Evolutionary Plume

Around Dresden, Germany

We started the morning fairly early having slept well and then when we arrived at the Hautbahnhof, it seemed as if our train was already in the station waiting on line 20. We hopped aboard. Well, a young man was helping his mother board in the same coach we selected. He didn't like our suitcases sitting in our seating area, so helped put them on the racks above the seats. His mother didn't let him put hers up because she couldn't get it down. She didn't speak English and didn't seem to want us to sit with her, so she and her son sat outside the train. Concerned we weren't okay to sit in our seats, Bob asked the railway attendent if it was okay. She apparently didn't hear the part about going to Dresden (the train had just come from Dresden). When the man' mother got back on, she mentioned she was going to Hannover. At that news, Bob and I grabbed down our suitcases and hopped off the train. The young man then helped show us where our train would be, it was on line 20 or on line 18, both 20 minutes apart, one regional, one ICE. He thought we wouldn't need tickets since it wasn't that busy. Bob went down and got us reservations, anyway. The 1st class tickets on the ICE trains are much nicer and more comfortable.

When we arrived in Dresden, we took a taxi to the Hilton. The taxi driver got a little irritated since just as we turned into the tunnel to the hotel, a carriage pulled by a horse pulled in front of us going very slowly and hogged the road so he couldn't get around.

The Hilton concierge asked about why we were going to the National Park the next day and he suggested we take the train upriver and the boat downriver since it wouldn't take so long. He told us there was a lovely restaurant. He gave us the train name and time and the boat reservations (for 35 Euros). All in all we were quite content. He also suggested our next stop, a beer at a biergarten overlooking the Elba River. We were also told we had complimentary WiFi.

Elbe River, Dresden, Germany

Laundry is quite expensive but we decided it was less stress to have them do it.

Our first stop was the biergarten on the left side of the river just up the street from the hotel in an Italian restaurant and turned out to have the best dessert--three scoops of vanilla ice cream served with cooked sour cherries in a sauce served warm and poured over the top. It was wonderfully good.

Zwinger Palace, Dresden, Germany

Then finally it was time to get on with the tourist day. Our first stop was the Zwinger Palace, the 1850s fantasy castle with a lovely nymph fountain and small areas where collections of artwork are held. The museum was closed, as were all the others due to it being Monday. So we walked around taking picture of old buildings and grinning griffins we happened to look up and see.

Husband Bob on the Elbe River Walk, Dresden, Germany

 

Then we walked from one bridge to the other, across and down the other side and back. The excuse was the Chinese palace, called this because of the decor using Chinese people decorations.This next bridge was difficult to get aboard, requiring a detour to see the stadium and then up almost to the Mosque, then up the stairs. Back went much easier, providing a few statues, and lots of roses and some fabulous views.

Views from the Bridge, Elbe River, Dresden, Germany

Since it was still early, I talked Bob into a trip to the Botanical Garden and Grosser Garden. Both are quite lovely but the real winner is the Botanical Garden with its thousands of plants, all neatly named and positioned in rock gardens, ponds, natural gardens, and gardens set up to use plastic protection in winter time. I got to see the flower that makes the famous Myrhh (myrhh plant from Africa).

Botanic Garden, Dresden, Germany

To get to the Botanical Garden required a short walk to the tram station, purchase of tickets, and a trip on the tram for about 2 stops, the return trip took 4 stops. Then we walked another short distance past the Volkswagen building where they make glass (for the windows we assume, the building has car bodies on many floors).

Grosser Garden, Dresden, Germany

The Grosser Garden is centered around a Palace estate with a large pond, creek, and many trees and some flowering.

Birds: House Martin, Fieldfare, Wood Duck, Blackbird, House Sparrow, Common Blackbird, Hooded Crow, Mute Swan, Carrion Crow

Leipzig, Germany and Die Feen at the Oper

We were slugs. We woke up slow and by the time we were dressed, we were hungry so on the advice of the staff at the Radisson Blu, we sought out Meredo near Nikolai Kirche.

We bypassed Nicholas Strasse because for once the area wasn't mobbed since all the stores were closed so we backtracked and I wanted to see a building so we came in by the side to where a man was playing songs from Fiddler on the Roof on an accordian. Turns out he played right beside the restaurant Meredo where we planned to eat, so were serenaded throughout ourmeal.

After lunch we ducked into the Nicholas Kirke to see the beautiful decor and as we left we spotted a display of pictures from the 1989 uprising that started in Leipzig and spread to the rest of Eastern Germany during the fall of the USSR, very sad.

Then we continued on the the Hauptbahnhof to get Bob some limes and while we were there, we found the reservation center open and so made reservations on the ICE trains for several portions of our trip.

Then since it was nearing our early ticket time and I needed to get ready, we returned to the hotel and just relaxed.

Die Feen  by Richard Wagner turned out to be a wonderful opera. We bought a brochure telling the story. During the first break, we ran into Mary, our friendly Englishwoman who we'd met the day before, during the second break we played around taking photographs. Afterwards, we went to our room and crashed because we were moving on to Dresden, Germany the next day.

Lutherstadt-Wittenburg with Side Trip to Worlitz Park May 23, 2014

Bob had read about Worlitz Park being a birding hot spot and oldest garden in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage site so we wanted to go. We got up, dressed and showered and went for breakfast.

Afterwards, we hired a taxi that the hotel clerk called for us and we met it outside Luther's House next door (entry to the Best Western is a bit difficult) since there's no driving on the main street (although the rescue vehicle's can enter by lowering a post in the middle of the road, which is cool).

