AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS FROM THE ARCHIVES

I am going back to January 2014 for this post and probably the first time I ever saw white pelicans. 

These were taken at the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in Florida, link here.

A lot of the birds are wild and tend to fly into the park in droves when it is feeding time for the resident birds. I don’t see any bands on their legs, so are assuming they are wild.

 I read that those bumps on their beaks appear on both male and female pelicans during breeding season, but once breeding season is over they fall off. These make them more attractive to prospective mates and it is called a nuptial tubercle. The photo below has two white ibis sharing the log with them.

Here are a few more facts. 

White pelicans have one of the largest wingspans of any North American bird at 9 feet.

White pelicans sometimes work together to herd fish to more shallow water where they can feast on them more easily.  

From the time an egg hatches until the bird leaves its nest and becomes independent, the parents provide 150 pounds of food.

White pelicans are pretty accomplished thieves, stealing from other pelicans and cormorants so they don’t have to do the work themselves.

They breed on islands in shallow wetlands with many other birds, including other white pelicans and also cormorants.

Unlike brown pelicans that fly high above the water and then dive down into the water to catch their prey, white pelicans get their body weight by feeding from the water surface, dipping their beaks into the water to snag fish and other aquatic animals.

White pelicans are one of the heaviest flying bird in the world. An average white pelican weighs between 7 to 20 pounds. 

Females lay 1 to 3 eggs in a slight depression in the ground. Both the male and female will incubate the eggs - not the other way other birds do, but with their giant orange feet. Eggs hatch in about a month and usually, only one will survive to leave the nest. Chicks leave the nest - fledge - when they are about 10 weeks old.

Except for the fact that males are slightly larger than females, the two appear identical. 

Thanks for looking and I hope you all have a happy Thursday. 

SOME KIND OF BIRD BALLET - AN OLD ONE PUT HOPEFULLY WORTH REPEATING

All photos were taken at the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Wildlife State Park in Florida, which you can find here. It was a lot of fun to see all these beautiful birds, many that are wild and fly in just for feeding time, or as the lady with the bucket of fish said quite seriously, "We try to keep the moochers from stealing all the food."  

One of our stars is the Great White Heron, along with a chorus of all White Ibises.

Jumping into the arms of her prince - again - a White Ibis.

The Wood Stork is definitely a diva!

Next the Anhinga...

and the same bird below displaying her perfect form.

Waiting in the wings, a Barred Owl.

A lovely ballet pose displayed by the Wood Stork.

A Mute Swan stretching her toes and getting ready to jump in.

Our White Ibis, posing for the cameras backstage.

 She decided to give the paparazzi her back view. Sometimes she gets so tired of being followed around all day, having her photograph taken.

The Brown Pelican is a little late for her cue.



The Red-shouldered Hawk was very vocal. Well... you sometimes get a heckler in the audience.

The Crested Caracara was wearing a beautiful costume. Brava my dear, brava!

The Black-crowned Night Heron, who flew over the stage, needed no wires and was a complete blur.

The White Pelicans are about to make their entrance.

But finally, another performance is over. The Mute and Black Swans are relieved that all went well. No one tripped over their tutu. It is time to take a well-deserved rest.

That’s the end of our Bird Ballet.

Thanks so much for taking your seat and I wish you all a wonderful day.

FROM MY ARCHIVES - McKEE'S BOTANICAL GARDEN IN VERO BEACH, FLORIDA

It is hard to believe our visit took place 2014. In many ways it seems only yesterday. I shared all the statues before and if you missed them, or would like to see them again, you can click on the label below this post that says McKee's Botanical Garden_Vero Beach_Florida, it will take you to them. Apart from a distant look at the fisherman in the third photo from the bottom, this is just the garden. I also add a little history below that I found online. Three of the photos I have already shared. Please note that my narrative is from 2014 so the exhibit changed long ago, and probably other things too. I would highly recommend checking out their website and also online to see what others say if you ever find yourself in that area. That being said, I wouldn't have any hesitation going back for another visit if we were in Florida.

I can't say enough how much we both enjoyed this garden and loved walking around viewing all the amazing fauna.  

You can take a look at their website at this link. 

"In 1922 the McKee-Sexton Land Company was established in Vero Beach, Florida. This partnership purchased an 80-acre tropical hammock along the Indian River in 1929, and McKee Jungle Gardens was born."

(Not real but I remember having to look twice to make sure.)

"With the help of landscape architect William Lyman Phillips, now known as the pioneer of tropical landscape architecture, the basic infrastructure of streams, ponds and trails was designed.

