Florida Fauna

Cormorant right off shore

As I mentioned before, we saw a lot of art museums in Florida. My family visited two places regularly whenever we went to a new place: an art museum and a zoo. As a family we appreciate animals and birds. Both my parents and I are birders and we are all fans of getting to see animals and wildlife whenever we get the chance. I did a lot of birding in Florida. We saw Anhingas, cormorants, ibises, pelicans, and tons of gulls and sanderlings. The favorites were the tiny sanderlings that fed at the shore, running in and out of the waves. Birds were everywhere. It was wonderful.

Great Egret just hanging out near the Ringling Art Museum

Birding was done on the beach and in the car, but we spent plenty of our time looking at other things. Our first full day in Florida, we headed out to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, to see both their star (Winter, the dolphin from the movie Dolphin Tale) and the rest of the aquatic residents. Clearwater's Aquarium is a rescue and rehabilitation center for marine creatures. Winter, the big attraction, is a dolphin who lost its tail in the lines of crab trap. The aquarium has taught Winter to swim with a prosthetic tail. We watched one of the training sessions as they explained how the dolphin got around regularly with and without the tail. Winter was interesting but I was more captivated by some of the other less famous residents.

Winter with her prosthetic tail

There were injured turtles who couldn't submerge after collisions with boats or fisherman which was heart-wrenching. I was so happy to see that these beautiful but damaged creatures had a place to go where they would be taken care of. There were otters, one of which had been hit by a car and the other that had been orphaned at too young an age for rerelease. But my favorite was a dolphin named Nicholas whose mother had beached herself (because of an illness) when Nicholas was very young. Both dolphins had been horribly sunburned and Nicholas' mother had died. The dolphin was now 11 and was quite the flirt. He'd swim by and check us out and pose for the camera. The white on his topside is where he was sunburnt. But my favorite part of the aquarium was talking with the volunteers and trainers. Everyone was so passionate about helping injured animals. It was incredible to see these beautiful animals being rescued and cared for.

Nicholas flirting with us

On Thursday my parents and I ended up in downtown Tampa to see the well recommended Florida Aquarium. After touring I can see why it was recommended. I don't remember the last time I visited an aquarium that I enjoyed so much. This had fish and birds I'd never seen in zoos or aquariums before. There was whole section on seahorses and other similar style fish, most of which were new to me. There were local Florida birds in vast open areas of the exhibition (one poor man even got pooped on by a Roseate Spoonbill). The main tank had a wall sized glass and benches set up, to just sit and watch the schools of fish swim by. As we were heading out a woman with a penguin in a cart stopped to tell us about them. The aquarium was both educational and beautiful. The fish and birds were well kept. Everything was sparkling and clean. It was lovely to see so many creatures well cared for at both aquariums.

Roseate Spoonbill with great aim

Seeing animals in aquariums is one thing, but seeing them in the wild is always a huge thrill for me. On Wednesday we drove north to Crystal, Florida to swim with manatees. Sadly I have no pictures of the day. I didn't bring my camera on the boat and I don't have anything that would work underwater. We had hoped to get the chance to swim with these incredible creatures and I'd found a number of companies that offered excursions. We chose Manatee Tour and Dive, because it didn't have pictures of people touching or hugging manatees on their website. I wanted something that respected the space that creatures need in the wild. They were a fantastic organization. We went for a two and a half hour tour with Captain Casey who took us out snorkeling to see these incredible animals. I had no clue how big manatees really are. They are like small cars underwater. My favorite encounter happened by accident. As we were heading back to the dock, Casey turned the boat back around after spotting a lone manatee out by an underwater spring. It was incredibly clear water and there were hundreds of fish around. But it was the manatee that made me catch my breath. We watched it surface to breath twice, completely undisturbed by us. The second time it rose, it stopped to watch me for a second and then returned to the bottom to rest. It was huge and slow and covered in algae and I realized just how beautiful and old these creatures look when they aren't in a zoo and scrubbed clean. Gentle giants of the water. So beautiful. So peaceful. It was an amazing day and an amazing trip.

