The Sea Turtle Hospital

As promised, here is a little about our trip to the sea turtle hospital.  They have a volunteer lead tour every 10 minutes. 

The volunteer we had was very perky and passionate about turtles.  

She lead us through several exhibits with some hands on displays. 

Then we got to see the turtles.  There were not many current residents.  Google AI said they release about 100 rehabilitated turtles back into the wild every year.  But some of the rescues are not releasable.  This one is not able to dive.

And this one is blind. She has been here for 19 years.

Most seem to have wounds, either caused by nature, boats or fishnets and fishing line.

 It was a very interesting tour.

On The Beach Part 2

We ended up not attending any official July 4th  fireworks. 

But as it turned out we did not have to. There were plenty of amateur displays up and down the beach that were pretty spectacular. 

Sunday, after two fun nights of playing Wings, Keiran and Emily had to leave us. (Wings is a board game based on birds and their habitats, very challenging and fun)

On the subject of odd things to bring with you to the beach I am adding guitar. 

Then yesterday, I was standing in the surf trying to decide if I wanted to get all the way in and jump some waves or not.  I am finding that I have to be a little more careful with my athletic decisions since my broken back than I use to. Anyway, while contemplating the situation I saw this knife right at my feet. Now I had to decide if I could snatch it out of the water without cutting myself before a wave could impale it into my leg. I was successful and carried it back to my chair. 

My second try and getting in the water was met with more danger.  When I looked down in the surf this time there I found this tackle set stuck in the sand. Another trip back to the chair.  My third attempt to get in was successful.  I didn’t find any more hazards. 

 It is also always good to see the sea turtles nesting.  We even made a trip to the sea turtle hospital. I have always wanted to go but it never seemed to work out. But this year Linda got us tickets and we went. More on that next time.  

On The Beach - Not The Book.

Most would not understand the book reference but it was something I read in high school (not for school but enjoyment) and it has always stuck with me.

Anyway, I am at the beach!  Keiran and Emily were coming so I thought I would try to join them. Two of my sisters came too.  Sadly, Joe did not come. He felt there was too much to do on the farm to be able to get away. 

Emily and Keiran went for a walk today and said there were hardly any birds. I went later in the day and said I saw several.  These are laughing gulls and willets. 

But the surprise bird was this parrot.  I have seen someone walking a cat on the beach before (you can read about that  HERE) but this was the first person walking a bird.  We had a good conversation. Here is a link to a website they are starting about wildlife. It was a very interesting conversation, with the man and the bird.  The bird had quite the vocabulary. 

 But the bird was not the only unicorn on the beach. There was this actual unicorn. No telling what will happen tomorrow 

Ten days ago I checked the bird box and saw 4 eggs. I have taken the camera out of the box because ants had set up house keeping in it. But the birdhouse has a side panel that drops down for easy viewing. 

Then I can just hold my phone over the nest for a picture.

Sunday I checked and 3 eggs had hatched

Emily checked in on the nest yesterday and said there were four baby birds. 

Some of her past jobs entailed checking bird nests and obtaining blood samples. I said I did not need blood or any DNA testing. 

The only thing cute about the baby bird was the fuzzy feathers starting to come in on top of its head. 

 Maybe this brood will work out better than the last. 

Ant Barrier

Ants found my hummingbird feeder and were keeping the hummingbirds away. I didn’t want to give up on the feeder so I googled how to keep ants out of it. 

I found a good YouTube video on making water moat. 

A pop bottle, coat hanger and hot glue did the trick. 

 Now the hummingbirds are back and happy with the ant free feeder.