The drive to the park was spent discussing with our taxi driver whether he could move to the United States. I told him to look at the jobs pages for each of the states and check his qualifications and apply since he'd need a green card and that's easier done if he is hired somewhere, but Bob explained it isn't that easy to get a green card. The young man explained he had experience with electrician, mechanical and computer skills but not much about his education which I told him was in demand but Bob warned him most electrician jobs required an apprenticeship. He was working three jobs, his last position paid him 7 Euros and he wanted to know about the associated earnings in the US which we said varied, $40 an hour for electricians, $50-100,000 for computer specialists. We had a friend who had a PhD in Engineering who had moved to the US and continued to pay his German Social Security taxes because he wanted to return and retire in Germany. When we were let off, we arranged to have a taxi return to pick us up at the same spot at 5 pm.

Worlitz Park turned out to be a wonderful experience. It involved a long walk (with bathrooms located at three points inside the 700 sq. hectare property, over a large number of canals.

Many lakes were connected by the canals. The trees were a mix of deciduous and evergreen of many species, the walkways lined with wild roses, or grasslands mixed with wild flowers and even at one point a farm field of some cereal, a very bluish sort of wheat or barley, maybe.

 

On the property are a Castle House, a Castle, several houses, a building like an observatory with statues inside, many statues, and lots of decorative bridges.

We birded through the property finding many fun new birds. The Cuckoo enticed us on one side of a treed area where we couldn't find him until he flew over to the other side. His call is quite deep and resonant.

 

Later, I loved catching sight of the Great Crested Grebe found in the furthest part on the left side of the park (from the entry) in the lake. Their crests are raised and lowered and quite decorative. We searched through Scandanavia and England for these and it was fun to finally see them.

We had about an hour upon our return to town and we decided on drinks instead of touring the castle. We found our meeting point then walked a short way to the Landhouse Worlitzer hotel where we had Radeburger beer and a eis, apple strudel with hazelnut ice cream and vanilla cream.

The waiter had halting English better than our awful German and we learned the word for fork, gabel or kunchgable which is a dessert fork. Eventually, we were so humorous a man at the next table said why don't you speak English since I can speak both languages. He shared he was on vacation from Hannover and they were to take a dinner cruise through the park that night. He was surprised that with my family background I hadn't learned German and when I thought about it it was because German wasn't taught in our high school, we only had a French and Spanish teacher and though I wanted to learn Spanish, it was full so I took French.

We returned to the hotel and had dinner and another dessert and headed to bed.

Birds: Starling, Mallard, Wood Duck, House Sparrow, Common Blackbird, Great Tit, Willow Tit, Mute Swan, Hooded Crow, Pied Flycatcher, *Common Cuckoo, Blackheaded Gull, Rock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, *?Red Kite, Barn Swallow, *Mistle Thrush, Tree Sparrow, *Great Crested Grebe, Chaffinch, Green Finch

Travel from Lutherstadt-Wittenberg to Leipzig, Germany, May 24, 2014

The starting event for the day was getting to the train station, riding the crowded train to Leipzig, Germany and then to our hotel. Easy to do just eat breakfast, pack up, take a taxi each way. The main highlight of the trip was seeing both windmills and solar panel parks, Germany is going strong with alternative energy sources.

In Leipzig, we realized our train stop because it is quite noticeably a big city with lots of interesting architecture, I missed the best picture of some storage containers that I hope to get on the way out of town. I took horrid pictures with my phone during the trip but hopefully picking up some of the local companies. Bob had a brilliant guess that one of the crops we've been seeing is beets.

At the hotel, we were told we must wait for our room but they'd check our bags. When we finally return to our hotel, our room key's are waiting for us and we're set to go up, very quick helpful service.

Our first taste of Leipzig involved a walk through downtown central which is closed to traffic to get to Thomas Kirke where they held a Bach motet.

 

 

The service involved a talk by Professor Andreas Schule, a selection from Mendelssohn on the organ, Jesu meine Freude by Johann Sebastion Bach sung by the boys choir with alternating straight lyrics and lyrics sung in a round, a lovely piece by Brahms, a piece by Lesung which encouraged the audience to participate every other verse, the talk, and then a concluding piece by Bach played by the orchestra featuring several vocalists and the choir.

The church is quite huge and the music sounded very well acoustically, especially from our position in the balcony. The end of it concluded without applause which surprised me. While we waited for the performance, we ran into a very nice woman who often attended Covent Garden performances and she gave us some local tips and tips for Dresden.

Throughout the main part of Leipzig, we witnessed couples waltzing, a flutist, a guitar player, a group playing, a man talking to the crowd along with the numerous old buildings which we'll see more of tomorrow.

 

The main standout is the old Townhall and we saw the New Townhall on our way to the hotel and it is equally fine in architecture. 

The most beautiful building is the University of Leipzig across the street from our hotel.

 

After we ate our late lunch, we dressed for our ballet. Bob had a fright when he thought we were late but it turned out to be tomorrow's tickets.

The ballet Deca Dance was a world premiere featuring work by choreographer Ohad Naharin and it turned out to be a standout. 

When we arrived, we were able to pick up our tickets for both performances, go upstairs and find our seat with ease in a very lovely building with extremely comfortable seats with plenty of leg room to allow others to get by to their seats. I hope Orlando's new performance hall is as well designed. A dancer was on stage as we sat, pretty much adlibbing to a jazz selection, but as the audience arrived and the performance actually began, it seemed his piece was more choreographed than expected and fit into the next pieces.