The curious Epaulette Shark that walked rather than swam

Sandy the Penguin in his rolling glass wagon

New Years

I like transitions. For some reason new years and birthdays fill me with the same type of hope and wonder. I believe that all things are remade. For a couple days I believe in omens. Two years ago I posted about how the moon would be strange that new year. I joked about omens. Now I'm more of a believer. Two days later I broke my ankle, an injury that will continue to impact me for the rest of my life. Tomorrow I'll look for omens that will signal how the new year will go. Today was a beautiful way to end a year.

I had amazing day with the love of my life. Jeff and I relived the old days by waking up and suddenly deciding to go out of town. We used to take spur of the moment trips all the time. The plan was that we would hit the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge to do some birding and hiking (for me). Then take the back roads to Tanger Outlet Mall and to Iowa City for dinner (for him). Before we could get out towards Neal Smith, Jeff said that we had to take a detour. He wouldn't tell me where. I had to wait to find out. I didn't have long.

Every bird you see here is an eagle (some juvenile, some mature)

There is a lake between Des Moines and Ankeny where we had seen a ton of American Coots a couple summers ago. We headed out there, not for the coots this time, but for eagles. There were hundreds of bald eagles spread throughout the trees around the lake. We had the camera and tripod and were able to take some pictures. I hadn't seen this many bald eagles since our trip out to Rock Island. And the weather was perfect for viewing. If I was looking for an omen of a good year ahead, this was it. That many eagles in one place, and right along the road, was incredible.

After some time (and way too many pictures) we hopped into the car to go out to Neal Smith. We're blessed to have this fantastic refuge so close. Neal Smith has been working for years to bring back the prairie to Iowa, something that had been nearly eradicated by development. Jeff and I hiked the long trail at the refuge because it takes us right down next to the enclosure where the buffalo roam. We were rewarded with a huge herd. And some good position for pictures. With the tripod I could take some nice close-ups.

After Neal Smith, there were back roads drives, tons of shopping (I picked up some books and a really nice new robe). Then we headed to Steak N Shake for dinner. Neither Jeff nor I had eaten today so this hit the spot. Steak N Shake is a guilty pleasure. We don't have one in Des Moines so it seems more like a treat. Then we headed home talking the whole way. It was a fantastic day. And a nice way to end 2011. I had a ugly piece of mail (a rejection letter) but I'm trying not to let that damper the day. Now to see what 2012 has to offer. Hopefully plenty of days like this. Happy New Year all.

Plunderers

I woke at 4 am this morning. With the windows open any outdoor noise wakes me up, although I don't think that's what got me. I woke from a horrible nightmare with a start and then, only then, did I notice the odd thunking sound. It sounded like someone pounding on my fence. I stood up and glanced out the window to see plunderers attacking my bird feeder. Two raccoons decided to make a feast of my seed and were practically pulling the feeder off the shepard's hook. I hissed at them from the upstairs window but they didn't even bother to look up. I woke Jeff up who had the idea of going downstairs and trying to scare them away from there. He flipped the light on and off, opened and slammed the door and the bigger one didn't even bother to jump off the fence. It was only when he went outside (not ten feet from them) that they scurried away. But they were back within seconds. He finally went out and collected the feeder before they went away.

It was eerie, standing there watching them. They don't seem mammalian. Or at least not the type that I'm used to. And they were big. Bigger than I expected. I've only had one other run in with a raccoon before and that was way too close for comfort. I didn't get a good look at its body as I backed away hurriedly from the bushes it had been hiding in. I just remember screaming. Raccoons will not hesitate to go for the eyes if they feel threatened. So I had forbidden Jeff to go outside last night. He didn't listen and I'm very thankful. They would have easily ripped the hook down (it was loose this morning) and destroyed my feeder. The cat, wisely perhaps, chose to watch from the safety of the upstairs window. They easily had a good 20 pounds on her.

