We Have New Babies!!

We want to share the good news with all of you. Cathy was out on a Trike ride with Dixie yesterday when she spotted the new family of Sandhill Cranes. Cathy had been telling them all winter long that she was expecting "little things" from them and the adults did not disappoint.

Here is the whole family. Cathy thinks the larger of the chicks (to the right) may be a male as it is not only larger but a bit aggressive toward the other one.

Already tolerant of humans since they were hatched in or near the campground they showed no fear of me taking pictures.

You can still see the downy feathers so they are not very old, but obviously already learning the foraging techniques. 


Much of Central Florida is comprised of lakes and ponds of many sizes and in many instances they are interconnected hydrologically. That is known as Chain of Lakes with separate bodies of water at the surface share the same water sources underground.

So the area we are in, just south of Clermont has its share of lakes and ponds too. And in the RV Preserve there are two significant ones with one named Hancock Lake which shows on maps. There is a fishing dock and boats to use for fishing on Hancock Lake and there are lily pads which are beginning to bloom.

Enjoy the pictures below.




                                           Welcome to my Pad?

Reflection

Cat-tail Blossom

Odds and Ends

It is hard to imagine that we are beginning to get organized to return to PA for the summer! It seems as if we just got to Florida. And yet we have had an enjoyable winter without the harsh weather so many of you have had this year. We kept busy settling in, reading lots of books, and generally taking life easy!

We did not take any touristy trips this winter and we definitely did not go to Disney!  I am a little disappointed that we did not see many songbirds at our feeder. Our site is somewhat in the open and not really close to thicker woods that would provide security for smaller birds. Our regular visitors were sparrows, cardinals and doves. And of course local squirrels like to gather the spillage beneath the feeder.

We had good health for the season in general, but Larry may need additional eye surgery to remove scar tissue from his retinal tear repair that was done last year in Oklahoma. He will see a local retinal specialist when we return here in the Fall and probably have it done then. 

We had wooden entry steps built to make it a little easier to enter and exit the motorhome. It was a tricky construction because we needed to preserve access to the basement storage on either side. So the steps are narrow, but more secure than the steep, retractable metal ones.

We will start North on Tuesday, April 7 and be in Hershey on Friday, April 10. We will be back just in time to see and hear Kendalyn perform in a special concert of selected Middle School musicians to be held near Bethlehem PA on the 11th.

I have a few photos to share with you...nothing spectacular, but maybe interesting.

Being so close to Disney World we frequently see Hot Air Balloons passing overhead. Here are a couple recent flights.

The Mourning dove sits on the roof at daybreak and produces its soulful song.

This dragonfly was very cooperative posing for its photo or else it was just enjoying the flavor of the blossom.

Below, well camouflaged, is a house gecko looking for lunch in the bushes.

Sandhill Cranes are resident year around here.

Mr. Squirrel likes to clean up the seed fallout.

This is our view out front and evenings frequently show some color as below.

The Gopher tortoise is native to central Florida and parts of southern Georgia. There are numerous nest holes throughout the Thousand Trails Preserve and this example comes from a hole just in back of our site.

Up Close and Personal with this protected critter.