livingthedreamwithsallyandvic/wp-admin

Feb. 28, 2026

During the past week the weather was perfect: clear, sunny and cool. Each morning we had our coffee and went right out to check all our favorite spots. We’d come back home for lunch and a break. Then back out around 4 pm and look for birds until sundown. The weather has changed with cloudy days and some rain. Now we are catching up with pictures to share.

The baby great horned owl grew so much while we were in Ruskin for two weeks!

We met a couple at the GHO nest who only photograph owls, not just here but many other places. Vic asked her a couple of questions about their experiences. The woman said the male and female have different calls. She demonstrated each one’s calls. She’s been listening and filming them so long she knew that and could make their sounds! It was amazing.

He/she reminds you of a toddler in a snowsuit don’t they?

Two years ago we found burrowing owls on the side of a road going to a drive through zoo attraction. This year there is a construction project of some kind and the owls have left. We found them last week! Yay! The new burrow is on Joe Overstreet. There was only one owl but we talked to Tom today who says now there is a pair.

We have to include a picture of the Barred Owl.

Hope you enjoyed!

Stay safe everyone. XO

Feb. 26, 2026

Yesterday we followed our friends Tom and Paul to the Vero Beach area to a place known as Stick Marsh. It is called Cypress Branch on the map.

It’s popular with boaters and birders. We stood on a grassy area where lots of sticks had been gathered. Roseate Spoonbills were roosting in mangroves across the water. They would fly in and choose a stick to take back. All that flying and landing was perfect for photographers!

There are narrow dirt roads for traveling around in the preserve. The dirt road part is only open on Thursdays for 7 hours.

The following were taken out in the larger area with roads.

Moving on to other birds.

Off on our right I noticed turkey vultures were mating.

We love this place. Despite the restricted hours and that it’s an hour away we will definitely return.

Stay safe everyone. XO

Feb. 15, 2026

We’ve spent the past week in Ruskin, FL at an RV park / retirement homes on a lake. It’s very nice with all the amenities and plenty of good walking. It’s also 30 minutes from the condo my sister and brother in law Holly and Andy rented for the winter.

My nephew, wife and son (Shane, Andrea and Beckett) came down from NY. My daughter Kelly came down from VA for 3 days.

We were very excited to meet Beckett for the first time. He’s 2-1/2 years old but talks like he’s 4. We loved playing with him and getting to know him.

Beckett was playing with a broom. Zoe was watching him warily. When Beckett got a second broom Zoe said uh oh and got as far away as she could – Andy’s lap!

Beckett was eating blueberries one by one and saying crunch crunch knowing he was being silly. Sitting across from him I said blueberries don’t go crunch crunch. He played along and continued saying crunch crunch. With that nonsense going on I became aunty blueberry. 🥳

Our last day here in Ruskin was today. We went to Tampa to visit our friend Donna and have lunch at a place with amazing sushi. Afterwards she introduced us to her new neighbor Andrea who has a Shi-Tzu, also named Zoe!

Here is the two of them.

We are returning to Three Lakes Wildlife Area tomorrow.

Stay safe everyone! XO

It takes about 5 years for an eagle to mature and get his white head and tail feathers.

One day we saw 20 eagles in all stages of development. It prompted us to wonder what such a gathering is called. The answer is a Convocation.

The juvenile is female while the adult is a male. You can tell because the juvenile is so much bigger. The juvenile is trying to get a fish away from the adult. Pursuit started about 200 yards and then they were about 250 yards from us so the images are not very sharp.

Some kind of drama eh?!!

Stay safe everyone. XO

Feb. 8, 2026

We found a new eagle place! Eagles are all over the place on someone’s ranch. The pond must be much deeper than it appears to us because there seems to be an endless fish supply. Vic has looked at these two closely and thinks they are siblings, maybe even twins.

By now you know Vic is obsessed with juvenile eagles lol.

We are moving tomorrow to get closer to my sister for a family visit. Can’t wait!!

Also I want to give a shout out to my son in law Justin, an awesome man. Happy Birthday Justin! 🥰

Stay safe y’all. XO

Feb. 4, 2026

Yesterday it warmed up a little so we went over the the Great Horned Owl’s nest. Vic was shooting out his window at the owl and I was shooting out my window at birds moving around the palm tree across the road from us.

This is what the nest looks like from the truck.

And from my side …

There might be a cardinal nest in this campground so I was walking around looking for it and the birds. Haven’t found it yet but I did capture Zoe with Ed’s cat Ringo. She is obsessed with him but he isn’t interested. He tolerates her a little and then runs and hides.

My daughter Holly made this for me and it’s so cute I wanted to share.

One more thing, I found this interesting illustration of the kinds of owls.

Stay safe. XO

Jan. 31, 2026

We are getting some cold and cloudy weather that will keep us inside. Until we can get back to our birding fun we have some shots to share.

If you could see how far out the nest is you would be surprised.

A few days ago we saw a pair of Crested Caracara feeding on some carrion. We couldn’t get close because of a fence and most of the action was in tall grass but we managed by my getting up in the tool box of the truck where I was high enough to see.

This bird is a falcon, not a vulture like I previously thought. They like to eat carrion, lizards, insects and rodents.

What a gorgeous bird, and the background is so pretty.

We mostly see this kingfisher near a stream on Joe Overstreet Rd. This is one of his favorite perches over the stream.

Stay Safe and stay warm XO.

Jan. 28, 2026

We visited the Great Horned Owl nest this morning. We got there early of course. It was brrrr cold but we stayed until the baby became visible. There might be two babies but we’ve only seen one so far.

Money shot, right?

Stay safe XO

Jan. 27, 2026

We thought it would be fun to show you some of the different campers and rigs people are staying in here.

Short bus painted white, solar on roof. This guy has two pit bulls. (🤯). He’s parked on the handicapped pad but he’s not handicapped.

Sylvie’s campsite is where all the socializing happens. She organized a pot luck last Saturday and lots of campers came. It was great fun. Naturally there was a camp fire too.

Most people have solar, there are very few generators. We are all in here helter skelter, just park wherever you want to but don’t crowd your neighbor.

Stay Safe! XO

Jan. 28, 2026

We saw barred owls yesterday afternoon. There are several pairs in an area of the wildlife refuge. We’ve never found any nests and we sure would like to see one. Vic and I were standing next to each other looking up . Whether this one was protecting a nest or being aggressive it did not like us being there. It swooped down at us, Vic waved his camera at it and I ducked. The owl flew off and we were unharmed.

After our encounter with the owls we walked over to the boat launch and found purple gallinules. There were five in one area.

Going back to yesterday morning we saw this Fox Squirrel playing around.

We haven’t seen these guys in a couple of years so we were happy to find them.

Stay safe with all this cold! XO