Other dancers showed up and began to mimic him exactly or almost exactly. The next piece was a standout featuring unusual lighting to start with and showed the superb training of the Leipzig Ballet. The performance was very crisp, very sharply conveyed. Other selections followed including a duet, trio, quintet, solos, and male and female group pieces and joint pieces. The crowd pleaser was a selection featuring a surprise invitation onto stage. The Leipzigers selected held their own quite well. Mr. Naharin chose very unusual music with striking differences in quality while having movements tie the pieces together nicely.

The German audiences are always so pleased with their entertainment, applauding quite generously.

Trip to Germany 2014 Day 1-3: Reaching Berlin, Detroit, Boston, Paris, not Amsterdam

Everything went well until we were fully boarded on our Delta Airlines flight to Berlin by way of Detroit and Amsterdam. Due to the time delay involved, our heads are wavering about trying to discern whether it is night or day. The delay at Orlando was caused by a tire requiring replacement which held us out in the plane going nowhere for about 90 minutes. Beforehand, the pilot was bragging about he tail wind and how he could get us there well ahead of time. Afterwards, it was up to us hope. The flight gave us a few opportunities to get cloud formation photographs, along with underlying topograpy. We screeched into Detroit with minutes to spare, the flight attendents urging people with lengthy layovers or a final destination here to wait while we all dashed off.

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I kept up with my game playing and Quora and photo hits, until I installed a new Verizon upgrade and it wiped out my cities, restaurant, cafe, and pets. Where they went, and whether anyone is waiting for me is up in the air.
So what now?

I've started reading Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx's Marxist Manifesto, Parallel Text German Short Stories II ed. by David Constantine, and The Black Woman an Anthology by Toni Cade Bombara. I've also figured out how to use my new Merriam Webster Kindle Rhyming Dictionary somewhat (it is all based on vowels).

 

In Detroit, we ran to our gate, with several minutes before departure (4) and the plane sitting on the tarmack, only to have the stewards at the gate telling us we weren't allowed to board with 5 minutes to go. Too bad. Go see the help center.

Assuming that our seats were probably bought out by someone else, we trudged over to the help desk to find our solution.

What we were offered was a flight from Detroit to Boston to Paris to Berlin the next day. I asked, are you going to put us up for the night? The answer was, yes, we can give you a voucher at the Best Western and a cosmetic kit with toothpaste, floss, deodorent, a tee shirt, razor and shaving creme, and cotton swabs. After Bob bumped his hand, we also bought beer, gin, bandages, a vitamin water and laudry soap--we cleaned up a bit of what we were wearing to appear mildly fresh the next morning.

 

The Best Western's outdoor pool not in service yet, play area, and apple trees.
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Bob woke at 6 am and went prowling for three hours before I woke--we both slept restlessly, tossing and turning in the smaller bed. We packed up and went to the airport early thinking we'd eat lunch there. We dined at the Westin. We checked in at the Sky Priority desk because our flights were bumped up to first class on the way to Boston and to Paris. The young lady at the desk helpfully checked our luggage was with us, and printed out new boarding passes after moving our seats to be together on the first flight. We were also listed as TSA Precheck so we didn't have to removed our shoes, computers and belts during our security pass.

The take off from Detroit took us over Lake Erie.

The flight to Boston was smooth even though Bob worried about the 2-4 inches of rain expected along the coast.

Flying into rainy downtown Boston.

We were able to move down several gates and found our flight to Paris via Air France.

On the Air France flight to Paris we were offered our choice of drink on arrival, we both chose champagne. At our seats, large ones that reclined and had a foot rest, we found blankets, cushy head phones, pillows, and a kit which included lip gloss and face lotion, socks, an eye mask and toothbrush and deodorant. 

For dinner, I was offered a glass of lovely French Merlot variety wine, several prawns with pineapple, tomato basil soup with a roll, and short ribs with mashed potatoes. I remember well up to the tomato soup, the short ribs are pretty vague because soon I was dead to the world. Bob fussed to help me get comfortable ( I vaguely remember that) then I woke once needing the facilities and got a fresca and water. Then I was back asleep until breakfast arrived. I had a croissant and a dish of fruit.

I took a few pictures of the sunrise and Parisian are coastline and farms.

We hardly had to wait before our flight to Berlin was ready, standing around mostly after we went through passport control and security which was right up there with TSA Precheck.

The flight to Berlin was seamless. I noticed rural lands very much similar to those in France, although a few more woods and river area. The local towns appear to be built on high rises above the farmlands--some single units, some in the blockhouse style, others like a modern condo or apartment complex. In France, much of the rural life was along the rivers.
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Berlin at last! We found our luggage easily. I dropped my day bag inside, pulled it to the taxi with Bob following along with our reservation and loaded up. The taxi driver managed to get around a traffic accident and to the hotel on a rather twisty route. We noted some of the expected sites enroute. We checked into the Hilton with ease and went up to our room, decided to eat, then stripped, took another pill and crashed until about midnight.

When we woke up around 11pm we were both restless and not very ready for bed. Our legs felt atrophied, I wasn't sure I remembered how to walk. So we dressed and went for a block wide walk around the area. I got some lovely night time photos. Many were out and about, it being Saturday night, with ladies entering into a dance club, and groups waiting for a dining experience.

Day 8: Laundry, lunch at China Chef, Kingsbrae Gardens, visit to Katy’s Cove, St. Andrews, NB

We woke early, then went to the Laundromat where we did two loads of clothes. Excellent washers and dryers so the whole task took about 1 hour fifteen minutes.

Afterwards, we were parked right across from China Chef restaurant so I talked Bob into Chinese food. Most people here were eating breakfast. We ordered almond fried chicken, barbecue pork, vegetable fried rice, spring rolls, and wonton soup. The soup came with three wontons, cabbage, three pieces of sliced pork and had a lovely peanut flavor.

