Pelicans and Stuff

The world is divided into people who commune with birds and people who don't. I am one of those who don't. This though is the cause of this essay, an osprey who passed overhead with lunch in his talons.Winter is when pelicans return to the Keys and they have been quite visible. I saw the osprey with the fish, and as I waited for Cheyenne to get her breath back I played with my little pocket camera, taking pictures of the only things I could see: birds.
Oh, and an airplane. I know about as much about planes as I do about birds.It was windy and the pelicans seemed to enjoy being aloft. They would squat down on the water and let the current carry them back. Then, when they had gone as far as they cared to they flapped up into the air and rode the currents back up wind. It looked like fine.I can't remember why but I did once hold a pelican and i was shocked by how light the big beefy bird was. It's like holding a feathery helium balloon.
I suppose they have to be light otherwise they couldn't fly, but actually holding a creature with hollow bones is a surprising experience. So much so I still remember how it felt though I can't remember how the experience came about.I like dogs apropos of nothing in particular but some people bond with birds. I remember a colleague years ago who took the day off she was so distraught her pet bird had died after a long life. On the surface we were quite surprised- a bird? But really a pet is a pet.This is one of those situations where a pocket camera is not much good and where a single lens reflex would be handy. The delay in the shutter opening usually doesn't bother me as most of my pictures are fairly static. But with birds flying around I had tot ake dozens to get a handful of half way passable pictures.I had lots of time to take pictures and mull over which ones to keep and which to delete. Cheyenne was in no hurry.r=0>The fence got inthe way on this one and at first I was going to discard it. Then I thought...why?This pelican flopped into the water and I saw a brief but epic struggle as the bird overcame lunch and swallowed. I wondered what it must feel like to be eaten alive.

Burp! And off for more happy hunting.One has to wonder if it really is a contemplative life for these birds.

On the water or in the air they look so thoughtful.

Above all the human busyness below they are barely visible dots.

Those three were hanging together soaring and dipping back and forth in formation. This next one was doing the solitary thing overhead.This is their range. On mature reflection it may not be such a bad life to be a pelican.

BPK Fire Walk

The process of renewing acquaintance continues with outdoor walks ignored during the long months of hot and humid summer. This walk just off Key Deer Boulevard on Big Pine Key shows signs of summer wear and tear.The pines of Big Pine (so named for the size of the island, not the girth of the pine trees that grow on it) can't seem to catch a break. First many got decimated by disease and now others apparently got scorched.In the long run fire encourages fresh growth but the immediate effects are devastating. There are patches of healthy trees helping to regenerate pine forests.In the midst of plenty of brown and black trees. We followed the trail for a while on what turned out to be a pleasant sunny afternoon. My secret meadow tucked away among the pines.In the distance Key Deer Boulevard. It was a beautiful day so I played with the camera for a while, an excuse to hang out and enjoy the sun with my dog.
Soon we came across the active activity of the outside world. Key Deer Boulevard was swarming with people. The road is four and a half miles long (7 kms) from Highway One to Port Pine Heights at the northern shore of Big Pine Key. It looks to me like a brutal bike ride under the sun but in winter snowbirds are out on it all the time. In summer you can shoot a cannon down here in the middle of the day and not hit anyone. Away from the bustle of the road life goes on in the marshes.

Amidst the scrubby mangroves and grasses the waving palms of a coconut tree mark the presence of non native growth. And next to the non native tree a non native structure -a house.

One pooped pup.

A tiring and thus successful walk marked by a big yawn.

Before we got back into the car Cheyenne wanted to sit in the shade alongside the street to enjoy watching the world go by.It's easy to indulge a good dog.

Ho Ho Ho

Marilyn Monroe has put in an appearance in front of the Tropic Cinema, adding a festive note to Eaton Street, courtesy of the sculptor Seward Johnson.An alert reader pointed out that Jack riepe might feel deprived were he not able to take a particular look at this- quoting Chuck on Fleming now- bodacious blonde:And, driving home at night, around Mile Marker 16 we start to observe the three Ho Ho Ho Houses on Sugarloaf Key next to the airstrip. Always a cheerful reminder that the season of goodwill is on hand. Happy Christmas!

Channel Five Walk

This is the top of the Channel Five Bridge, Mile Marker 71, about 70 feet above the water looking north while travelling south paradoxically, and heading toward Long Key. This expanse of water to the west is called Long Key Bight which looks like a snug anchorage. It is quite shallow far in but the center of the bight (a bight is defined as wide bay by sailors) carries about four feet at low tide. I don't usually see any boats inside as most people like more than a few inches of water under their keels. Shallow draft boats are handy in the Keys.There is a convenient gravel parking area at the east side of the north end of the bridge on Long Key. It's actually convenient enough that I have seen more than one MCSO patrol car checking speeds on the slope down from the bridge. I stopped at the bridge to take Cheyenne for a walk.Cormorants resting on the base of a power pole. Even at rest they look speedy.There is a long line of poles paralleling the bridge:The bridge is the only viable channel for tall masts to cross from one side of the Keys to the other between Windley Key's Snake Creek drawbridge and the Seven Mile Bridge tall span on the west side of Marathon. The old railroad bridge makes for a pleasant half mile walk out to the channel itself.The wooden rails at the channel make a good resting spot for more birds.They cut the old Flagler bridge here and abandoned the piece that stretches out from Craig Key. More birds, amazingly enough.

And there, up above is the location of the Channel Five Bridge. I am not exactly sure where the other channels are though there is a channel two bridge, a more modest affair, nearby.

These modern cement spans are quite elegant in their way.

I was glad to get out of the wind and warm up in the sun while my Labrador rooted around.

The old and the new bridges, side by side. For a one hundred year old structure Flagler's bridge is amazingly solid.

And this is me driving my dog home on the Overseas Highway, here coming into the City of Layton (Mile Marker 69). From here to my home at Mile marker 27 will take about an hour, maybe a little less, and a very pleasant drive it is too, when all the Christmas tourists aren't clogging the road to Key West!