And now for somthing completely different......

This from my friend David Ascher in South Africa:

EUROPEANS HEIGHTEN THREAT LEVELS

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent
terrorist threats and have raised their security level from 'Miffed' to
'Peeved'. Soon though security levels may have to be raised again to
'Irritated' or even 'A Bit Cross'. Londoners have not been 'A Bit
Cross' since the blitz began in 1940 and tea supplies all but ran out.
Terrorists have been re-categorised from 'Tiresome' to 'A Bloody
Nuisance' The last time the British issued 'A Bloody Nuisance' warning
level was during the great fire of 1666.

Also the French government announced yesterday that it has
raised its terror alert level from 'Run' to 'Hide'. The only two
higher levels in France are 'Collaborate' and 'Surrender'. The rise was
precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag
factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.

It is not only the English and French that are on a heightened
level of alert.

Italy has increased the alert level from 'Shout Loudly and
Excitedly' to 'Elaborate Military Posturing'. Two more levels remain:
'Ineffective Combat Operations' and 'Change Sides'.

The Germans also increased their alert state from 'Disdainful
Arrogance' to 'Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs'. They also
have two higher levels: 'Invade a Neighbour' and 'Lose'.

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual and the
only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to
deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new
Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Perfecting My Hobby

I subscribe to a site: kimkomando.com.

In her "Tip of the Day" she directed me to a PCWorld article showing how to do this trick with a digital photo. Nifty, huh?

We spent Sunday, October 7th watching the 26th annual Twin Cities Marathon. What a scorcher! It was almost 80 degrees at the start with very high humidity. In spite of that, both Kirk and Anne did a great job. Kirk finished 54th overall in a group of nearly 8,000 runners, third in his age group division. (The winner of the race was in his division). His time: 2:50:02. Anne finished 374th overall and 12th out of 485 in her division. Her time: 3:31:44. I've included a picture of the finish area to show what a crush of people participate in this event.

Infrequent Visitor

Here is a bird that we have never seen while living in Minnesota. (Since 1974). Although we have seen many Nuthatches, this is a Red Breasted Nuthatch which, according to my book would usually hang out further north. Just shows that it's always worth looking. You may see something new.

A Trip to Bone Lake

We traveled to Bone Lake in western Wisconsin this weekend to visit our friends Jim and Jeanne. When we visited Chateau St Croix to do a little wine tasting we happened upon the owners' hobby: polo-crosse, a combination of polo and lacrosse. Unfortunately we were only able to witness a training session but it was still interesting and a verification that we don't just drink wine.....
The last picture pretty much captures some of the allure of the "up north" lake experience.

Minnesota Symbols

We had the opportunity to travel to Bemidji last week for a stay in a housekeeping cabin at Finn n Feather resort. It was a trip down memory lane as our little family used to vacation there every summer back in the 70's and 80's. These pictures were taken at Bemidji State Park just north of down on the "Bog Walk". We had never before seen the Minnesota state flower (Showy Lady Slipper) in the wild. There were probably fifty plants or so as well as numerous other wild flowers. The second one is a pitcher plant which forms a little bowel, secrets liquid into it, and entices little critters like ants into it for a nice dinner. The loon needs no explanation although if you click for a closer look it shows the green band on its neck quite nicely. The last picture is of Jack, Cindy, Jean, and I on the Bog Walk. They were able to get away for a few days to join us fishing and enjoying the great north woods.

Good luck

No explanation needed.

Sign Abuse

For my last post before returning to Minnesota I thought it appropriate to show a couple of rules violators. Here is a poor little crab who found out what happens when rules are violated. Jean is shown cleaning up after him. As for the big blue fellow I guess he can't read the sign or just doesn't care.

I hit the jackpot last night when Jean and I went over to see the sunset behind Holiday Inn and I luckily had my camera with. As we were heading to the water I noticed a splash of pink to the left and lo and behold there was a flock of Roseate Spoonbills. I've been trying get a decent picture of these birds since November but they are pretty elusive and even when I do spot them there is rarely enough light to capture a decent shot. Last night was different; just enough light and a place where I could get close enough to them. So enjoy these rare shots.

