Trips of Contrast

 Troy and Carmen flew into Orlando from the cold north for a few days vacation taking in Universal Studio's Harry Potter Adventure, Sea World and a trip to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  They followed the Atlantic coast - racking up a nice list of birds and viewing Manatees.  They spent the two nights at Daryl & Vicki's and we drove back to Orlando for one fun day at Disney's Animal Kingdom

We were very impressed with the zoological, botanical and architectural design and development.  Our favorite exhibit was the African Safari aboard the authentic jungle trucks, (seen to the right facing off with the White Rhinoceros).

From the intensionally designed rough roads to drive-through water holes and the Serengeti Plains, we experienced close-up encounters with giraffes, wild cattle, antelopes, big cats, and these young elephants with mom (roaming along the artificial Baobob Trees).

This photo at right is looking into the Asian section seeing the beautiful Mt. Everest in the distance.  We especially enjoyed the African and Asian walk through aviaries, the live bird show with free flying birds with a great environmental message.

In a matter of hours this Douglas Turbine DC3 transported Daryl & Ty into the Caribbean.  However, the sights sounds and smells were altogether from a different world.  This adventure immersed us into the life and culture of Haiti.

Our mission trip goal was to meet with the teachers, pastors, and children of the four schools that New Hope Missions Intl. sponsors.  We delivered a lap-top computer and electric guitars for church ministry.

We picked up 89 boxes of school supplies from the seaport warehouse and began hand sorting items into handbags for each of the 800 children and teachers.

The extreme physical poverty was evident all around us, like the homes on this litter-strewn polluted river.  The river serves as drinking water, laundry, transportation and septic system and fishing grounds.

In contrast, new church construction with strong and growing attendance, and the Christian based school curriculum is a testimony to God's love and grace for these needy people.


This visit has left a lasting impact on me personally.  Ida and I count it a privilege and a blessing to be involved in a small way in this important ministry.  Although I spent little time birding on this trip I managed to identify 37 species, 20 of which were life birds.

Blessing & Prayers,
Ty & Ida Baumann

Interesting Florida Habitats

As we close out our winter stay in Port St. Lucie, we visited several local wildlife areas.  Near the RV Park we walked daily to the Wood Stork Trail, finding different birds and wildlife every day.  This Great Egret did a close fly-by over the crosswalk.

This Cuban Tree Frog was discovered in a Catclaw Acacia Tree, almost hidden until a few leaves were moved to photograph it.

This Green Heron is a "reflection" of the numerous herons and egrets encountered along the trail's wetland.

A visit to Hutchinson Island resulted in some beautiful shell collecting for us as well as this Willet doing his own collecting in the surf.

Royal Terns rested on the beach after diving for fish in the surf.  We drove the island from Fort Pierce to Jensen Beach.

We took the River Lilly Cruise up the northern branch of the St. Lucie River.  When we were in Maine at Acadia National Park at one of the campgrounds, we met the couple that give this guided nature tour.  Our family and friends joined us - the three kids especially loved all the alligators - 16 in all.

Small world note:  We met this family at the RV Park from Wisconsin, when we told them we had worked and lived at the Wildlife Sanctuary in Green Bay for 40 years, Jessie asks, "Are you Daryl Baumann's brother?"  She had Daryl for a teacher at the Baptist school in Antigo.  Her husband is working on the pipeline in West Palm Beach.  We were able to get everybody together for some fun and visiting.

The rare find of the day was this 5 foot long Red Rat Snake (to the right) - some of the people in the boat didn't even want to look.

Because it was a sunny day, all the reptiles were basking in the warmth.  Even this Soft-shelled Turtle stayed above the water as the boat drifted by.

We took day trips to the Oxbow Eco-Center, Savannah Preserve, Allopattah Flats and the east side of Lake Okeechobee.  We heard and saw Limpkins in 3 out of 4 of these places.  This one found a nice sized Apple Snail for lunch.

Next blog will include our Disney Animal Kingdom adventure with Troy & Carmen who vacationed in Orlando for Valentine's Week.  Plus Ty's upcoming mission's trip to Haiti with Daryl. Please pray for their safety and good health on this three day trip.

Love & Prayer's
Ty & Ida Baumann

More Treasures from "The Treasure Coast"

We ended 2012 at  Port St. Lucie and began 2013 with walks almost daily nearby at "Wood Stork Trail" (trails name sake is at left - aka "old flint-head").


 For you birders - our bird list numbers were 488 for 2012,  609 for our journey list including 24 life birds.

Just so you know, we are not strictly "for the birds", we do note other critters.  This Dog-day Cicada (one of the annual cicadas) was singing in our RV Park and gave us a close up view,  possibly a snack for one of the nearby birds.

 We found this 5" slug (proving you can't always be looking up for birds) on the sidewalk almost underfoot.  (More possible bird food.)

