The wildlife of St. Thomas

Although we never left the resort, we did find time to partake in one of our favorite activities—wildlife watching. There were reptiles galore, of course. They were pretty much everywhere we looked. And we swam with some fascinating amphibians. And the early mornings belonged to the birds. We didn't have to leave the resort to find them, they came to us.

Lizards: small, medium, and large

Anole?

Anole

Anole

Ameiva?

Iguanas, Iguanas, and more Iguanas

Green Sea Turtles (which we saw while snorkeling at Turtle Cove, but also these guys swimming around in our own bay)

Brown Pelican

Magnificent Frigatebird (Juvenile)

Magnificent Frigatebird (Juvenile)

Pearly-eyed Thrasher

Pearly-eyed Thrasher

Zenaida Doves

Gray Kingbird

Bananquit

Great Egret

We also saw a number of Atillean Crested Hummingbirds flitting around the flowers on our front lawn, but sadly they were too quick for a picture.

An island wedding family vacation weekend

We are just back from a few sunkissed days of rest and relaxation, and fantastic celebration. My brother—my little brother, baby brother, favorite brother—got hitched over the weekend. But this was no stuffy church wedding with endless receiving line and in-and-out reception. No, my adventurous brother and his adventurous bride planned a weekend on the island of St. Thomas with their closest friends and family, so not only did we get to welcome a great new member to our family, but we got to do it while relaxing on the beach or at the poolside, spending a relaxing weekend enjoying the company of family and the feel of sand between our toes, champagne in hand.

Day 1, Thursday

The travel for this trip was excruciating. We got up at 3am to catch an early flight and watched the sunrise from the air. But, after a stopover in Atlanta, we touched down in the Caribbean early enough to enjoy a late lunch and a dip in the pool. We were all dragging a bit by dinner, but it was worth it.

out our front door

rumtini for Jon, shirley temple for Calvin

poolside bar?

Sherlock Holmes at dinner

Day 2, Friday

We woke up earlier than intended, but coffee on our front beachview porch while Calvin played in the sand made up for it. We spent the morning on the beach, Calvin and Jon playing in the sand, and the afternoon on a cruise to go snorkeling with wild sea turtles. And a ray. And some fish (watch out for the spiny sea urchins!) before coming back for the wedding rehearsal, more pool time, and dinner. One of the greatest things about an all-inclusive resort was having all this and more right at our doorstep, or at least just a short walk through the sand away.

We'll call him Roy

wild sea turtle!

can you spot the spiny urchin? (he's hiding in the right corner of the reef)

Day 3, Saturday is Wedding day!

Beautiful, except that I cried trying to finish my reading. We love those two so much. Even an iguana came out to watch. Then a really, really fabulous sunset cruise, then a delicious and entertaining dinner reception in the sand. We danced up a storm until we had to take our rather exhausted little dancer back to bed.

proud ring bearer

reading love stories from our family tree

this isn't Roy

singing while dancing

singing while not dancing

Day 4, Sunday

The last full day, not to be wasted. From beach, to lunch, to pool, to beach, to one final fabulous dinner, the whole family together.

wild sea turtles!

Day 5, Monday

We got to wake one last time to coffee on our beachview porch, spend one last morning on the beach with friends and family, and enjoy one last poolside lunch (and one last petting of the cats that made our stay that much more homey) before packing up and heading to the airport. Of course, that meant another set of travel times. We left the island just before dinner, and, after a another brief layover in Atlanta, which got longer and longer with delays, we watched the sunset in the air—a perfect bookend to the trip—and touched down back at home after midnight.

Week 12, in pictures

March 19: Stitched
by Calvin

by Cortney

March 20: Polka dots
by Calvin

by Cortney

March 21: Swirl
by Calvin

by Cortney

March 22: Step outside
by Calvin

March 23: Weather
by Calvin

by Cortney

March 24: Run-down
by Cortney

Marhc 25: Go for a drive
by Calvin

by Cortney

Day 83: Run-down

Running right on down our list of errands, that is. New tires, new books, (cow in a purse), fresh cupcakes.

The first hike of spring

It's getting to be that time of year when this blog will start to resemble a birding guide. I just looked back through some of our more recent exploits/posts and realized that pretty much all of them were outside (finally!) and bird related. Other bits and pieces of nature will edge in as they appear, too, but right now the only real signs of life out there are the birds flitting through the still leafless trees.

Spring is a great time for birding, especially here in Michigan. It's this time of year that the birds are giving up their winter habits and are getting frantic about territory, nests, and mates. For some species that means long migrations, and over the next couple of months we'll be seeing birds return to our area from their winter homes, and we'll also get our one chance to see all those species who are just passing through on their trips farther north.

Back in January Calvin and I started a new species list, keeping track of "first sightings of the year" by date. So far our list includes only 18 species, but it's growing more rapidly now. Just this weekend we were able to add the return of Killdeer and Sandhill Cranes to our neighborhood.

And, inadvertently, we added another tradition or routine to our busy lives. Over the past week, with the return of our neighborhood path thanks to melting temperatures, we were getting out almost every day for short walks—short because we were fighting off colds. But this weekend we were feeling more sprightly, and we resolved to visit one of our favorite hiking spots for the first time this year. The morning was dreary and dull, but the minute we got in the car the sun came out as if to give us further encouragement. The air was still chilly and there were still patches of snow and ice. The forest seemed largely to be still asleep, but as we walked we started to notice just a few signs of life: that patch over there was little greener than its drab surroundings, and the grass at the river's edge was already perking up. And if the tulips that are just pushing their way up in our front yard weren't evidence enough, the frenetic bird activity deep in the woods was definitely another sure sign. Such a cacophony, such a fluttering, such a frenzy. We didn't add any species to our list, but we had such a great time looking for life that we decided to come back next week to look for progress.

And then we realized that we had taken our first trip back into those woods on the first Saturday of spring, just one day after the equinox. That settled it. This will be our new science and nature project for the year: we will visit these woods once a week for the next year, charting her changes. It's a rather large undertaking, but what a great plan it is, and what a splendid accomplishment it would be. It's spring, after all! Time to think big!

Redbellied Woodpecker

Looking for green

The bluebird of happiness looks kind of grouchy

Here we decided the deer have been having forest tea parties. "Clean cups, clean cups, move down, move down, move down!"

Tufted Titmouse