More dancing

I happened upon snowy egrets one afternoon and watched them cavort around for probably 15 minutes before I got tired of their antics. No telling how long they went at it or why they were doing what they were doing. Perhaps it was a mating thing or a little territorial dispute. All I know is that I'm never bored when I'm out watching the birds. It's always something different.

I was walking in the lagoon area on the south end of the island when this Reddish Egret landed in the mud flat practically right next to me and started fishing. According to my bird book the little fishes like the shade provided by this fellow's wings and he then makes them pay the price for their bit of respite. Anyway it was a riot to see him hopping around in chase.

We hear from the 28%

There were anti-war rallies this week and the media here stressed the few people out protesting the protesters with signs that said "Support Our President and Our Troops". For some reason this picture came to mind.

Shelter from the Wind

Last Sunday was a cool and windy day (not really conducive to beach activities) so we decided to take our friends Ron and Nancy, who were visiting from Minnesota, to the Audubon Conservancy east of Naples. It turned out to be a good move as the woods provided good cover from the wind for both us and the birds. This was our third trip and we saw more birds than the other two times. The most unusual was the one above, the American Bittern. It is normally quite reclusive but spent a lot of time showing off for about 20 of us. In this picture you can just make out the little craw fish that he just snared. The white guy is a Greater Egret, very common here. The flower appears to be a trumpet honeysuckle although it's not supposed to be blooming now according to my Audubon field guide. The last bird is a Red Tailed Hawk, quite common in both Florida and Minnesota but this one was exceptionally accommodating to us as we took pictures.

Another birding day

Today this woodstork paid us a visit. It's the first time I've seen one on our property. I got the closeup by climbing down the wall behind the pool and wending my way through the bushes. As a bonus, in the wide shot, I caught a kingfisher just to the right of the stork. You can see it by clicking on the photo for a higher resolution view.

Birds of Ft Myers Beach

I thought I'd share a bit of my Florida atmosphere. It seems that any time I drag my camera out to the beach or lagoon I'm rewarded with something new. Here is a little blue heron that allowed me to walk within 20 yards or so.
It's rainy and cold here today, in the fifties. Tomorrow promises to be a little better though and fortunately bad weather doesn't last long here.

Charity Begins at Home?

We decided to spend New Year's Eve at Ft Myers Beach Times Square. To avoid traffic and parking woes, we decided to take the trolley from our place at the south end of the island. Our trip to town was great; we met friends at Jimmy B's and enjoyed the music of Deb and the Dynamics. At midnight the Chamber of Commerce put on their fireworks show and all was right with the world. Welcome 2007! Shortly thereafter we decided to catch the trolley home. Big problem. After waiting about 45 minutes we had had enough, especially since the crowd was getting a little unruly about who was there first and who would get on the next trolley. So we decided to start walking and maybe pick up the trolley as we walked along instead of waiting any longer. After a while we noticed that there still weren't any trolleys coming so we gave hitchhiking a try. Things got interesting then. For one thing, probably half the people passing us up were under the influence so we got numerous cat calls and laughter. There were also many very nice Cadillacs, BMW's and the like with two people who obviously thought we looked a little too threatening to give a ride. Finally, after probably 200 cars went past us, a young law student at the University of Indiana in a pretty modest little station wagon stopped and let us in. He drove us all the way to the end of the island even though his place was at midpoint. I don't know why he stopped while no one else would. He wasn't a local, that's for sure; he's from Mali, a country in western Africa bordering Algeria. In any case, it sure was appreciated and the experience is cataloged under "you never know...."

My kind of photo op

I've been trying out a new lens on my camera so I've basically been shooting anything that either moves or doesn't. Today I spotted these Ibis drinking from a holding pond by the condo. It all looks so natural until you notice that the reflections are from buildings surrounding the pond. Oh well, guess I'll take nature where I can find it. There is an interesting perspective on this spoon feeding of nature in the book Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen. It's a very good read, easy and humorous in a conservative bashing sort of way. (Not that there's anything wrong with that).