The barbecue pork was quite tasty, with a huge proportion sliced on a bed of cabbage.

The spring rolls were tasty and filled with pork, but I wanted more vegetables and less meat. It came with a lovely sweet and sour sauce made with orange marmalade. The almond friend chicken had a good beer batter coating that was very crunchy and the gravy served on the side.

After lunch we headed to Kingsbrae Gardens for a 2.5 hour walk through the gardens.

In the Kingsbrae Gardens Sculpture Garden, St. Andrews, NB in Canada

We walked through most gardens including the woodland garden where we partically ran over all the wooden bridges because of our familiarity with the bites of red ants and lots of posted signs.

On the edge of the Woodlands at Kingsbrae Gardens, St. Andrews, NB

On our way back to the room we stopped to check out Katy’s Cove and found it was a nice freshwater swimming hole.

Afterwards, we returned to the room at Tara Manor Inn for a swim (far too cold) and for me to do some work.

Day 7: Whale Watch with Whale Watch, lunch at Gables, church at St. Andrews Catholic Church, St. Andrews, NB

We find we get a $4 per person discount for going with Island Quest Marine Whale Watch, Bob also got a discount for being a senior. The entry to the boat is along the pier in the photo below, and down a somewhat steep ramp, depending on how far out the tide is. 

There's lots of seating onboard, and two levels where you can view the whales outdoors. The trip took us out through a gap to near Deer Island, where we saw whales, seals, American Bald Eagle and other birds.

Here's a video of a whale coming up: 

Here's a photo of a whale spouting:

I had fun taking pictures and movies. The back part of the trip we were on the upper deck.

Here's a photo of the fisherman working a sardine net:

Here's Harbor Seals:

And the staff letting us see many sea creatures--crabs, sea urchins, sea stars, scallops, mussels:

After the whale watch, we tried Gables for lunch. We asked about halibut and found none in stock; their fish for the day on offer was salmon. So I had a lovely chicken burger sans cheese and Bob a hamburger with cheese and bacon. Very tasty. The waitress was very nice. Tried out the Moosehead ale, very tasty.

After a brief nap, Bob and I attended St. Andrews Catholic church  mass at 7pm. I fell asleep early, short story and new scene in work.

Day 6: Golf at Algonquin Golf Club by lunch at Kennedy Inn Shiredown Tavern, St. Andrews, New Brunswick

We had a lovely golf outing at Algonquin Golf Club in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, playing with Dodi and Ann, with cart path only.

View of the Bay of Fundy from the Algonquin Golf Club in St. Andrews, New Brunswick

 

View of the Algonquin Resort from the scenic 17th hole on the Algonquin Golf Course.

This meant lots of walks to and from the cart to the ball. Lovely place with lots of pictures. We skipped the golf course lunch since Bob wanted to try the Harbor Inn. Once there, we were told they were closed until 4pm, so we went on to the Kennedy Inn, found a cute dive of a tavern inside and had a good club sandwich and a reuben for Bob, although the portions of meat were rather scanty. Bob tried Pickeroon’s beer.

I found a cute gift (my usual animal) at 

After lunch we visited the Fundy Discovery Aquarium in its beautiful new building.

Then back to our room at Tara Manor Inn, St. Andrews, New Brunswick.

Day 5: Bar Harbor, ME to St. Andrews by the Sea, New Brunswick, swim, snack at Tim Hortons

Checked out of the Bluenose Inn in Bar Harbor, ME  and headed up the road 128 miles to St. Andrews by the Sea in New Brunswick.

We found a quickie drive off to see Petit Manon National Wildlife Reserve (alas, too close to lunch to take either of the hikes).

We took potluck trying the Bluebird Ranch Restaurant in Machias out. I got to watch Jessie on the Disney channel, pretty silly show. The food average. I had a French dip with fries with the bun kind of soggy, Bob a steak and baked potato and string beans.

We stopped at Middleton to check out the Bad Little Falls

and the Burnham Tavern Museum, maintained by the Daughters of the American Revolution and got a good lecture and tour, finding many cool inventions.

We were stopped at the border for a quick check of our vehicle, then quickly found our hotel, the Tara Manor Inn.

We took a good swim, then got somewhat chilled. Bob was hungry so we got a snack, blt, soup, and donut for bob, soup and donut for me.

Hike at Lake Jesup Park Let's Us Find Butterflies

We had a good hike this morning at Lake Jesup Park, even though the trail was posted, Warning, Trail Flooded. The trail was flooded, but the water levels were down and you could mostly creep past most of the pools of water. We didn't get out to the lake because we finally ran into one pool that was far too big, but we'd been out for an hour or more so we turned back. Good thing, I needed water.

This butterfly is a Little Yellow Sulphur  or Eurema lisa (I think, because of the dotting on the edge and spotting)  according to my handy Florida Wildflower and Butterflies chart.

This butterfly is a Queen ( Danaus gilippus ) based on the different shapes and sizes of the upper and lower wing and the dot pattern.

This butterfly is a Zebra Longwing ( Heliconius charitonius ).

This butterfly is actually a moth, yet to be identified (notice the wider body and the different way the wings are held). See MothPhotographers for some options.

This butterfly is a White Peacock ( Anartia jatrophae ).

This butterfly is a Gulf Fritallary ( Agraulis vanillae ). As a catepillar it looks like this:

We also say frogs, wasps, bees, grasshoppers or cicadas and lots of flowers. The entry was through oak forest and we even saw a few birds, more later.

