Funny! Thanks for a funny start to the day!

Thanks! It is a great place.

Yep - all the creatures were enjoying the day!

It is a great spot. I am fortunate to have it near my house, so even if I don't feel like taking photos (yes, sometimes that happens! ) I go to just walk for an hour for the exercise - and it is always interesting.

Thanks, Sylvia!

Thanks, Doc - they are used to people walking by, and so they let you get pretty close (except for the little blue herons, which seem more skittish than the other birds! ).

Really nice. Not sure about the first two - but the rest are beautiful.

Nice photo!

Beautiful!

They have reopened the roads (for those who cannot walk or bicycle) on the dikes after doing road grading and filling in the rain-induced potholes. There still do not seem to be a lot of winter visitors yet - hopefully this will be changing soon as the fantastic Space Coast Birding Festival has started! (http://www.spacecoastbirdingandwildlifefestival.org/ ). I am sure many folks come to see and photograph Florida's native birds, though.

The cool weather doesn't stop the enthusiasm of the wildlife! Lots of activity as always, and when the sun comes out, you can find gators of all sizes sunning themselves along the banks. Below are a few shots from yesterday.

The wetlands website:

http://www.brevardcounty.us/NaturalResources/EnvironmentalResources/VieraWetlands

Anyone missing a child? Yum!

I have just discovered a problem with these cards - having done it twice now.... They are not as dynamic as a USB drive in that you cannot change files on them without screwing them up. After doing this twice I now know a distinct limit. And when I did it the second time yesterday it was with a new, high-quality card which was formatted in the camera. You cannot (or at least not always) change a file on the card itself without screwing things up.

What I did: I was using the windows photo viewer to scan through the images on the card to see which ones I wanted to work with. The photo viewer does not automatically rotate the photos. I rotated a vertical one, and when I moved on it asked if I wanted to store the changed image. When I said yes, it immediately corrupted the card. I have a rescue program which I can use to rescue most of the day's images...hopefully. I assume that I can reformat the card after that and continue using it.

So: the moral of the story - ALWAYS transfer your images on to your hard drive before doing anything to them.

I agree! Taken yesterday in Brevard County:

Anyone missing any children?

Snorkeling in the Springs is not allowed during the winter months. During the warmer months you might encounter manatees - we have in the past - although after this past summer's disaster - where a snorkeler in the Springs was killed by an alligator - we might think twice about that! It is possible to snorkel with manatees in Crystal River, on the West Coast of Florida.

For those interested, there is a web cam which live streams from Blue Springs with a daily manatee report during the winter months!

http://www.savethemanatee.org/savethemanateecam.html

This shows why he is such a favorite throughout Europe. Very funny!

After that I watched Rieu and Amira Willighagen - the 9-year old winner of "Holland's Got Talent" - what a stunning performance( singing " O Mio Babino Caro" ) :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDqa4esWbb4#t=254