Author: livingthedreamwithsallyandvic

Kenansville, FL

March 20, 2026

This morning was very productive at the boat launch as you’ll soon see.

We saw a belted kingfisher, one of our favorites.

The kingfisher sits on a fence post resting in between going fishing. He hovers and then dives to get his fish. It all happens very quickly.

The Snail Kite feeds almost exclusively on snails.

It was a gorgeous day, cool but not cold. We had a wonderful time. I hope you enjoyed.

Stay safe! XO

Mar. 12, 2026

One morning at the boat launch Vic played the call for barred owls, and one flew into the tree above us! Vic was freaking out because he and Zoe were sitting under it! I jumped up and took pictures of it, so fun. Yes I was wearing a hat.

Then it flew over to a different tree so I got more pictures.

Unrelated to the owls … I wanted to show you this cattle egret with breeding colors. Look at the creamsicle orange color of the bird in the middle. The white birds have little bugs on them. These bugs are numerous right now. They are attracted to anything white, they are annoying but don’t bite. Some people call them blind mosquitos. Others call them chissley winks. (Rhymes with tiddley winks – anybody remember that game?)

We sure had fun shooting these pictures. Hope you enjoy.

Stay safe! XO

March 16, 2026

Yesterday at the boat launch it was very windy. Only a couple of boats were brave enough to go out. The birds sometimes struggled against the wind. There was more competition between the birds for fish since it was intermittently cloudy and that makes it harder to see the fish.

The moral of the story is if you are a bird eating a fish better do it quickly!

Stay safe! XO

Lake Marian Boat Launch

March 15, 2026

This was a morning without a lot of activity due to intermittent cloudiness. Vic got his speaker out and “called in” the woodpeckers. He uses the Merlin bird ID app. Pretty quick we had woodpeckers flying around.

Getting a shot of them flying was really hard. This is the only one I got.

And my favorite …

They might be Brazilian Pepper but don’t quote me.

Stay safe! XO

Kenansville, FL

March 16, 2026

We’ve been spending every morning at this boat launch about a mile from our campground. We bring snacks and a little car bed for Zoe. The variety and quantity of birds flying in and out is amazing. This is a compilation of the past few days.

That’s all for now.

Stay safe everyone. XO

Mar. 12, 2026

These are from 2 days ago, taken at the public boat launch at Lake Marian.

Here is my view

You don’t even have to be patient. There is so much activity here! Eagles, osprey, great blue heron, green heron, pretty much you name it.

There are even barred owls living in the trees nearby. Those pictures are for another day.

While Vic, Tom, and Paul were shooting flying raptors I noticed several small birds in the bushes to my left.

Apparently the grosbeak is very uncommon for this area.

We heard a cardinal chirping away so I got up and looked for it. It was sitting in the tree above us! Hard to hide when you are bright red 🎶.

I love it when we get the pair.

Stay safe everyone! XO

Mar. 9, 2026

Uncommon in this area

Don’t worry, I shot this owl from a place of safety – inside the truck !

We met Kenny, a friend of Tom and Paul’s, who has an eagle nest just over the fence between Kenny and his neighbor’s yard. We were there a couple of days ago and got these shots.

The eaglets are twelve weeks old and starting to fledge.

Stay safe everyone! XO

March 5, 2026

If it’s Thursday it’s Stick Marsh day 😊.

Vic drove and Paul rode with us. Tom was busy at his other house in Ft Lauderdale. Paul has been going to the stick marsh for many years so he knows his way around the maze of roads.

Looks like they are swapping recipes haha

Harriers are notoriously difficult to photograph. They rarely come in close enough. Vic has been trying to get a great shot like this for years.

Stay safe! XO

Mar. 4, 2026

We are calling this post “potpourri”.

It looks pretty big but you can be sure it will be eaten!

Hope you enjoyed the show.

Stay safe! XO

Mar. 3, 2026

Warning- these images are not for the faint of heart.

It’s no wonder that most people believe Cara Cara are vultures (they are hawks) the way they feed on carrion. in this case they are feeding on a deer that was roadkill.

These two were taking some food back to their nest (which we haven’t found).

After the Cara Cara’s were finished, the vultures moved in.

We left the hunt camp and have moved further down the road to an RV park called Lake Marian RV & Resort. Most of the waterfront on this lake (roughly 8 miles x 2 miles) is wildlife protected wetlands. This place, a farm that’s been there a long time that has 7 miles of waterfront and one other business that has a couple of miles. It’s next to impossible to get a building permit which I’m glad to hear.

There is a marina with plenty of places to tie up your boat. The sites are half and half campers and manufactured homes. Our friend Tom has the house built by the original property owner. It’s a triple wide plus a deck and other extras. Our friend Paul also has a house, not as big but still very nice. Paul came over while we were setting up to welcome us to the neighborhood and invite us for a pontoon boat ride. Tom was in Ft Lauderdale.

Here is Paul driving the boat.

Here is Vic with the camera having the time of his life. 😊

I had charge of Zoe. She loved the wind in her face.

We had an awesome time and can’t wait to go again.

Stay safe everyone. XO