Kay and I got off the Playmate, the boat we used for the Dry Tortugas trip after a really rough and pounding ride back to Key West on Saturday about 3 PM. It was raining and we just headed north. There had been a Bahama Mockingbird sighted on the way back through the keys, but the location access was closed at 5 PM and we did not get there until nearly 6 PM. There were no affordable Saturday night hotels nearby so we continued on to Florida City for the night. The next morning it was again very stormy, raining really hard off and on, so we didn’t go back to try for the BAMO and instead headed across Hwy 41, the Tamiani Trail. We planned 3-4 stops, and did the first at Shark Valley. Everywhere else we planned to stop it was a torrential downpour, so we just kept headed toward Manasota Key, arriving about 5 PM at Bill and Carol’s place.
There home is terrific, and Kay and Carol have been painting in the Lanai nearly non-stop since we arrived. I have broken out Monday with Bill to walk around Stump Pass SP where Blue Grosbeak and Wilson’s Plover were the highlights, not very birdy at all. Tuesday AM I went 3 miles north on Manasota Key to Blind Pass Beach Park where even though I got there before 8 AM it was again pretty quiet Male Indigo Bunting and Scarlet Tanager were the highlights.
Tomorrow we are taking a pontoon boat ride in the morning on the “Bay” which is the waterway protected by the key from the open gulf.