Birds of a feather came to camp

We celebrated Easter a bit different this year.

Instead of a formal dinner with ham and sides we took the RV

over to Nokomis intercoastal and "camped."

We had cowboy coffee, wine, chips and dips and

shrimp on the barbee.......with some delish sides.

And some feathered friends flocked in for a visit.

 My BIL & SIL also brought their bird book and binoculars.

I had my Tamron 18-275 lens in case you care.

The bird book sort of helped as you will see - though it

wasn't above having a great debate.

Which was fun.

The color of bills, feet, crowns and eyes are very important

in the determination of the bird.

A great blue heron - not quite seeing the blue though.

 The hawks had some drama going on which was

interesting to watch.

Male and female protecting the nest from an evil seagull.

 Crisis averted. 

Nest was secured.

(above waaaay in the back were some pelicans circling).

 This plucky little bird is a yellow crowned night heron.

 Not quite seeing the yellow.

And does not the photo below look fake??

I can totally assure its not and I'm doing a happy dance

with this shot.

And last but not least a great egret.

Couple of greats going on - and I have to admit it was great

that they came so close as I never

moved from my chair to get this shoots.

I know.

This guy was on the hunt - and he was totally focused.

 Very very focused.....

and then

ker-splash

Did he get the fish or not????

Not.

But a fun shot all the same.

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

with family and the Venice Boat Parade.

Getting there really early - we staked out our spot with

all the comforts of home.

With lots of food and drink.......

and the most important part - a bathroom.

Tom made cowboy coffee and declicious ahi tuna.

And Kate's veggie pizza and Amy's pizza dip- swoon worthy.

Its December people and see how we're dressed.

Sorry but you can keep your winter wonderland.

This is the life.

 Lots of action in the intercoastal.

 Making friends with the wildlife.

 As they boldly checked us out.

 Getting up close and personal by swooping into our camp.

 Minions opened the parade.

I love minions.

 This train was absolutely adorable.

 Pretty....

 And some Florida fun.

 There was lots of music, clapping and hoopla.

We were in sort of a grotto and the boats were close in the channel.

And it was so much fun because it was quite interactive dancing

and singing the boat peeps.

Trying to catch a moonrise with a channel marker.

I had a learning curve going on here and 

it was tough in the dark - and I

didn't want to shine lights to make adjustments and

ruin all the awesome boat floats.

This is a spot were we will return to again - just to camp and

stick our feet in the water and hang out.

The water is shallow so if any kidlets that tag along want

to play they'll be close to shore

and they can ride the wakes as the boats pass by.