Urbina Bay and Tagus Cove, Fernandina Island, Galapagos, Ecuador

Morning rather fast paced hike around Urbina Bay, Galapagos, Ecuador, on our National Geographic Cruise in fairly warm conditions. We woke early and gathered our wet and dry shoes, climbed aboard a zodiac raft and landed on shore. The hike led over lava rocks to the site where a Galapagos Hawk sat on a post and allowed twenty+ people to photograph it from every side from quite close (10’ or less). It was a juvenile.

The area of Urbina Bay was uplifted in 1954. There aren’t many bones left by the uplift, although the tour staff have laid out the skeleton of a pelican, skeleton of a house cat, skeletons of Sea Turtles washed up on the island that likely died of dehydration recently. I spotted a new type of crab called a velvet crab. Lots of lava on shore bear testimony this is an active volcano area. The main thrill of the uplift though is the huge remnants of sea coral that was cored by scientists and recorded as being 600+ years old. These outcrops are dead but grasses have begun to grow on them.

The loop trail turns inland for awhile and we managed to come upon the local variant of land iguana, the red bat, dead giant tortoises and several live ones.

The Galapagos are late receiving rainfall since the rainy season was supposed to start three weeks ago, but inland, the greenery has expanded from a dead zone in 1954 to lush greenery with full-sized trees and shrubs, of which many were now in bloom. I recognized the tropical maple in blossom, but found many others I need to identify (I’ll add later).

As we left back to the shore we saw manta rays (no pictures).

Lunch for me was Teriyaki Corvina, couscous and vegetables, cold noodles and grated carrots, bread and a sample of walnut tort.

After lunch, Bob complained of continual muscle pains in his legs, so we decided to take the afternoon off and catch up on my paperwork—school and blogs. I taught him several leg stretches, fed him Motrin, and let him sleep. We missed out on snorkeling in Tagus Bay and the kayak session which we signed up for.

Birds: Medium Ground Finch, Galapagos Hawk, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Striated Heron (Sheri only)

Galapagos or Giant Tortoise (elephantos), Galapagos Red Bat

Velvet Crab

Isabela and Fernandina Islands, Galapagos, Ecuador

Today was a more moderate day,  waking up to spot seabirds and dolphins. We didn’t get up fast enough to see the striped dolphins but we did see bottlenosed dolphins and identified several seabirds. Most of the day followed easily with only a zodiac cruise, one hike and one snorkel session.

We were allowed to go on the zodiac cruise with the photography group and I had the chance to get many excellent p having ictures of rocks at Punta Vincent Roca—with birds, crabs, coral, and other sea life. We were treated with Galapagos Penguins and Pacific Green Sea Turtles in the area along with the Galapagos Fur Seal  and Sea Lions and fun. Here's my penguin video.

The formations at this end of the Isabela Island are spectacular geologically, with lava areas, sand stone, lava tubes, uplift and interesting erosion patterns and layers.  The guide was especially helpful suggesting different ways to view the area and encouraging us all to take more and more photographs. The Zodiac driver though was a real helper because he managed to give us all a look from many different directions. I managed to get several videos, Brown Noddy’s fighting over territory and sea action.

The snorkeling was an athletic event, tidewater pulling us into the rocks and a lot of murk in the water, plankton looked like snow (a later lecture showed us many different types). We saw a Galapagos Penguin shoot past, zooming through the water with ease. Sea Turtles chased us down—appearing in our faces and lying in the sand and zooming up from below us. We spotted the green sea urchins that are a specialty of the Galapagos.

In the evening, we took a walk on Fernadina Island at Punta Espinoza, the site of the most recent lava flow (2007?). The area has many, many marine iguana, who lie facing the sun to keep their body temperature at a minimum and spit out salty water they’ve consumed. The eat off the green seaweeds exposed by the tides, nibbling them in a dainty manner. The sea lions and fur seals had a lot of fun in the area body surfing in moderate surf that sloshed into bays and pulled them out. We focused on photographic techniques for a second time. The sunset turned the area steamy and dreamy.

Birds: Galapagos Shearwater subspecies of Audubon Shearwater, White-vented or Elliot’s Storm Petrel, Southern Fulmar, Flightless or Galapagos Cormorant, Galapagos Penguin,  Magnificent Frigatebird, Greater Yellowlegs

Black or Pacific Green Sea Turtle, Galapagos Fur Seal, Green Sea Urchin

Bartolome and Rabida Islands, Galapagos, Ecuador

Energetic  day with so much to do. We started early, 6:00 am wake up call to go climb up a boardwalk to the top of a cinder cone on Bartolome Island. Along the way we saw many examples of volcanology at work—lava tubes, many varieties of lava, cones, fumaroles, and some recovery with several types of plants beginning to take root. Lots of lava lizards were spotted on our way up. The area features the famous rock that is used in many of the ads for the Galapagos.

Galapagos: Lava Heron

We followed the excursion with breakfast and then a briefing on what snorkeling equipment we would need, how to use it, how to signal for help, then we went up and was fitted with equipment: wet suit, snorkel tube for my prescription mask (we were offered the tip of using toothpaste to remove the oils they put onto them), and flippers—cool type that tightened on the ankle and slide up and down for easy fit.  Then we all went snorkeling off Bartolome, starting from a beach and following a coral reef along one side of the bay around the famous rock. It was excellent snorkeling with a good variety of fish and sea life like sea stars and sea urchins. We returned to the Islander for lunch.

After a traditional Ecuadorian lunch, we took a second snorkel at a deepwater site off of Rabida Island. At first I thought it would be punk because the site was shaded and cold but less than a minute later I was caught up in the iridescent underwater world with unique sea plants and creatures. I kept seeing new life while schools of fish swam around. I tried out a few videos and they turned out really well. The photographs are less good, its hard to get a fish before it moves.

