Some more Wildlife action photos...

Hello Buckaroos, again.

I re-read Pat Frank's 1959 novel, "Alas, Babylon", the other day when I was bored. The first time I read the story was sometime in 1977, and it was pretty good to the teenager reading. The tale is about a group of folks living on or near the St Johns River who survive a nuclear holocaust and make a good living without the modern conveniences. When She Who Will be Obeyed and I began our search for a new home, the memory of that story came a bit alive. Imagine the fun of finding a new home that fit in with the locale of "Alas, Babylon"?

The previous owner mentioned the similarity of the property to the novel when we first visited, and we had a very nice conversation about our common enjoyment of the novel and I was sure to bring her a new copy when we closed on the home. The real estate closing was in an office across the way from a park with a gazebo in downtown Palatka. Darn it, if that wasn't the same gazebo described so clearly in the text of the novel... I knew we were gonna love living down here!

There is always something to do when living on a property adjacent to a waterway, fishing, birdwatching, gator and snake avoidance, turtle guiding (Yep, turtles get on our lawn!)

and cat wrangling. We have four regular feral cats in the yard with two reserve cats who come around for the occasional scrap that the four will leave.

Sammy Snowshoe

Pyewacket, Maureen and Odd Job

"Where's dinner?!"

We feed the outdoor kittehs twice a day and they seem to like us. But, as feral cats, they keep their distance and retain their independence.

This tale, is about other wild life.

We love to spend time on the dock watching the birds and other critters doing their daily routines. Anhingas, herons, mud hens, hawks, buzzards and every other water fowl which reside in Florida are the real regulars around Barco Landing. Once in a while, we have a camera handy to record some of the activity on or near our dock...

This one is from Brazil

No, really... We do have some great bird photos.

Heron

Turkeys

Woodpecker

Wait, what's this...?

One afternoon on the dock, I heard a rustling above our heads. An Osprey, carrying a fish was trying to get away from another B1Rd...

!

The fight was on...

The osprey tried jinking, diving and climbing but the eagle had him locked on with it's canny version of fire control radar...

Osprey tried for a climbing stall, the eagle seemingly stopped in mid-air, applied the afterburners and powered his way into climbing to the stalled osprey... 

The osprey was not giving up the fish, he made a quick dive and turn towards the lone cypress tree to dodge the eagle's incessant attacks...

Yankin' and bankin'

Finally, just past the cypress, the Eagle made the move and took that fish all of the way from that osprey...  Good Kill!!!

 The victorious eagle flies away with his just desserts while the osprey returns home to his nest to the hungry ridicule of his mate.


Have a fine day, we'll come up with more 'Tales from Barco Landing' in the near future. Until then...

Barco Out.