I Didn't Think Pelicans Came This Far Inshore?

I live in Florida.  So besides all the weird news, strange people, and insanely hot weather, we have a lot of wildlife.  Anything and everything you can think of we have.  For bird watchers it's a perfect place. 

Years ago the Pelican was on the endangered species list.  I had no idea how since every time I went near water there were hundreds of them.  It just seems they are bunched up here in Florida, and nowhere else.  Which brings me to something strange that happened to me today.

I walked out to my truck, and yelled, "Oh crap!"  Namely because a bird took a giant crap on it.  This was no mere seagull.  Although, it might have been a sandhill crane.  It was so large that I knew it had to be a pelican.  Which is funny since I live 30 miles east of the ocean, and 20 miles north of the bay.

Pelicans usually hang near the saltwater, but as long as there is water they can land in it.  Let's go to the photos!

I know you can't tell from the photos, but "it" is all the way down my windshield.  It's also on the hood.  So I took my waterhose and sponge and cleaned everything off.

I know this isn't exactly big new.  Birds poop on vehicles all the time.  But I haven't had this truck for even a year now, and I'm a bit protective of her.  I have to keep her for at least another 11 and a half years so I try to keep every little thing perfect on my truck.

Make a Little Birdhouse In my ... Backyard? Part 4

So I have even more news about the chickadees in my birdhouse.  But in case you haven't seen the previous three parts here they are.

Make a Little Birdhouse In my ... Backyard?

Make a Little Birdhouse In my ... Backyard? Part 2

Make a Little Birdhouse In my ... Backyard? Part 3

So when we last left off we had six eggs in the birdhouse.  The good news, is that, all six of them hatched!

Say, does that one look like it's saying, "I'm naked, but feed me anyway?"

But they wouldn't stay naked for long.  Just a week later all six had feathers, and were still doing fine.

The chickadee on the upper left decided it was getting a bit crowded in the nest.  Besides, he was a little too big at this point.

Just a few days after that a few of the others had gotten so big they needed a bit more room.

The good news was that all six chicks were still doing well.

A few days after that it looked like all their feathers had grown in.

Again, all six were there.  But do you know that 15-18 days after hatching the chicks leave the nest?  Yes, they are ready to fly out onto the world.  So this is the last photo I have of them. 

I'm glad to see all six made it this far.  As a former pet shop employee I've seen the odds that baby anything have to overcome to reach adulthood.  It ain't pretty.

I'm glad to see my little birdhouse made a little bit of a difference.  Things actually went according to plan.  I put the box up in the fall so it could be used in the spring.  Let's see if another family of birds will move in sometime.  If they do, you can be sure I will be there to blog about it.

So now it's time to play the "Success in Birding" song.

I Joined A Fight Club

I know I'm breaking the first two rules of Fight Club, but I had a bad time.  I broke my right hand.  I shouldn't have done it.  Now life sucks for five weeks while I have this half cast/splint on my right hand.

All projects are on hold.  Just typing this is exhausting.  I can't play guitar.  Anything to do with water is difficult, like trying to wash my hands.  Eating left handed makes me look like an uncoordinated five year old.  I can't exactly cut food.  Overall it just really sucks.

That's all I can type for now.  It's taken me forever to just type this.  So here's the photo you've been waiting for.