 This large shrub is Dahoon and the locals call it Christmas Berry.  This abundant fruit supply is definitely a major food source for hundreds of Am. Robins and Yellow-rumped Warblers, plus Cedar Waxwings, Cardinals, and Blue Jays.

We took another trip west to the Allopattah Flats. A different habitat produces different birds.  For you non-birders, there are lots of cattle and of course the abundant Cattle Egrets feasting on insect life that the cattle disturb.

While observing a Crested Caracara, (pictured below) this majestic Bald Eagle flew in chasing the caracara off the perch and landed right above us.

Although smaller, the Caracara made off with the prize, a fresh road-kill.

The best treasure has been visits with family, Ty's brother Daryl and his wife Vicki.  We've had great times at church, home and working on projects together for New Hope Missions to Haiti.

A bird must have taken this picture.
Love & Prayers to all.
Ty & Ida Baumann

The Treasure Coast

 Port St. Lucie is part of "The Treasure Coast" and we're finding a treasure trove of good birds (like this Little Blue Heron) and wildlife.  On a historical note it is called the Treasure Coast because the Spanish Treasure Fleet laden with Golden Cob (coins) was lost in a hurricane in 1715.  Its recovery in 1961 gave international attention to this area.

The ocean waters still continue to yield other treasures like a recent Manatee rescue that we were a part of.  (Look for Ty helping in the picture to the right.)  We drove up to Ft. Peirce State Park for a day at the beach.  An injured 500+ pound female Manatee (possibly a victim of recent shark attack and ship collision) had been washed up on the beach.

 It took a "team" of Florida DNR, Whale Rescue, Manatee Rescue, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife to drag the animal up the beach out of the rising tide, plus keeping her shielded from the sun and wet.  Two hours later the wildlife ambulance arrived with a stretcher (pictured).  Many volunteers were needed to lift her unto the stretcher.

  A huge tractor with forks was brought in to transport the Manatee from the beach to the vehicle to be delivered to the wildlife rehabilitation center.


Later we saw a Loggerhead Sea Turtle, a Razorbill, Parasitic Jaeger and 4 Frigatebirds actively feeding out from the Ft. Pierce inlet.

We have been taking daily walks on the "Wood Stork Trail" a wetlands about a mile from our RV Park.  Some of the wildlife highlights include Great Egrets (pictured), Wood Storks, Fulvous Whistling Ducks, Anhingas, Alligators, Raccoons, Stinkpot & Cooter Turtles, and a tiny Ring-necked Snake.  Some of the 'snow birds' over wintering are hundreds of Yellow-rumped & Palm Warblers, with a few Pine, Yellow-throated, Prairie, Black & White Warblers, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Blue-headed Vireos, and Baltimore Oriole.

This last month we have spent great family time with Daryl (Ty's brother) and Vicki, joining them for church including great Christmas programs, Bible Studies and meals together.  We also have visited local parks and wildlife areas along Hutchinson's Island together.

For January 1st we took the "Polar Bear Plunge" (in the Lake Michigan tradition) in the solar heated pool of the RV Park.  No one else joined us as they say the pool is "too cold" at 75 degrees.

Happy New Year & God's Blessing
Ty & Ida Baumann

Lake Okeechobee & Loxahatchee

Our next Florida stop was Lake Okeechobee, the largest fresh water lake and well known for it's spectacular birdwatching.  We used portions of this 140 mile long dike as an elevated vantage point to view large concentrations of wading birds including egrets, herons, ibis, spoonbills and a variety of waterfowl.  Each night at sunset hundreds of birds flew in from all directions to their night roost.  We stayed several nights at the brand new county RV park at South Bay.

 Large plumbs of smoke rising thousands of feet in the air signals the burning and harvest of sugar cane.  The ash fall out drifted for miles raining down on and all around us.  This area yielded two new target birds for our journey - the Purple Gallinule and the larger chicken-like Purple Swamphen (a life bird for us, but not an ABA countable bird as they were introduced to Florida).

All the buildings at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge were completely destroyed a few years ago by a hurricane.  The new Nature Center is very nice with state-of-the-art exhibits.  We walked the trails and found another trip bird - the Limpkin.  This one posed for us high in the tree.

 We camped a few days at Jonathan Dickenson State Park - many acres of Florida scrub which we walked each day.  It took a while but we found the Florida Scrub Jays and this one was very cooperative for a photo.  In this area we also visited the Hobe Sound and Nature Center, walking the dune trails to the Indian River.

We took a guided river boat tour up the Loxahatchee River from the State Park, passing large alligators and egrets.  Arriving at Trapper Nelson's Historical site, a ranger gave a guided tour and narrated the life and legend of this industrious swamp denizen.

We are now at Port St. Lucie RV Park for the next three months.  Located four miles from Ty's brother Daryl and his wife Vicki.  They are with New Hope Missions to Haiti.

