Monday, August 09, 2010

Bird Dock At Atsenia Otie Key


Early in the morning off of Seahorse Key.



If you are a frigate bird, it's time to soar on up into the warming air.
Somewhere below, a fish has a date with your beak.


Captain D.



After a full day of fishing with my pal, Captain Denny Voyles, we cruised by the dock at Atsenia Otie Key to look at the birds.
Denny is not a birder, but he was pumped up about all the neat birds using the dock as a roost. So, beneath a gathering storm, we zipped over to Atsenia Otie and made a few drifts along the dock ... bird watching.





Line up of the usual suspects.

Fish rustlers.




Diversity dock.


Even more diversity dockage.
This dock was built years ago when a developer was going to carve Atsenia Otie into a "boat access only" subdivision.
Lucky for the birds, the fish, the farm raised Cedar Key clams, you, and I , ... the Nature Conservancy and the US Fish and Wildlife Service rescued the island.
It's ours now and forever.
In the meantime, the T-shaped dock has become a haven for the birds, who don't care if it is a little weather beaten and rustic.





The main reason Denny wanted to go to the bird dock was " this tiny little tern" that had shown up there lately.
He even used the word "cute" when describing it.
It terned out to be least terns that he was so excited about.
They are tiny ... and dang it, they are cute.









11 comments:

Aunty Belle said...

"a date with his beak"

heh.

Did ya have a downpour? We did over heah.

Anonymous said...

Hi FC,

Whoa is right! That was one huge bolt. I stopped the video (17 sec)to check it out. And yes, cute little bird.

Did you ever go to Disney when it first opened? Eastern Airlines had an exhibit. It was similar to your video. You sat in a car that moved towards a big movie screen. The scenes changed but you felt that you were part of the scene. Got dizzy when turned corners. Not explaining very well but it was pretty cool!

Patio
Patio

lisa said...

I saw the lightning in the distance off to the left. Never heard or saw a tern before so that was cool to see.

kathy a. said...

wow, that's a lotta terns! very cute. also liked their pelican pal.

Thunder said...

Good pics and nice video!
See you real soon!

threecollie said...

Fantastic video and I thank you! for the ride.

R.Powers said...

Aunty,
We have been having daily downpours! It's cramping my housepainting style!

Patio,
Yikes! It looks even bigger when you stop it! Thanks for that tip.
I even went to the Disney preview center they put up while it was being constructed. Dad loaded us up in the car and we went to see what the heck Walt was up to in Orlando.



Lisa,
I love it when somebody says that about something I share here. Thanks!!


Kathy A,
Pelicans? Don't you mean pteradactyls?



Dave,
See you this very soon.


ThreeCollie,
You are always welcome aboard.

Ava said...

Wow! That was great!

Bill said...

FC,
Now that is a little more sane than messing with Mocs.

Billy

debbie said...

You know better than to be out on the water with lightening in the area.

R.Powers said...

Ava,
Neat birds huh!

Billy,
Isn't almost anything? LOL!

Debbie,
Okay Mom.
In my defense, we were heading in precisely because of that.
But you are right.