Fall Colors and Birds

I've been looking at photos on the internet of the pretty leaves that have turned red and gold. I thought I'd show you the reds and golds around here:


Red!


And gold! I guess you can tell that fall here does not include falling leaves. In fact it feels just like summer. I have to enjoy the lovely flowers that are blooming rather than leaves changing their colors.

One important thing, however, is that the birds here are in their fall plumage. Even the gulls look very different and the laughing gulls are quiet for a change. But, this makes identifying birds quite tricky!


We go to a nearby bird and nature center at least once a week. Each time we see something different because of fall migration. As it gets cold up north the birds are coming south. Many stop by right here to eat and rest and then go farther south for the winter. This sign is in front of the center and I thought it was a funny sign. If I stood behind it you wouldn't be able to see me at all!


I have my binoculars ready to look for birds.


Some of them are very far away.

I grabbed my camera and took some photos so you can see some of the birds we saw on this day:


These are white pelicans, terns and gulls.


This is a great egret.


Peek-a-boo! This is a young heron.


And this is a tri-colored heron.

That's about it for now. Next I hope to do a post on the celebrations here for Día de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. It's more important here than Halloween!

~Kiki signing off

Life On An Island

Hello everyone! I am writing from a very different sort of place today. While many people are enjoying fall colors and digging out sweaters and hats, I am practically living in my swim suit and glad we have AC! I am on an island far, far south. If we went a few miles farther south we would be in Mexico. In fact, we feel like we are since we see mostly all Mexican families at the beach and in stores and hear much more Spanish than English. Clara and meli are delighted!


Toni and I spend most of our time at the beach.


"Come on, Kiki! Surf's up!" We actually boogie board, but we like to say we are surfing.




Here's Clara standing in our garden. It's all cactus plants, but still has some colorful flowers.


In the north you might be picking apples while here we are picking the cactus figs. They are edible and no animals can get to them because of their sharp spines. You can't see them, but the grey dots are actually lots of tiny but sharp hairs.


Being careful not to touch those stickers, Clara picked a bowlful.


Meli very carefully cut them and removed the sweet fruit from inside. She is going to mix them with other fruits for a fruit salad for tonight's dinner. It's also very common to make jam out of them and I hope we get to do that later.

As Toni says, surfs up, so I have to go. More later!

Kiki, the island girl.