1212 February 16, 2025 Sitting By The Bay
Last night after we posted the blog, we went and stood on the breezeway at the Visitor Center. It was a warm wind but it was also a stiff and sustained wind at 14 mph.
We drove over to the bay side and got out to look at the stars. The sky was glittering and lovely. We could see the path of the Milky Way across the sky.
We began the day in our customary way. Tim did his yoga and weights and took a short walk. I walked the campground loops and then all the way to the Florida Bay.
We just never know what we are going to see. This guy has been camped here for several days.
These guys were all out with their big cameras and lenses to take pictures of what must be the most photographed pair of ospreys in Southern Florida!
We biked over to the Guy Bradley Visitor Center.
There was a ranger program on pelicans that was starting in a couple of minutes and so we decided to stay and listen. Th ranger, Angie, talked about how the brown pelican has been brought back from the brink of extinction after three significant stressors. In the early 1900’s big wading birds were hunted here for their gorgeous feathers. The fashion trend at the time was for women to wear hats with great plumes of bird feathers.
It was even considered fashionable to wear to whole bird perched on a hat.
Conservation efforts and game wardens like Guy Bradley, helped the bird population to recover.
Pesticides were introduced that included DDT. The chemical caused the pelican eggs to have extremely thin shells. When pelican mothers sat on their nests, the eggs were crushed by their weight.
A large oil spill in 2010 caused more than 1 million birds of all species to lose their lives. The brown pelican population dropped by 10%. These birds are remarkably resilient. Numbers of birds here are still down and worldwide, numbers of birds are decreasing.
We took our bikes over to the marina and saw some manatees.
We drifted over to the boat launch to look for Fred, the resident crocodile, but once again, he was not out.
We biked to Eco Pond and hiked the short trail around the water. There are often a variety of birds here. Today, it was quiet. There are many factors that would explain the absence of birds here including the availability of food sources, the safety and security for the birds in the area, and the season. Migratory birds also use this pond as a stopover.
We got back to the RV and had our lunch and rested.
Today is a very important day. Today is the Dayton 500 or the beginning of the 2025 NASCAR season. Tim has been looking forward to this race. We are not in a good place for TV antenna reception. He was able to find the broadcast on the radio but it was really glitchy. He has NO service through Verizon on his phone. I do have phone service through AT&T and so he was listening to the race on my phone. The drivers had completed 10 laps and the race was stopped for rain…
We drove the Jeep on Bear Island Road. This road was deeply rutted and we could imagine that if had rained this would be a muddy mess!
No birds, no gators, no snakes. Despite the canal being only a couple of feet from the road, the mangroves and vegetation was so thick and dense…we couldn’t see the water at all.
We drove to the boat launch but still no croc.
We parked at the end of the loop at Florida Bay and got out and walked along the “beach.” There is no sand; only hard coral covered with dead sea grass. The water and wind were calmer this afternoon.
This woman on a paddle board was definitely still struggling to paddle against the wind.
We went back to our campsite. The NASCAR race was still delayed. Tim packed some wine and a snack and we drove back over to the “beach.” We took our chairs and sat by the water. We saw some small silver fish jumping. We saw a fin…a shark we think. Tim saw the humped back of what he thought was a dolphin but we didn’t see him again. Crows were waiting to be fed. Buzzards waited nearby. The sun got low in the sky and we headed back home.
I grilled bison burgers and we had fresh avocado and mango.
The race finally restarted…Tim is now fairly well occupied!