucky.  We are grateful to have been spared.

On to Oscar Scherer and Warm Temps in South Florida

Monday January 16 – Wednesday January 18, 2017                                  Most Recent Posts:
Oscar Scherer State Park                                                                Hikes at Hillsborough River
Osprey, Florida                                                Our First Week at Hillsborough River Finally Ends and On A High Note

 

 

On Monday  before we left Hillsborough River for an uneventful 83 mile trip to Oscar Scherer State Park in Osprey Florida David had time to install his new bicycle parts, a rear tail light and a wireless odometer. Both were gifts from Carrie and Matthew.   Check out time was 1:00 and since our drive was relatively short, we didn’t want to arrive early and have to sit in the coach waiting for our site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The park is less than a mile from the barrier beaches of Casey Key but about 6 miles by road so we are hoping for some Gulf waters beach time while we are here..

We arrived in the early afternoon which gave us ample time to set up.  The campground has 104 sites and can accomodate large rigs especially in their 6 pull through sites.  It’s an older campground but we like its arrangement.  All sites are on the outside of the big oval loop.  Only the 4 pull throughs and the bath houses are in the center.  Thus most sites look out on wooded area.   There is nice visual separation between the sites although they are close enough together to hear quite well.  But still the illusion of privacy is nice.

 

 

 

 

Early the next morning, out for a walk around the campground, I look down as I cross the bridge over South Creek to the Nature Center/Club House and see a fishing great blue heron standing in the water.   The creek is tidal and we have kayaked it many times.  Perhaps again during this visit.  Just above the bridge are rocks that create little rapids when the water is low preventing boats from going upstream.  IF you can plan to be there within an hour or so of high tide and get back within an hour after, you can paddle on up the creek from the campground.  Otherwise, at this point you must turn around and head back toward the gulf.

 

You can see the Nature Center building straight ahead and “Lake Osprey” is off to the right.  More about this pond called lake later.

 

 

On my way around the campground looking at the rigs, the sites and the license plates I come across this juvenile hawk calling away.

 

 

 

 

I find in my informal  license plate survey where I assume all those with no front plate are from Florida, that Florida is the most numerous plate followed by Ontario and Ohio.

From there I head out into the scrub where I hear another hawk calling.  I don’t think it is the same one that has followed me but I suppose it’s possible.

 

 

Later in the morning David tackles replacing the nylon bushings of the front ram cylinder for our largest slide.  I get this picture of him under the coach with his bottle jack stacked up on pieces of wood to lift up our large slide so that he can take the old ones out and replace them.

 

 

This become the rhythm of our days for our first week here.  I’m up early for a hike, we have breakfast and read or work on one task/chore or another and then on lovely afternoons, head to the nearby beach.

One thing I do most mornings is hike the green trail over to check on the eagle nest.  This pair has been nesting here for some years and the parts of the trail that go near their nest are closed off from about November when they begin doing nest repairs until after the chicks fledge in April.

 

 

They nest in the woods on the edge of the long leaf pine scrub.

 

Lots of other birds are here as well.  An Audubon led hike every Thursday morning finds an amazing number of birds in this habitat.  One of the most sought after is the Florida Scrub Jay.  But today the Eagle is the main object of my hike.

 

As I come around a bend in the trail quite a distance from the nest, I can clearly see the white headed adult on a snag in the distance.  He or she is apparently not on duty and poses for quite some time.

 

 

 

I watch for quite some time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then it’s on around the trail, back for breakfast and some lounge chair reading time.

 

 

 

We also have visits from our neighbors.

 

The armadillo’s ears make me laugh.  So does his “suit of armor”.

 

At the farm, whenever we found small nose size holes in the ground we knew it was probably a skunk out hunting in the dark.  In Florida it’s the armadillo and obviously not necessarily in the dark.

 

He snuffles on along on his way next door.

 

I hope they find him as much fun as I do.

 

Wednesday afternoon is picture perfect.  We head for the beach.  So do lots of other people.  We’ve come to Oscar Scherer several different years over the past 7 and this is the first January that I have ever seen so many people on this beach.

 

The water and air are warm enough I could probably swim but I didn’t wear my suit.  My choice of  longish pants and long sleeves has more to do with possible sunburn than with the temperature.

 

 

Pretty sweet view for a day in mid January.  I greatly prefer this sort of white stuff on the ground.

 

Warm enough to need the beach umbrella to create some shade for us.  High today was 80.

 

It’s Wednesday and that means the Drum Circle will be drumming down the sun on the beach.  Again, this Wednesday the number of spectators is larger for mid week than I’ve ever seen before.  The drummers come on Wednesday and Saturday.   

Notice the lifeguard stand off to the left behind the circle.  Some of my later pictures are taken from up there.

 

There are a great many drummers but only a few really strong ones.

 

There also are not as many dancers or hoopers as in years past.  Perhaps they are busy and will be here Saturday.  I hope we remember to come and see.

 

 

The crowd respects the circle and the altar in the middle.  The clouds begin to turn color.

 

I move up to the lifeguard stand.

 

There is only one other person up here.  The view is great.

 

Just a few minutes before actual sunset, which tonight is at 6:00 exactly, a man with a bugle comes to play taps.  He is an excellent player with beautiful vibrotto.

 

We are treated to a beautiful show of color.

 

The drummers take a break, the crowd thins out and this man’s Native Flute is a beautiful sound as nature paints the sky behind him.

 

Like a fire in the sky.   Absolutely stunning!!

 

 

 

 

We aren’t the only crowds enjoying the show.

 

 

  THE END