Got back late last night from a trip to central Florida. I went to a conference up there for work and then Rich and I met up in Orlando with an old friend of his from England. Unfortunately the weather was pretty dreary all week, but at least it didn't rain much.

Cloudy lakeside view


Sandhill crane


Cypress creek


Bonfire night


Evening sunset


Next week I am out of town again for another conference. Back soon!

The move went well and we are adjusting to the new surroundings. We have a lot more space now and the shorter commute is a relief. Still busy unpacking and organizing the new place but it is beginning to feel like home. We have a back garden and porch which is a great place to spot lizards.

This curly-tail lives in the "jungle garden" out back.


There are some strange geckos here too, not like ones we saw living further south.
We also put up a bird feeder. It was up literally less than a minute before a squirrel came down to investigate! I have seen several cardinals around the neighborhood so will keep an eye out for them.

Lastly, I am traveling this week and next, so will not be around much. I'll be bringing my camera and hopefully will have time to take some pictures.

Next week we are moving to Palm Beach. I will be only six miles from the office!
I also have a lot of travel coming up this month so blogs will most likely be even less frequent :(
However I hope to be able to share some new and interesting places with you!

Here are a few shots of a sanderling at Dania Beach from a while back.

Last week a nesting pair of Least Grebes was found about 30 miles from here. Today we decided to go and see them. Although it was pretty gray and miserable, it wasnt raining, so we set out with optimism.
As we neared our destination the wind and rain started.
We pulled in to the parking lot at Yamato Scrub Preserve in the midst of a downpour. We sat in the truck for a while and after the squall passed, I checked the weather radar on my phone, which promised clear skies after the small storm had passed.
Off we went in search of the Grebes.
We wandered along the path through oak and palmetto scrub, and saw a pair of wet mourning doves sheltering beneath the palmetto fronds.
Finally we reached the lake, and a birder couple had their binoculars trained on the grebes. One parent was foraging for food, while the other stayed sheltered close to the grasses along the lake's edge. The skies remained ominously gray.



You can see one of the babies on the adult's back!


Here comes the other parent with a fish:


And as the babies left the safety of their parent's back and began to swim around, the rain began again.


We got soaked on our way back to the truck. I brought a rain jacket but was more concerned with keeping the cameras dry.
All in all it was a successful "twitch" of a bird not seen in Florida since 1992.