Baby Duck

Wait for me!  Baby duck zooming after the other ducks.  Can we play?

Bucket :D

This is why we fill bucket.  Bears in pajamas are so cute.

Bird Tree

Yesterday we had a very odd lightning/thunder strike that didn't make visible contact but did strange damage.  Our internet modem was rendered "dead", and the staghorn fern (AKA flying spaghetti monster) was released from his 30 year place in the oak trees to a new location on the ground.  The southern oak branch just broke right off, and not even at the steel cord but at another place.

So, now we have a massive 12' long oak limb laying on the grass....   but why fret?  The peafowl and sneetches are in HEAVEN.  They spent the day roosting in the new "low tree", letting us know how they love what we've done with the place!  Hmmmm, this new bird tree will be in this location for a while so that our feathered friends can enjoy it immensely.

More Bird Tree Pictures

And More Bird Tree Pictures

NPR Joins Hurricane Hype

New headline as the models are updated to a "farther north" hurricane Monday.  Note, the prior impact was Sunday.  LOTS to happen between now and Sunday/Monday, yet the headlines are starting to get everyone ramped up.  My bet (Mary) is that it will fizzle at sea and be a breezy day for us.  Either way, we're ready!  It's fun to watch the models predict right now.  Thanks to Mike's Weather Page for keeping us informed with his spot-on analysis.

Tropical Storm Dorian 2019

On Sunday, we're either going to have a Cat 2 Hurricane, or a nice breezy Florida day.  It's amazing that it's Wednesday and we can't accurately predict.

FUN PHOTOS AS DORIAN HYPE RAMPS UP

Fox News is quickly ramping up the hype in spite of the fact weather scientists still can't accurately say what the path of the storm is.

Growing Kale Fall/Winter

I've been reading about which Kale grows well in central Florida, and I've decided to try Red Russian Kale.  It supposedly does very well here over the fall/winter months.

I'm going to plant the seeds Sunday 9/1, and it takes 50-60 days to mature.  So, I should be able to pick kale 10/20 to 11/1 and on.

Kale Links:
https://www.flgardening.com/how-to-grow-kale-in-florida/

Wood Duckling vs Motted Duckling

We have "baby duck" living on the pond now, a duckling with no mother, and we were debating this morning on whether he was really a Wood Duck baby or if he was a Florida Mottled Duck or Mallard type.

As a differentiating characteristic, it comes down to the stripe over the eye and whether it goes all the way past the eye toward the beak, or JUST up to the eye.  Mallard/mottled has a stripe that goes all the way to the beak, wood duck has a stripe from the back, ending at the eye. 

Our "baby duck"has a stripe that ends at the eye.  So he's clearly a wood duck.

Which is good, because we named him Warren:  Warren BD (baby duck), like Warren Beatty.  LOL :D

Mallard type duckling - Stripe past the eye

Wood duckling - stripe UP TO the eye

Gotta pump this thing up....

A Lot of Ducks in August

We've had large groups of ducks land a few times a day to enjoy the corn.  It's great to see them together, playing, swimming, and enjoying snacks.

Mary's Stand Up Paddle Board Maiden Voyage

I did it!

Otters and Sweet Potatoes

The morning after shows no signs of otter ravaging, so it seems that they visited, had a snack, and left.  Otter visit #1 final assessment:  No Problem.  (Whew!)

I braved the sweet potato cage this morning, thinking it was 90 days since planting some of the earliest sweet potato slips, so there might be sweet potatoes forming.  I used soft gloves to dig into a few of the fabric pots, and I found no sign of sweet potatoes.  So....  either something has gone awry, or it's just going to take a bit longer to see food.  I'm going with the latter, as all of my reading suggests that people plant the sweet potatoes late spring and harvest in time for the fall (October/November) so that they can have sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner.  Even though Gurneys says 90 days for vining sweet potatoes and 100 days for bush varieties, I'm going to smile and be patient.  Besides, it'll be MUCH nicer to harvest in late September/early October when the weather cools a bit and the bugs subside some.  I'm really looking forward to having sweet potatoes to eat from the P2 farm, so I really hope they make some food!

Baby peafowl snacking

I accidentally hit the Slo-Mo button.... it's kind of fun to see the movement captured very S L O W L Y

"There's some kind of a big swim thing happening out there...."

We were warned...

It seems that three otters have come to the P2 main pond to feast tonight.  They're noctural, so we'll keep watch and hope that a few tilapia are left by morning. 

I should be alarmed, but darn they're cute, and there's nothing I can do to stop them, so we may as well enjoy the show!

We'll report in the morning. 

When Mark saw the swimming, his comment was precious.  "There's some kind of a big swim thing happening out there...."

Florida Coyote Visiting, Enjoying Corn

Today we found a local Florida coyote stopping by for a bite of corn.  Corn doesn't seem like a traditional coyote menu item, but when you're hungry you eat whatever is on the menu!

He looks just like a cute, fluffy dog.   He turns and smiles at 0:15.  Awwwww.....

First Baby Peacock 8-6-2019

Today, August 6th, we had a visit from mom and our first baby peacock of the year.  She's about the size of a duck or sneetch :D