Fish video

Later that evening we took a stroll along shore and saw a male sea lion fight off a competitor, a pelican argue with two young sea lions, two mockingbird packs face off against each other, and young pelicans in a nest gang up on another pelican trying to get back in. Everyone was crabby, I guess it was the waning of the full moon.

Crabby Sea Lion video

We checked the stars but it was overcast.

Birds: Lava Heron, Red-billed Tropicbird, Brown Noddy, American Oystercatcher, Galapagos Mockinbird, Lesser Yellowlegs, Galapagos Sea Lion

Galapagos, Transfer to the Islander at Baltra, Galapagos and Dry Landing at North Seymour Island

The flight to the Galapagos went easily—our boarding passes handed to us, our luggage carried through to the plane, all we had to do was get through a short line at security and climb aboard.

When we arrived, we exited through immigration and customs and was immediately met by National Geographic staff. A short bus ride took us to the boat and we gladly dumped everything for lunch. The food was great, promise of much goodness is the future.

After a nap, we had our first outing, a slow-paced walk through on an inlet at North Seymour Island. We spotted many, many frigatebirds, many with families or wanting to make families, plus land iguanas. We wandered through a treed realm, receiving many lectures on each species life and habits.

The highlight was all the nesting Magnificent Frigate Birds, here's mom and baby, although the first of Darwin's finches was exciting too.

Dinner was leisurely and we had the opportunity to meet our fellow travelers.

Birds: Blue-footed Booby, Magnificent Frigatebird, Galapagos Dove, Yellow Warbler, Medium Ground Finch, Ruddy Turnstone, Small Ground Finch, Swallowtailed Gull, Brown Pelican

Lava Lizard, Land Iguana, Marine Iguana

Improving My Technology Skills--Movies on My Nikon D5100

Today my skill building involves using a previously untested feature of my Nikon D5100 camera. I bought the D5100 after I dropped my camera in Panama, smashing the lens and damaging the lens connection, sigh. I need to remember to go slowly while carrying expensive equipment.

The easy start guide from Nikon explained how to make the movie in a step by step fashion.

First step was to put the camera in live view mode (the same mode that the Coolpix automatically starts in).

The second step was to set the automated focus and other features for use when making movies.

The third step was to make the movie.

The fourth step was to post it on Youtube. When posting the movie, Youtube flagged the movie for having different length audio and video tracks and provided a helpful guide for editing it into shape. That's tomorrow's lesson.

What I learned about making a movie with my Nikon D5100 camera was:

1) you use up your EN-EL14 lithium batteries very quickly with continual autofocus and movie recording

2) I was introduced to BestBatt.com, where I found I could quickly buy 2 more batteries and a charger and get a free mini tripod delivered to me in two days--why go on vacation and not try a movie or two?

3) you should plan what you will say before you record

4) moving slowly helps keep the camera in focus

5) closed in areas complicate recording since it is hard to step back and bring items into focus

6) movies made with the Nikon D5100 can be stored in two formats,(I used the common one for the US)

7) movies made with the Nikon D5100 are stored as QuickTime movies

8) I can record up to twenty minutes with the Nikon D5100

9) It takes a long time to upload a long movie (I guess that's why people keep them short)

All in all, my experience recording a movie with the Nikon D5100 was much happier than the result with my Canon Camcorder since I had an easy start and stop and play and upload.

When my movie is finally uploaded, you can see it at:  

 

I made it about my trellis garden, showing the frame, the flowers, the hedgerow and other plants. I didn't remember all the names.

Improving My Technology Skills--Technical Illustrations

I was advised to produce illustrations for my haiku chapbook so I've taken this on as a challenge to re-remember my technical drawing class. I would do drawings of the visions I had while writing the haiku to offset the image that popped into mind. 

I worked with an illustrator Angela Powell when I worked at Boeing, and several others. But she produced the illustrations for our local newsletter. She'd often make the drawings on hand, then very carefully recreate them in electronic form using a drawing pad. I picked up the Wacom Bamboo Create which has 8.5 by 5.4 drawing surface and I can use Adobe Photoshop Elements as the software for using the input. At least one of the drawings I make, I'd like to join a drawing with a photograph--that may mean quite a bit of manipulations with the images.

My technical illustration class was very basic--mostly focused on how to build various views of objects and at various angles. I had to pick up a few tools at Staples--a flexible curve (it helps make your curves smooth, a variety of sketch pens (varying in sizes from .1mm to .8mm), sketch pencils (including a white pencil, eraser, and a template with small circles, and tracing paper.

To get the drawing pad to work, I have to connect it to my computer and install the software. Following that, I may need to try out a bunch of the tutorials they have provided. I'm not sure how much I will get done before I leave on vacation.

 

Our Latest Garden Guest: Southeastern Shrew or Eastern Mole

Since we moved to Florida, we've begun collecting a long list of visitors to our yard including birds, butterflies, snakes, frogs, anoles, rabbits, cats, dogs, raccoons and now a new denizen.

Unfortunately, whoever our guest is, he or she is not quite visible. They are seen only by their tunneling that end abruptly at our pool surround/cement. So we (my husband and I) pull out our handy dandy "Mammals of Florida Field Guide" by Stan Tekiela. After paging through the descriptions of who it could be, we reach the conclusion that it is likely either a Southeastern Shrew (Sorex longirostris) or an Eastern Mole (Scalpus aquaticus). We believe it to be the Southeastern Shrew because it is only 2-3" in size and the tunnel here is about 2" wide. Also Southeastern Shrews are usually only noticed by their tunnels found in newly dug soil.