Frequent rainbows are a constant reminder of God's provision.  As we approach Christmas we can receive another of God's promises.  The provision of eternal life through God's Son Jesus.

Merry Christmas!
Ty & Ida

Florida Atlantic Coast

Crossing into Florida we drove around the Jacksonville area and settled into Bryn Mawr RV Park at Crescent Beach south of St. Augustine.  We walked the extensive beaches and birded to the jetty where we found these Ruddy Turnstones.  There were many Willets and Sanderlings, lots of Brown Pelicans, Black Scoters and Greater Scaup on the move.  We then spent a couple days at Anastasia Island State Park - more beach walking where we found Wilson's Plovers resting in the sand.  We saw more Gopher Tortoises in the dunes - see picture in Georgia Blog.

 At Ponce de Leon Inlet south of Daytona Beach, we walked to the fishing jetty where Snowy Egrets were waiting for handouts from those catching bait in nets.  This one posed for everyone to take pictures.  Also saw a Piping Plover and Reddish Egrets on the inlet.

Canaveral National Seashore was our next destination covering the northern shores then south toward Titusville.  At our picnic lunch stop, we noticed the front tire was flat - after changing it we drove to Tires Plus to get it fixed - broken stem, no charge!

We spent 9 days at "The Great Outdoors RV, Nature and Golf Resort".  The place was huge, and had great nature trails and a small Nature Center.  Lots of birds and butterflies like this Zebra Longwing Butterfly were found along the trails.  We attended the in-park church along with about 400 others, most arrived in their golf carts, but as non golfers  we walked the 1 1/2 miles from our site.

 We made two more trips back to Merritt Island National Wildlife Area - the vast wetlands with it's rich wildlife.  We slowly drove the Black Point auto tour where we pulled up behind an Audubon field trip and pointed out to them a beautiful drake Eurasian Wigeon amid 11 species of ducks.  We also added Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbills and many alligators, plus Florida Scrub Jays - trip bird #602

Our friends Denny & Sue Dunlop arrived to their winter home across from us and we enjoyed 3 days of visiting and eating out until we left for Melbourne Beach.

There we found more Green Bay friends, Tom & Darlene Swille.  We joined them for church at their large worship center, and went later to Turkey Creek Sanctuary and Nature Center for a beautiful day of exploring.  We enjoyed walking the unusually narrow beach, thanks to Hurricane Sandy that scoured tons of sand from the beach and dunes.  We did have lots of Sanderlings running in the waves as these pictured.  With the north winds and high surf we counted over 800 Northern Gannets flying south and feeding.  We wondered if any of these birds were the ones we saw on the nesting cliffs in Newfoundland.

At the Melbourne Beach RV park we found our first Royal Palms with fruit turning red.  Also saw trip bird #603 flying over the park - a Magnificent Frigatebird.  We are now heading to Lake Okeechobee for a few days and then to Port St. Lucie.

Our best to everyone.
Love & Prayers,
Ty & Ida

Georgia

 Our first stop was Tybee Island east of Savannah, Georgia at River's End RV Park.  We had some great birds within walking distance from the park. We saw 53 Am. Oystercatchers and 100's of Black Skimmers, Sandwich and Royal Terns plus Lesser Black-backed Gulls.  Horseshoe Crabs were being washed up on the beach in the rough surf like this large one pictured.  Bottled-nosed Dolphins played and caught fish near the shore; surfacing, jumping, rollings and tail waving.

We decided to "Hyde" out on Jekyll Island as Hurricane Sandy passed by 200 miles out to sea.  Before it came north, we found all these Fiddler Crabs marching along the upper beach.  For the next 3 days this area was completely covered by high surf from the storm.

 With the low pressure, high winds and terrifically high surf, we found a very interesting sight.  Over 5,000 Tree Swallows swirling and landing on the beach scrub brush, then erupting to swirl again.  Here is the video, which we hope you can access so you can share in this phenomenal experience.

Jekyll Island is a very unique, historical island, beautifully kept mostly undeveloped.  The campground had a "Bird Sanctuary" where we watch 24 species of birds come to the feeding and watering areas.  On this small island we found 77 species in the 5 days we spent here.

Being near the Jacksonville TV reception area we were able to watch the Packer game in Green Bay and see the familiar scenes of "home".  It was great to see the Packers beat the Jags.

As cold air moved southward - we did too, heading to the Okefenokee Swamp staying just north of the National Wildlife Refuge at the Laura S. Walker State Park.  We saw our first Armadillo, found Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, Brown-headed Nuthatches and Com. Ground Doves.  We intercepted this fast moving Gopher Tortoise as it headed to its large underground burrow.

We are now following the Florida coast south.
Our best to all our followers.
Thanks for joining us for our adventures.
God Bless "you all".
Ty & Ida Baumann