Birds and Frogs

We spent yesterday with my mom at her retirement community near the wide St. John's River. There are always lots of birds around in Florida at this time of year, with migrants either passing through or stopping for the winter, and we saw some interesting ones yesterday. The green heron (above) is a year-round resident.

One of Mom's neighbors has a bird feeder that was a hive of activity, with squabbling bluebirds and several yellow pine warblers. I'm hoping to have another look at this feeder today. I saw what I think was a magnolia warbler on it too, but I didn't get a good shot.

We were there all morning and then went to lunch at a taco place nearby, where I had virtually inedible huevos rancheros. (And for me to say something is inedible is, well, saying something, because I am not a picky eater.) The eggs were severely underdone, the whole dish was tepid and yet the tortillas were so tough I couldn't cut them with a knife and fork. I ate it with some trepidation but fortunately there were no bacterial consequences.

Afterwards I felt like I'd swallowed a bag of cement, so I went for a long walk around our hotel.

I found a few more sculptural frogs left by the Frog Man of Mandarin. I'm always happy to come across his colorful amphibians.

More family time today, of course. Happy Christmas Eve, everybody!