June 8

June 8, 2007 - Lovers Key

Some of you may have heard about the fires Florida was/is experiencing, and we're here to tell you they're real.

Watching this guy dump retardant on the fire really awed our guys (Lovers Key SP rangers) who were there. I didn't take these pictures, several rangers from our park were part of the crew fighting this blaze in the Fakahatchee Strand.

Well, we know Ranger Mike didn't take these pictures, at least the first two, because they're of him. That swamp buggy isn't for the public, it's part of the equipment the park service uses in this area. In the last picture you can see the sun coming up right over the top of the truck in the center. Even though this area is about 40 miles from us, we still had smoke for several days. Our guys put in long days and came home tired and really dirty. Made me glad I'm as old as I am. That's hard work. We're proud to know them and work with them. Thanks, Mike H., Mike S., and Matt K. for all you did for the public fighting this fire.

Somebody on the beach had flipped this sea star over, and Barb got a picture of its underside before turning it back over. If I know her, she also put it back in the water, too.

As predicted, the fishing got better in May. Those four catfish weighed over 7 pounds and averaged about 15" in length. All caught in about 2 hours, along with a few smaller ones. And then the red drum, or redfish. That fish was barely legal as 18" is the minimum allowed. Interesting markings on the right side with the two extra (smaller) black dots. First one I'd caught, and it tasted real good. So good, as a matter of fact, the catfish are still in the freezer!

One of Barb's Bonita Springs Shell Club fellow members asked her if she'd like to go with her and her husband on a boat to do some shelling. That wasn't a difficult decision for Barb! The first photo is of the Big Carlos Pass bridge at the northern boundary of the park, the second one is of our "North Beach," which is a popular spot for boats to park and party. Not much shelling there, as it's in the pass and has mostly sugar sand for a beach.

Some shots of the bridge, Rosemary and Don, and a couple of dolphins. Even though they ruin the fishing for a while, I always enjoy watching dolphins messing around. Same for the pelicans.

A shot of our (the park) boat ramps, and then some idiots (or at least poorly educated boat pilots) roaring around in a 5 mph zone. The runabout was going to pass between the two pontoon boats until it saw the cruiser coming, so it veered off to the left out of the main waterway. Stupid maneuver from our perspective, but we're safety nuts. On the water, 5 mph means 5 mph, unlike on our roadways. At least to us. Everybody survived the incident, so I guess we're wrong and they're right, eh? NOT!!

The two pontoon boats pass easily in the designated waterway under the bridge. Popular boats in this area of shallow water and modest currents.

"Doggie Beach" sort of goes away when the tide comes in, but on a nice day it doesn't deter the dogs and their owners from enjoying the place. While being currently pet-less ourselves, we sure enjoy watching other people enjoying their pets and vice versa.

Barb told Rosemary that the water was getting pretty shallow, Rosemary responded that she knew it, and pretty soon they were shelling while the boat sat on a sandbar!

That fisherman is demonstrating what you do in much of this area if you fall out of your boat. You stand up and walk for a while.

Another shot of the dog beach, what there's left of it (tide coming in)! That bridge is taking the road over New Pass between the Gulf of Mexico and Estero Bay, and is at the park's southern most boundary. Dog beach is actually not a part of the state run park, but is a county park. Lots of tennis balls and other dog toys that float wash up on our beach at that end of the park.

The birds think the aids to navigation are put there for them to use as a grooming spot.

The condo where Rosemary and Don live. The boat belongs to the association, and is available to condo owners. Pretty handy arrangement. This picture is actually showing 4 different condo buildings on Hickory Island. While appearing crowded, there's ample green belts between them along with the parking lots.

Ah, our thrill of the day. A 5K run through parts of the park, and we're the water-boys at the half-way point. This is part of the nature trail on Black Island. Barb's gone down to the "corner" of the trail to encourage the runners and let them know that water is available. We got there early enough to set up 250 little cups of water. Brie had arranged for all the volunteers to know exactly what they were to be doing and exactly where they were to do it. Very organized, and that made it even more fun for us.

The guy on the bicycle is letting us all know the runners are coming, and right behind him is the lead runner, who eventually won the race. This young man was so smooth in his running it was almost as if he was gliding, not to mention the lead he obviously has on the others. It was a joy to watch him.

