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Sunday, May 23, 2010

April 2010 Florida Trip Photos: Part TWO, (otherwise known as Meet Harry, Herbie and Howie):

As promised, here are more pictures of our Florida trip.

But these are going to be
a
little different.

You see....
we had this cute little "60's" style hotel
that was on a causeway
directly
across the street
from
the ocean and beach.

The hotel was clean, really economical and had a little kitchenette in it.

We were so grateful to have found it, because we ended up staying
in Florida longer than expected.

It had the tiniest pool we had ever seen, right next to the docks on the causeway.
But for me,
it was perfect.
All I needed was to get wet and suntan...
if I wanted to swim, we just crossed the street to the ocean.

But the causeway?
It was amazing.

We saw dolphins swim right next to us!!
and
we saw a MANATEE!
(Dang, they were too quick for me to get a photo of them, though).

But what I am getting to, is that the fisherman on the causeway have practically trained
the tropical birds there to stop by frequently
to look for fish.
Every day, we had tropical birds that landed by this tiny pool
to get a drink of fresh (albeit chlorinated!) water.

Three birds in particular.

Which, forever more...
for us....
will be named HARRY, HERBIE and HOWIE.

I would like to introduce them to you:

 
Don't tell Herbie and Howie, but Harry
the Great Heron
was my FAVORITE!

Here is a shot of Harry (the Great Heron) and Herbie (the large Ibis) just hangin' out at the pool with us!:
(Don't you LOVE Harry's one long black feather that is on the top of his head?)

You see...
up in the U.P.
it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to get this close to a Great Heron
or a blue heron of any kind.
They are wild birds and I am thrilled whenever I can ATTEMPT
to get a shot of either type of heron.

So you can IMAGINE
how thrilled I was to get this close to a Great Heron.


Meet Howie, the smaller Ibis.  Howie was VERY tame (more about this later):




This is Herbie, eating some fish the kind fisherman gave us to feed them:



Harry had quite a personality.
Often, when I was laying out getting a tan..
I SWEAR
he came and mocked me....
by coming beside me and spreading his wings for some sun.....
SEE???
Do you SEE what I mean?:
(A real wiseguy....that Harry!)



But, I forgave him...because just LOOK how pretty he was!:
(I SO wanted to take that ONE head feather!)



Look at his face!:





He was forever primping.  Cleaning his wing feathers.
Look at his wingspan!!!!:
(I was singing: "You're so vain!"...he didn't appreciate my humor)



I have many more pictures of Harry, Herbie and Howie to show you next time.

So that I won't be accused of being partial to Harry
(which I admit, I was)
here is one last shot of
Herbie, the Ibis:
I DID
love Herbie's
fluffy, white tush...
those soft white feathers
that looked like a horse's mane...

Next time, I will tell you about how tame Howie (the small Ibis) was.
How's that about a cliffhanger?

 

18 comments:

Brian Miller said...

ha. brilliant pics. its funny, he does look like he is mocking you. so cool the little differences in them as well. pining for FL today...

rainfield61 said...

The last one is wearing a white skirt.
Hahaha...

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Great pictures of your little 'friends' Joan... Looks like you had the perfect place to stay while in FL. That is so neat!!! Can't wait to see more pictures.
Hugs,
Betsy

James said...

Wonderful shots! I also enjoyed the horses in your last post.

Shelley said...

Oh I love Harry! But of course I always like my people and my animals sassy! ha,ha!! Great shots of these birds - I loved how you captured the feather detail!

Insanitykim said...

So fun! I love when birds are around you, but they aren't trying to peck you to death! Love the pix as always!

The Retired One said...

Brian: they were fantastic birds and sooo full of personality. I seem to attract them....Maybe I was a bird in my past life???

Rainfield: For sure...a hula skirt?

Betsy:I have seen so many neat things over the past few weeks, I hope I remember to post them all in future posts. Spring here and things are hopping. ha

James: Thanks so much...I love doing animals in the wild photos and nature ones so much.

Shelley: They were SOOO neat, Shelley, you would have loved them...I sure loved your last loon shot...I swooned over it. ha

Insanity: I think I am a bird whisperer. Is that bad?? Maybe I smelled like a fish to Harry? ha

Jientje said...

I love that wiseguy! He's CUTE!

RNSANE said...

What amazing photographs. I guess this little hotel/motel must be home to these birds - they feel welcome there and clearly aren't too afraid of humans. How fabulous, really. I can't wait to see the next shots.

Alan Burnett said...

What fantastic pictures. There is such life in them. More, we definitely want more.

The Retired One said...

Jientje: Yes, he is a cutie! I am smitten.

RNSane: It was an unexpected pleasure and they came to see us everytime we went to the pool!

Alan: Thanks...yes, there is such life and such antics...I could watch them for hours!

Lynn Kellan said...

Those birds are amazing! You don't see anything like them in my neck of the woods! :)

Loree said...

I love Herbie's behind. It looks so nice and soft. Makes me want to touch it.

Pat Tillett said...

Joan, great narratives to go along fantastic photos! I'll bet you took a lot of shots that day!

SquirrelQueen said...

Great photos Joan, they are all so cute. The photo of Harry with his wings spread reminds me of those shiny things folks use to get a tan on their faces. Too cool.

I got a kick out of your comment. I have used the garden hose in the summer to get water drops on flowers, it works great. My shots today were courtesy of Mother Nature and all the isolated thunderstorms she sent us last week. About an hour before I did those photos we had a hail storm followed by rain.

L. D. said...

I always appreciate the water fowl photos. Say that real fast. You take such great shots and I can see you too appreciate their distinct beauty. What a nice pesky thing to hang around.

The Retired One said...

Lynn: We only have the herons in my part of Michigan and I would never be able to get THIS close to them. ha

Loree: haha You made me smile this morning...but I secretly wanted to do the same with his fluffy feathers too.

Pat: You have NO idea. ha My hubby kept saying: "you really are taking MORE photos of them?" and I'd say "yep!" ha

SquirrelQueen: yes, his wings were spread exactly like those shiny things we used to hold up to our necks to tan our faces! How funny!

L.D.: yes! I had to laugh, because our hotel owners were a hispanic family who didn't speak much English...so when he saw me forever taking their pictures he got a kick out of it, because they are pests to them (who probably have to clean up the bird doo-doo alot around the patio area)...so one day he looks at me, smiles, points at Harry and says (in PERFECT English): "barbeque".

Brittany said...

Those are so awesome. I love how they were mocking you and showing off for you!!!

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REMINDER: All photographs on this blog are COPYRIGHTED.
Please do not copy any of my photographs (or narratives) without my permission! All pictures will be tracked for copyright violations.

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I retired in June 2008 and started my blog in November 2008. I worked at several jobs as a Registered Nurse prior to retirement. I LOVE being retired! Blogging has offered me a whole new venue to start writing again and to share new hobbies such as gardening, birdwatching and sharing my nature photography. If you like my blog, PLEASE click on "follow this blog". Having a lot of followers reading my blog gives me incentive to continue to do photography and to continue to write. I also LOVE comments, so I encourage you to leave me a comment after you read my posts. Thanks everyone, for taking the time to read me!!

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