The Keys

Matthew and I spent last week with my family down in the Florida Keys.  My parents and brother drove down from Michigan, picked us up, and then we drove down to a hotel on Islamorada where three aunts, three uncles, and one cousin were also staying.



The rented SUV was packed full of all our gear and food!

The first few days were cool and cloudy so we mostly relaxed at the hotel.  We did visit the History of Diving Museum on our first day and really enjoyed all of the information and artifacts that they had crammed into the museum.




















The second day we spent at Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park.  We saw the quarries where they dug out fossilized coral to build railways and bridges.  My mom and I also counted birds because it was the last day of the Great Backyard Bird Count for the Cornell lab of ornithology.

Nate and I in one of the quarries.














A gray catbird came down to check us out.














A yellow-rumped warbler also came for a visit.














The next day we drove up to the Everglades to see more wildlife.  The first trail we walked was packed with animals and they were all very used to visitors so I was able to take some great photographs.

A female double-crested cormorant.




















Matthew and I standing next to a double-crested cormorant.




















A green heron fishing.














A pied-billed grebe.  The water was so clear that we could watch this guy dive for food.














There were also many American alligators along the trail.














Their favorite hang-out was just beyond this boardwalk.














A little blue heron.














A black-crowned night heron.




















A male anhinga showing off for us.














An endangered wood stork foraging.














We drove down to a marina in the Everglades where American crocodiles often hang out.  We were lucky enough to see two crocodiles (which are also endangered) and two manatees at the marina.  Southern Florida is the only place in the world where crocodiles and alligators can be found in the same place in the wild!














Our hotel looked out on the ocean and we found this guy crawling along the sea wall.  This is a spotted sea slug that is about 8 inches long, the biggest sea slug I have ever seen!














On Wednesday we took an "eco" boat tour around the mangroves and then went snorkeling. 














There wasn't a lot of wildlife in the mangroves, but our guide showed us this crocodile that likes to haul out on someones sea wall.  He was quite impressive!














I did manage to find one bird among the trees, this is a yellow-crowned night heron.




















After the eco part of our tour, we went out about three miles offshore to a light house where a ship had wrecked many years ago.  The ship was burned but all of the ballast rocks remain and have created a nice reef full of fish.  The waves were pretty big for snorkeling (2-3 feet) but we had a great time.

Matthew diving down for a closer look.
















The reef is mostly composed of soft corals.














Despite the warmer air temps, we all rented wetsuits because the water was still chilly.
















The following day my mom, dad, and I rented kayaks and paddled out to Indian Key State Park.  The weather was sunny and calm.
















We hiked around the island and then my mom and I snorkeled around some of the "beach" (which is actually just fossilized coral).  We saw many urchins and conchs as well as a nurse shark that swam right under us!
















After visiting the park, we decided that we weren't done yet so we paddled around the mangroves.  With smaller boats we were able to explore more of the forest.
















The roots of the mangroves provide a surface for algae, sponges, and hydrozoans to attach.
















For our last day in the Keys we visited Bahia Honda State Park.  This park had a real beach and we spent some time walking along looking in the water for crabs and other critters.














Matthew and I in the clear water.














Matthew, Nate, and I took a boat out from the state park for another snorkeling trip.














We went to Looe Key, also named for the ship that wrecked there, about 12 miles from the park.  The waves were much higher this time (3-5 feet) but the visibility was still great.
















We spent about 1.5 hours in the water (well, I did, everyone else got out before me!) and saw some amazing things.  This hawksbill sea turtle went gliding by underneath us.














This reef shark appeared a couple of times.














And this huge (6+ foot wingspan) spotted eagle ray glided by so fast I could hardly catch up.














There were also lots of beautiful coral and more fish than I could count.  An hour and a half still wasn't long enough for me!

















We left the keys on Saturday and stopped in Ruskin and Ocala on the way home to visit family and friends.  We arrived back in Georgia Sunday night and my brother and parents drove straight though to Michigan on Monday.

Rain, Fire, & Birds

Over the last three weeks we have received about 10 inches of rain - great for the plants but bad for outdoor activities!  The horses' pen is quite soggy but luckily Matthew installed boards along the front of the stalls just before the rain so the stalls stayed nice and dry.

 

Here is what our yard looks like during heavy rainfalls:

 

After the first five inches (and with a forecast of more rain) we decided to burn the largest pile of pine branches left from the logging operations.  The pile burned for days and now it looks like a war zone.

 

A pretty sunset in Savannah on a day without any rain.

 

 

Three weekends ago was Super Museum Sunday in Savannah and all of the museums are free.  Matthew and I decided to check out the Savannah-Ogeechee River Canal Museum near us and the Audubon society scheduled a bird walk around their trails.  We didn't see too many birds but it was nice to finally go and check out the museum.

 

Matthew's first birding outing with me.

 

A view down the canal.  It has a lot more water in it now!

Manatees & More

It's been pretty busy here at what we like to call the "Lazy G Ranch".  After somewhat of a pause in rabbit production, we now have two litters of kits.

 

Plum had three kits a couple of weeks ago but we lost one.

 

Peaches had nine kits just a few days ago and we lost two.  They aren't very cute yet!

 

We finally ordered and installed a lazy-susan in our corner cabinet.  Now all of my baking supplies are neat and organized instead of being piled up on each other.

 

 

My biggest project has been to paint the living room.  We decided to paint it almost the same color, which made things a lot easier around the edges - especially since it has a cathedral ceiling!  It also made this room fairly un-satisfying since it was a lot of work and looks almost the same, haha.  The walls no longer have huge holes and marks in them though and we can now hang our photos.  I have also painted most of the trim and that really brightens up the room.

 

Last weekend I made a quick trip down to Crystal River, Florida with the science center staff to swim with the manatees.  Although I am generally against this sort of exploitation of wild animals, this area is managed quite well and the manatees do seem to enjoy the interaction.  There is also something about the experience that fosters an appreciation for the natural world that simply cannot be taught or read about.

 

We visited Three Sisters Springs where the water is very clear but there was only one  manatee.  The fish were just as enjoyable for me though!

 

 

The group.

 

 

We went to another area that had less people and several resting areas for the manatees (no people allowed).  At this stop the manatees kept coming over to us, checking us out, then rolling over and wanting us to rub their bellies!  They are quite itchy due to the algae and barnacles that grow on their skin.  It was pretty amazing to have these 1-2 thousand pound animals swim right up to you rub against you.

 

 

And who couldn't love that face?

 

 

On the way back to the dock this double-crested cormorant kept pace with the boat and we were able to get a real up-close look at him.

 

In this short video you can hear the young manatee calling for its mom at 0:04.