The first group of runners didn't stop for water, but when the people who needed it came around, they did. I soon realized it would be easier if I handed it to them like I'd seen on TV watching some marathons. Barb and I had never done this before and weren't sure how it was going to work, but we learned.

After the race, the awards ceremony was held at the Gazebo. We were too late to get any of the bagels, but we sure did enjoy the fresh oranges and ice water! Last year they had about 125 runners, this year they had over 200 and from what we heard, all the runners were happy with the route, the facility and the volunteers. Many (if not most) the volunteers were from outside the park. Of course, right now Barb and I are the only volunteers living in the park, but our rangers who worked were considered volunteers as far as this race was concerned. Matt, the park assistant manager, had the day off but was there in uniform hauling garbage.

Our first sea turtle "crawl"! How exciting for us....and for Ranger Amy, too!! This is one of the main reasons we're here for the summer months rather than doing what's logical and moving north this time of year. The female turtle, a loggerhead in this case, had crawled up the beach into the sea oats, messed around for a bit, and then crawled back into the Gulf. It's called a "false crawl" because she didn't make a nest or lay eggs. Amy is measuring the width of her pattern for the paperwork. It's amazing the data collected for these turtles, including the GPS coordinates, of their activity. Talk about our "Thrill of the Day" program! Next we want to find a nest and, hopefully, someday be able to come out to the beach during the night and see a turtle actually crawling up the beach, making a nest, and laying her eggs. Followed, of course, by the little ones crawling out, heading to the Gulf, but that's 60 days after the eggs are laid. Who knows if we'll get any more than we have, but we're going to give it a try.

Couple days later, another false crawl, and this time Ranger Robert is on duty and did all the paperwork. As you can see, Barb's off feeding her addiction, looking for yet another "special" shell while the paper work is being done. Easy to see where this turtle simply crawled up, turned, and crawled back down. No messing around, making us think there may be a nest in the sand someplace. We're still hoping, and have a standing request with all the rangers to call us whenever they find a crawl. The "turtle watch" starts at 6:30 AM, 7 days a week, so our alarm clock is a busy little device these days! Saturday and Sunday mornings, we're "officially" a part of the turtle search team, but during the week we're just interlopers.

It's love-bug season, and the restrooms on the beach were full of them! Every May and September, these pests emerge, mate, lay eggs, and die, all within the space of a couple of weeks, more or less. The individuals live about 2-3 days and there are hoards of them! Called love-bugs partially because during mating, they stay connected for the entire lifespan of the male which is the smaller of the two. The larger female is in total control over where and when they go anywhere, staying connected the whole time. Hummmm. Sounds strangely familiar, doesn't it? They don't bite, only drink nectar and water if/when available. Lay eggs in the leaf litter and spend most their lives as larva, munching away on decaying leaves. They stink if you squash them, and they're really quite tender, so brushing them off yourself can be a touchy proposition. They also have a very acidic body fluid, and can stain the paint on the front of the vehicles, so it's advisable to wash them off every evening at the end of any driving. We've seen vehicles that have turned on their windshield wipers because the view of the road has been blotted out entirely by smashed bugs, and the whole front of the vehicle will be black with the bodies. In earlier posts (several years back), we have some pictures of the front of our truck as well as the motorhome pretty well covered with these pests.

Yuki is one of the volunteers who lives in the area, and every Wednesday comes to pick up garbage on the beach. She and Barb have struck up a friendship, and we've been the recipients of Yuki's generosity on several occasions. She made and gave Barb a lovely coquina shell necklace and some other cute little decorations. She grows pineapples at her home, and has shared them with us as well.

During a conversation, we learned that she makes decorations out of goose eggs, in the Faberge fashion, and she brought a photo album to share with us. We were thrilled with her work, and when we learned that some of her work was going on display at the Ft. Myers library, we told her we'd run up to have a look. She said that she lived not far from there, and for us to call her when we went to the library. As it turned out, we got there before the display, so that's still on our list of things to do, and when we called her she invited us right over. Once there, she pulled out a few eggs for us to see and here are a few of them.