Birds, not really my “thing”. The mighty scavengers that sit atop garbage dumps, dive bomb uncovered trash cans, or drop “presents” on my car. Can’t say I have ever been a big fan…and then we visited Florida. Birds there are exotic and big — with big personalities. These are birds I can appreciate!

These birds could care less about trash dumps and trash cans. They roam the canals and waterways of western Florida hunting fish and looking regal.

Since the topography of Florida is flat, bike riding is a great way to get around. Lucky for us we were staying in Punta Gorda with in-laws of in-laws (my sister-in-law’s parents) who have all sorts of toys, including bikes. After being fed a delicious breakfast that included blueberry buckle, they took us on a ride through town, passing canals and ending at the marina. Along the way, we met:

and

Back at the house we were fed again (yay!), grabbed some cocktails and navigated the canals via another one of their toys — their boat. The waterways in Florida are dramatically different than California. For one thing, they still have them (our drought has severely affected our lakes/rivers/etc). During this adventure, we found more birds:

and

It was a great day of exploration and gaining a new appreciation for birds (or at least some of them). The nights weren’t bad here either…

Florida has such an interesting array of creatures. The birds were just the start, up next…alligators!