I tried to get pictures but none turned out. If I had been thinking (it was 4 after all) I would have just turned on the light and clicked away. Instead I tried to get shots with and without the flash, none of which turned out. After the feeder was in we went back to bed, only to be woken twenty minutes later by a woodpecker who was trying to break through my neighbor's metal gutters. It's become a daily habit with the stupid bird. I hiss at him and he goes away but is normally back within half an hour to try again. I'm not sure how well his tiny little brain is working. Or mine. I'm beginning to think that the feeder might not be such a good idea.

Skagway and Glacier Bay

I figured that Skagway would be pretty easy to write up since it was such a tourist town and that I would lump it with Glacier Bay. But the focus of this post is Glacier Bay, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been in my life. Skagway was a nice town, a interesting historic town but the focus was on shopping. The boardwalks were wood and all of the buildings were original wood and in many ways it was a unique look at how towns were formed. But other than a great rock shop off the main strip, it was filled with souvenir shops, jewelry stores, and curio stores. We never got a chance to get away from the tourist section. A nice town but like any other cruise port I've been through.

Skagway

After spending the day shopping in Skagway the boat sailed off toward Glacier Bay. If you ever get a chance to go to Alaska, you need to see Glacier Bay. It was the highlight of my trip. Every single moment of our time there was awe inspiring and picturesque. We sailed between mountains covered with trees and snow, and through waters filled with puffins, sea lions, and whales. I saw more wildlife in Glacier Bay than I saw all the other days combined. This was the ultimate wild experience. Oh yeah and there were glaciers.

The first time you see a glacier you are in awe. And that awe doesn't ever really go away. When we parked the boat outside of Margerie Glacier (see below) I stood on the deck freezing my fingers off and taking picture after picture. The ice formations on the glacier are breathtaking. Each section of the glacier is different and unique, a work of art in ice. The blue was again prevalent although right after this glacier the sun came out and the blue disappeared. The cave like structure at the base of the glacier is just that. The cave had a small waterfall running through it, the fresh water escaping down the mountain and into the ocean.

Margerie Glacier

Another image of Margerie Glacier

After Margerie, we continued up the channel and came to the most amazing glacier I'd seen so far. This is Johns Hopkins Glacier. This is a steady state glacier, meaning that it loses 6 feet of ice a day and adds six feet of ice a day. There are very few steady-state glaciers left in the world and even fewer growing ones. Most glaciers have receded at unprecedented rates in the last hundred years. Someone going to Glacier Bay ten years from now, will see very different glaciers. I feel fortunate to have seen the ones I did. The snowy mountains rising up at the back of Johns Hopkins are Orville and Wilbur, although I'm not sure which is which.

Johns Hopkins Glacier from the front of the boat

As we were sailing away from Johns Hopkins, the naturalist on board called our attention to the side of the boat. Off in the distance (and I mean distance) was a set of three bears. Rather than the three bears of story, these were a mother and her two cubs down at the shore to eat mussels. They were nearly impossible to see with the naked eye but Jeff ended up getting some decent pictures using a tripod and our zoom lens. I've decided that I have to learn how to digiscope for just such an occasion. As we sailed by, the bears hardly noticed us. The whole boat (crew and all) stopped what they were doing to spend some time looking at them. I passed my binoculars to most of the members of the buffet staff so they could get a closer look. It was an incredible moment.

The Three Bears (the lighter colored things, in case you can't tell)

I tried to get photos of the puffins we saw but they were too fast (and far away) for my camera. I managed to get a decent shot of a whale breaching but it is too distant to share. As we sailed out of the Bay I sat on our balcony, huddled into my coat and gloves, and watched the islands slide by. Each seemed completely untouched. And that is one of the images I'll take away from my Alaskan experience. This is a wild place, a state with untouched land that just begs to be explored. This is a state where things are a bit more rustic. Where roads only cover a portion of the state. Where planes are your main mode of conveyance. Where the people and the animals are hardier, mostly because they have to be. Where every view is a postcard. It was a wild and untamed place. And if it wasn't for the weather, I'd happily spend years of my life exploring it.