CulturewCamy and Weird Bird Behavior at Eastwood Golf Club

We played golf at Eastwood Golf Club today--more information on my new blog CulturewCamy Golf Society. And we encountered an Anhinga on shore with his wings spread like he was about to take flight and his beak stretched wide open.

I thought at first the bird was doing a mating dance or trying to chase off someone, but after I thought about it, I realized it wasn't so odd. He was probably just finished eating a fish. Anhingas eat whole fish, much like pelicans. It can be quite amusing when they catch too big of a fish because they can't actually swallow it and are usually hungry enough to try, try, try again.

Anhinga's (anhinga anhinga Family anhingadae) are also known as snake birds or darters because of their skinny necks that stick out above the water. This is probably a young adult--he still has some brownish tone to his neck rather than being entirely black. The anhinga is found in the Caribbean islands and on the gulf coast of America, throughout Florida and in summer along the coast of Georgia and S. Carolina. If I were to mistake them for another bird it would be a Cormorant, but the Anhinga's beak is sharper, they stand with their wings outstretched with the highly visible black and white pattern and their tail seems longer. They prefer freshwater. I've seen their nests in trees above freshwater in the Everglades--babies appearing in February.

 

Recent Visit to WA Brought Me Back to Old Friends

Mt. St. Helen's from the east side on our recent visit to Washington state. Mt. St. Helen's is sort of a muse in my writing because it blew up on my 21st birthday--I really did celebrate with a blast.

 

We visited Mt. St. Helens many time since, our last visit was when a friend came from Germany for several weeks. We tried to visit this side, but the snow pack was still to high so we had to head back to I-5 and then come in from the southern side.

 

Spirit Lake shown below was filled high. 

A sign explained it got so full that the state was worried it would flood down stream communities. To solve this problem, they drilled a tunnel through Harry's Ledge to let some of the water escape. Now they maintain the current level of the lake. It's problems with low oxygen and high acid content following the volcanic eruption were resolved after 10 years. Harry's Ledge was named after one of the elderly local residents that refused to leave despite warnings by the authorities.

Many organizations continue to study Mt. St. Helen's--they monitor earthquakes, the build up of the dome, the recovery of areas around Mt. St. Helens etc.

Lost in Memory Land on the Way to Bumping Lake, WA

How I got lost was I decided to repeat a trip taken with my sister Samantha more than 18 years ago since that's how long my husband and I have been together. I remembered we went up the road to Bumping Lake and then followed a forest road that came out on top of the Pacific Crest with views of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Adams spread out before us in 360.  Oops, that was then.

We met my 2 sisters, her husband, my mom at the road into Bumping Lake. After we reached Bumping Lake, we took a wrong turn, or maybe not, but we kept going uphill then downhill and staying in a valley when I expected to go steadily uphill. I didn't remember the dam. Anyway, after bumping along a forestry road and getting our cars all dusty we reached a spot that wasn't as easily passed and also ran out of time and gas.

We returned to Bumping Lake and decided to do the photo bit. Here's all of us hams:

Me, mom, my sister and husband.

The two sisters.

 

 

Panama Trip Day Sixteen: Finca Lerida, Boquete, Panama

We woke up excited to look for Quetzals, not our first try by any means. We’ve looked for Quetzals in Mexico and Costa Rica and Peru, but they like mountains with cool tropical rainforest and apparently according to one of our fellow travelers, specific trees in flower.

We ask if it is safe to park at the trailhead next to the bus stop, but the office manager is unwilling to commit to potential liability and suggests we walk or take the local bus. We drive down (4km from the hotel) and pull into the trailhead, finding a place to turn around and park. The caretaker for the trailhead has us sign in and pay $3 each.

I didn’t believe that we would see a Quetzal—the trail starts through agriculture land, but slowly it begins to rise. Luckily, most of the trail is rocky so the continual rain hasn’t left the trail very muddy or wet. Soon we start spotting birds we found at Finca Lerida, then new ones—mostly warblers or warbler look-alikes by size. We miss one small bird again and again. Worse, while documenting a bird we’re viewing, people come up and start asking questions—a sure guarantee of failure. Then while we’re looking at a warbler, a group of three young guys approach and ask us about our birding—they tell us they’ve just seen the Resplendent Quetzal 100 meters up the trail. We decide to pay attention to the possibility we might actually see a Quetzal. We start hearing two voices calling back and forth but can’t find either bird. Finally, we pause and stand quietly a few places.

A female Resplendent Quetzal swoops up and lands on a tree branch above my head. I tell Bob, quick, get the picture.

He does so, approaching nearer while I stand back. I don’t realize he has seen the male until he’s taken several pictures then mouths to me, quick, he’s about to leave. Both birds swoop 100 meters away into the forest and I never do see the male, although Bob spots it twice more.

We continue to get what birds we can, telling others where to look and at what height. Most of the people we run into are hiking fast and hard. We spend 6 hours doing the trail up to the waterfall and then slowly back. What a delight to see the environment—so many old trees and blossoms and ferns and so much water as the trail follows the creek. Bob’s eyes get tired and he starts only wearing his glasses when I find a bird.

We return back to Finca Lerida well pleased at our day. But I have a headache from lack of food and someone sends me a message about a blog that had nasty things to say about me,  but no way to contact him, so I quit following this person. What a mean thing to do. 