"Native vegetation was augmented with ornamental plants and seeds from around the world as Arthur G. McKee and Waldo E. Sexton set about assembling one of the most outstanding collections of water lilies..."

"and orchids."

"By the 1940's more than 100,000 tourists were visiting McKee Jungle Gardens each year, making it one of Florida's most popular attractions."  

"In the early 1970's attendance dwindled due to competition from new, large-scale attractions and the garden was forced to close its doors in 1976."

"The land was sold and all but 18 acres were developed.  The remaining acreage, zoned for additional development, sat vacant for 20 years."

  

"In 1994 the Indian River Land Trust launched a fund-raising campaign and successfully purchased the property on December 1st, 1995 for $1.7 million."

"Close to $9.1 million was raised to purchase, stabilize and restore the Garden. The Garden held its formal Dedication in November, 2001."

There is a beautiful building called the Hall of Giants and is the one remaining building from the old McKee Jungle Garden, a favorite tourist attraction from the 1920's to the 1970's.  

It is made out of cypress and heart pine logs and was originally built in 1940 to house the enormous table we found inside.

(I noticed the Fifer statue is also here.)

This is the largest one-piece mahogany table in the world. The single slab of Philippine wood measures 35 feet 10 inches long and is 5 inches thick. Waldo Sexton first saw it in 1903 at the St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition. He purchased it nearly 20 years later when he found it in a basement of a New York City warehouse and had it shipped by boat to Vero Beach.

After the gardens closed in the 1970's, the table disappeared from the scene...

but when the McKee Botanical Gardens opened in 2001, the table came out of storage and was again installed in the Hall of Giants.

It was here that was a popular gathering spot for community events, including football banquets, corporate annual meetings and Chamber of Commerce dinners.   

An interesting bit of trivia I learned was that on each St. Patrick's Day in the 1950s, Dodgers President Walter O'Malley hosted Vero Beach's biggest spring party at the McKee Jungle Gardens. The entertainment often came via the playing field: Hall of Fame Umpire Jocko Conlan sang high Irish tenor. Maury Wills whom I read should have been in the Hall of Fame, played banjo. One year first baseman and soon-to-be TV's Rifleman Chuck Connors, recited "Casey at the Bat." My Dad and I loved to watch 'The Rifleman' when I was a kid, and we had no idea that he was previously a professional baseball player, also a basketball player. Link here if you don't know who Chuck Connors is.  If you are a lot younger than me, you might not.

It was with great pleasure that we explored this beautiful garden. The 'fisherman' bottom right you might remember from my other post.

If you find yourself in Vero Beach and you want to explore the next best thing to a tropical paradise, I hope you will make that right-hand turn like we did. It was an amazing place. 

This is a brown anole I believe? However, I couldn't identify an exact match of pattern online. Perhaps there is someone out there who can help me with an ID? Thank you in advance.

I've enjoyed looking back at my old posts. I hope you have too.

Thanks for visiting and 

I hope your week has started out well.

 

FROM THE ARCHIVES - LAST OF THE STATUES FROM THE SEWARD JOHNSON EXHIBIT WE SAW BACK IN JANUARY 2014

McKee Botanical Garden in Vero Beach, Florida, was incredible. One of the prettiest, tropical gardens I have ever seen. 

The following are the last of the statues that I will be sharing. There were probably ones missed but I think we saw most of them. The links still work but the exhibition is obviously different (the present one at the time of writing is called "Florigami in the Garden". If we were in that vicinity, I know we would enjoy seeing it. The garden is celebrating its centennial. 

The following is what I wrote for a post published on my old blog I (now closed) in March 2014. There may be other things out of date also.

    

"Today I am sharing several sculptures from the garden.  There are more statues today, it will be longer than usual. Apart from the one at the bottom, these will be more present-day pieces. You can follow this link to Seward Johnson's website.

"Best Seller" shows a man who has fallen asleep in an Adirondack chair.  I read that when this sculpture was placed in another exhibition in a park, someone dialed 911 thinking that the man had stayed still for far too long and was worried that he was ill.

"Midstream"
This 'fisherman' is actually wading in their famous lily pond.

"Getting Involved" shows a grandmother knitting....

and on the bench next to her, the reason is clearly shown.

"Out of Sight"

"Summer Thinking"

"Photo Shoot"

"Follow the Leader"

"Shaping Up"

This one is called "Follow Me" and is inspired by Edouard Manet's painting, "The Fifer" painted in 1866.  To find out more you can go to this link."

That's all of them. I will be sharing a couple of posts about the garden and its tropical surroundings eventually. I have enjoyed revisiting and I hope you have also.

Thank you for visiting and for those who have the time to comment, very much appreciated. I hope your day is going well.