January 19 – 26: The primary purpose of meeting up with Al on this trip was to do some of the Great Florida Birding Trail, and so we did.
Monday: Revisited the Celery Fields, Sarasota Audubon’s nature center with trails around several ponds and marsh areas. The wind was fierce (from the north, no less) and birds were keeping warm, I guess, because there weren’t too many visible. Highlights included a shrub filled with cattle egrets, a purple gallinule and a soaring red shouldered hawk. We then drove to Myakka River SP for more birding. The wind persisted which made an entire flock of Limpkins gather at the weir. First time seeing more than one at a time and there had to be close to 100. Also in large numbers, dozens upon dozens of black vultures, sharing the sunny shore with a bunch of gators. We usually see them soaring, looking for a meal, but these guys must have been happy to rest after fighting gusts up to 35 mph and temps in the forties. Dinner was back on Siesta Key at the Lobster Pot; grouper sandwich for me, clam chowder for Ron.
Tuesday: Decided to sit out the wind and go to the movies in Sarasota instead. Saw Knives Out – a tongue in cheek murder mystery with a great cast. We all enjoyed it a lot; on the way home we ate at the Red Tomato, an upscale all-you-can-eat salad bar with soup and pasta stations.
Wednesday: Took a ride south to the Venice area for more birding. The Audubon group there maintains a visitors center and small park, where there is an island at the center of a small lake housing many wading birds. It’s a major roost and nesting area for herons, egrets, anhinga , ibis and cormorants so we decided to make a few more stops and come back for the fly in at dusk. We did, and counted hundreds of birds making their way home, turning the shrubs on the island almost pure white. Highlights included seeing a great blue feeding two chicks in her nest on the far side of the island and a fly-by flock of whistling ducks. We had lunch in old Venice at Carney’s Irish Pub, a place Al had visited often when he lived in Florida. On the performance schedule was an old neighbor of his from NJ who was going to play Friday evening, so we decided we would return then for dinner.
Thursday: Florida is filled with wildlife refuges, national forest and seashore lands and local parks. Al had called us about visiting “Ding” Darling NWR before we ever left NY so we decided today would have to be the day. We took our reserved seats on the 2:00 tram ride and rode the wildlife drive. Our driver/guide was very passionate – and knowledgeable – about mangrove swamps and their preservation – so we did learn lots. In short:
- the difference between swamps and marshes is that a swamp is treed while a marsh is primarily grass.
- mangrove trees are viviporous. They develop seedlings and nurture them on a branch until they are viable, looking pretty much like miniature trees, when they release them to ride the tide until reaching a place they can send down roots (often under the shelter of another tree); they remain there until conditions are right for them to grow. Baby trees grow very slowly, often spending years under 2′ tall, being protected and “nursed” by the nutrients released by a mature grove.
- the park itself is pretty much at sea level and could be gone in 10-15 years.
- the heron population in the park has diminished 60% in the last 10 years and is in danger of disappearing altogether in the next 10.
We did the drive ourselves afterwards and finally tried out our scope to ID some reddish herons on a sandbar.
Friday: The world famous Austrian Lipizzan stallions spend their winters in nearby Myakka City, training for the arduous touring season ahead. Twice a week their training sessions are open to the public for a small fee so I convinced my birding partners to take a small detour to see these magnificent animals. It was a beautiful day and we joined about 150 others on folding chairs and in bleacher seats, watching them go through their paces. Our hostess (family matriarch? ring master? head trainer?) told us the story of how the horses were rescued from Nazi occupation, saved from Soviet recapture and brought under the auspices of the US Army by General Patton, assuring continuity of a tradition dating back to the 16th century. On our way to dinner we made another birding stop at Crowley Historic Village and Nature Center and added blue birds and goldfinches to our trip list. As planned, we ate back at Carney’s and listened to Al’s friend Ben sing and play for a while.
Saturday: Drove into Sarasota to St. Armand’s Square for an art festival. There were paintings, sculptures, fabric constructions, ceramics; all quite good, if heavy on the beach themed decor. I had several favorites, especially the fabric paintings and woven panels. I must look into Art Lab classes when we finally retire from the road. Lunch was at Colombia, a Cuban restaurant favorite of Al’s. My shrimp dish was terrific, but Ron had preceded his meal with a thick, chocolate shake while walking around and didn’t want much of anything!
Sunday: Said our goodbyes in the morning and headed north, retracing some of our steps from the previous trip.
The Ultimate Road Trip 