 

Sendero des Quetzales

Birds:

Silver-throated Tanager, White-throated Mountain Gem (hummingbird), Flame-throated Warbler, Yellowish Flycatcher, Resplendent Quetzals (male/female), Three-striped Warbler, Slate-throated Redstart, Long-tailed Woodcreeper, Chestnut-capped Brush Finch, Common Bush Tanager

 

 

Panama Trip Day Fifteen : Boquete Area around Finca Lerida—Total Rainout

Yesterday’s storm continued today. We woke in not so bad drizzle, went to breakfast—continental with cereal, Passion Fruit juice, plate of fruit and homemade bread toast and jelly and coffee and tea for me. After breakfast, we decided to skip our tours due to the rain and try for Volcan Baru. The office gave us a map. We followed the road up as far as we could go, but the graveled part of the road looked washed out with huge boulders making it difficult to head straight up. So we continued on to Volcancito (the town) on the return loop to town.

Once in town, I asked that we head back to Finca Lerida via the road to San Ramon where there is rock climbing (in good weather).

The road there follows the river, shows many geologic formations—sediment layers uptilted I think. They look like hexagonal rods piled on top of each other with a bit of a twist upward. The river, too, is scenic, with many waterfalls. Lots of flowers in bloom now, but the birds are uncooperative disliking the rain.

We return to Finca Lerida for a late lunch (and beers for Bob although I have one two). We split chicken fingers and fries and Lerida Decadence – a mocha brownie served with carmelized bananas and cashews and a dish of rum raisin ice cream. Delicious all.  We meet Dave and Dave the boatmen traveling from Costa Rica south who are hanging in the region. Dave is from Princeton and the other Dave is from New York. Then we meet Woody who is beside himself and traveling from San Francisco area. We tell everyone we have been promised a bar with a wood fire tonight.

We take a nap while the rain falls, but as soon as it lets up, I urge Bob out to do the Misterio Falls road. Five minutes down the road, the next cloud hits and the rain is once more torrential. By the time we get to the Sendero de la Quetzales, we find too much rain but a Black Guan under the canopy posing for us. Great way to end the day.

Birds:

Silver-throated Tanager, White-Naped Brush-Finch, Flame-Colored Tanager, Rufous-Collared Sparrow, Panama Flycatcher, Common Black Hawk (Immature), Blue-Gray Tanager,  Buff-throated Saltator, Clay-colored Thrush, Tennessee Warbler, Slaty-Flowerpiercer, Black Guan, Cattle Egret, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Violet Sabrewing, Green Violet-Ear, Snowy-bellied Hummingbird

 

 

Panam Trip Day Eight: El Valle Canopy Lodge

We wake, watch the birds at the feeder and rush down for breakfast at 7:30. Then we while away time writing and with my grammar class assignment. Bob showers and fights the cold water—I skip. We make it to the church in time for the 9:00 service. The music is provided by a band of guitars, drummer and acoustics, the singer sounded very pleasant. The service was entirely in Spanish. I could tell where we were based on our service at home but couldn’t understand much. I understood the priest’s sermon related to our chosen paths in life. I’m not really used to God being called Senor, but it is nice. The church was opened on the sides and back to let in the winds. The church grounds were planted with flowers and quite attractive. We realized too late we could have picked up the words to the service at the front door; we came in the side door.

After mass, we waited in line at their very popular banos, then found the youngsters buying ice cream bars and flavored ice cones instead of our more typical donuts.

Afterwards we parked across from the market and wandered through. There was a huge section devoted to plants for sale, another for vegetables for purchase, and a final section filled with artisan crafts. I bought a dolphin bracelet and a woven medallion.

At lunch, we shared our table from the two guides from the large group of I think New Zealanders who were here birding and had a nice chat. They let us talk primarily. After lunch, with an offering of chicken, vegetables and rice served in a soup, we passed time typing up our notes and writing. The afternoon was spent on our free guided tour –it was a real delight. We went to a side road and the guide called in a Tody Motmot. Then we moved down the road and wandered up and down spotting birds. The guide was very helpful, often putting the bird we were identifying in his scope for a closer look.

Dense forest found near Canopy Lodge, El Valle, Panama

Dinner found us sharing our table with a young couple from New York.

Birds:

Clay-colored Thrush, Chestnut-headed Oropendula, Blue-gray Tanager, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Palm Tanager, Red-crowned Woodpecker, Thick-billed Euphonia, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Crimson-backed Tanager, Great-tailed Grackle, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Lesser Goldfinch (f), Cocoa Woodcreeper, Tody Motmot, Long-billed Starthroat, Squirrel Cuckoo, Orange-chinned Parakeet, S. Roughwinged Swallow, Turkey Vulture, Gray-capped Flycatcher,  Western Wood Pewee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Streaked Saltator, Rufous-capped Warbler

 

Panama Trip Day Seven: Panama City to El Valle Canopy Lodge

Today was a slow day, wake up, take a swim, eat lunch, then fetch the car at the airport. Turns out that the Hertz people only show up when scheduled so we had to wait fifteen minutes. During that time, the sweet lady from the tourism department offered us directions on how to get out of town and onto the C1 Panamerican Highway. She also told us how to get from Canopy Lodge, bypassing Panama City by taking the Puente Centenial instead of going into town. That sounded good. When we picked up the car, though, I found say a sign for Puente Centenial and directed Bob that way instead of following the buses to the Puente Americana. A quick U-turn provided the fix. The drive to El Valle was simple, only thing to watch for was a liquor store for Bob and the turn-off to El Valle.

We showed up and tried the internet, but found it only worked in the lounge area. Meanwhile, I found myself unable to hear anything. I’ve been joining Bob for drinks because lime in water is a sure safe way to have a drink without sugar. The gin acts like cough medicine and helps my achy muscles.

Canopy Lodge is a small place with very zen furnishings. Our room overlooks the bird feeders so we get to see plenty of action. Guides lead trips from the lodge—we received a free trip and will pay for one today. The meals are provided by the staff buffet style and dinner includes some really good wine.