Image from Glacier Bay itself

Heading out of the Bay

Sight, Unseen

I promise that tonight I will post the rest of the information about the trip. I had planned to last night but as I was leaving work I called a friend that I hadn't talked to in way too long. He and I ended up on a wonderful two and a half hour conversation that ran me right until dinner. I made up a quick veggie wrap and some fruit and then right after I finished eating Jeff offered me the chance to get to the library. I've been trying to go all week so I couldn't pass it up.

So tonight I'll post about Skagway and Glacier Bay and we'll be finished with Alaska. I have a ton of amazing pictures from Glacier Bay. It will be tough to choose between them. But I also have other plans tonight as well. Over the weekend Jeff and I went out driving. We spent a lot of time on gravel roads just getting lost and seeing what we could see. We stopped in Winterset (Birthplace of John Wayne) and shopped their square. I found my favorite bakery of all time, The Madison County Dessert Factory, and one of the coolest shops I've ever been in, Le Collage. I bought a wonderful steampunk key necklace. I'll post pictures of that tonight. But mostly we just drove. And as we drove we looked for birds and wildlife.

Madison County Desssert Factory (Photo from KCCI)

Jeff is amazing at spotting hawks and other wildlife and I tend to be a little slow to finally see what he's pointing at (There goes that career as a wildlife photographer). But this weekend he put me to the test. Not only did I have problems seeing the birds but I had issues seeing the street signs as well. I couldn't read license plates that he could see easily. I couldn't make out billboards from a distance. And we both decided it was time to get my eyes checked.

I haven't had new glasses in almost a decade so I would not be surprised if my eyes have changed substantially. I bought these glasses shortly before our trip to Disneyworld in 2004. Six years is a long time in the world of glasses. I've noticed that I've had to squint far more to read things well. I've lost most of the leaves off the trees into just a mass of moving green. So tonight I'm heading in to have my eyes checked and to possibly get a new pair of glasses. I'm excited. Glasses are a treat, a once in a blue moon type of purchase. And I'm always shocked by how well I see after a new pair.

I still remember the first pair I put on. I had worn glasses for protection since I was six months (stupid bad eye) but right before my first year of high school, my parents realized that I needed glasses for sight. I found glasses I liked and I can still vividly remember the first time I walked out the door with them. I was shocked to see that the trees had individual leaves. That houses had individual shingles. I simply couldn't see them before. So here's hoping that is the case tonight. I'm excited about the new glasses but I'm really excited to be able to see clearly again. I'll let you know.

Oh Deer

I'm in full ice cream mode. Every year, about this time, I go into what I call ice cream mode. It becomes an obsession for me. Every night I come home and think about going out for ice cream. So after an incredibly frustrating day yesterday and a somewhat healthy salad dinner, I asked Jeff if we could go to Dairy Queen. Having one within walking distance is dangerous and wonderful at the same time. 

Jeff agreed that we could go if we took the long way. He wanted a bit of a walk. So we hiked along the creek near my house until we ran into a road that we couldn't go under. We then followed a park until we hit an open field. I was starting to feel more relaxed. Work has been crazy. Then we saw the five deer in the field. Two adults and three babies. They were wary of us but didn't run. So we crept a little closer. I learned that if you drop down into a crouch or crawl on hands and knees they pay you no mind. It was true. The moment we stood up they were alert and wary. When we dropped down they instantly went back to eating as if we weren't there. 

We crept along the tree line until we were only about 20 feet from them. Then I sat down and watched them for a long time. The mosquitos were bad and we had to keep brushing them away but the views were spectacular. I was frustrated that I didn't bring a camera. We would have been able to get some great shots without the zoom. Finally ice cream cravings got the best of us and we moved on. But as we left I realized that all that stress I had been holding all day was gone.  I apparently left it out there in that field. The french silk pie blizzard was wonderful but it was the deer that had made my night. I need to spend more time hiking. It soothes the soul.