Our second visit to Ponce Inlet was more productive as we had no problem finding the Purple Sandpiper.  This North Atlantic species rarely makes it further south than the Carolina coast.  This individual has the "winter in Florida" thing figured out.

We also picked up Sandwich Tern, Clapper Rail and American Herring Gull for the year.  This gull had just picked up a nice fish fillet for breakfast.

Upon returning to the parking lot, we realized there was a Gopher Tortoise burrow directly beneath our vehicle.  There were several burrows under the asphalt which leads me to believe the parking lot may collapse at some point.   Heads up for my good buddy Judson... this big old tortoise is not a bird.

Henry enjoyed his first ever experience with Jell-O this morning.  He quickly learned there is a fine art to picking up something that is not supposed to be picked up.

Henry and I then proceeded to avoid the spring break gunfire, making a quick visit to Ponce Inlet near Daytona Beach in search of a Purple Sandpiper.  Instead we got this Prairie Warbler.

Maybe we'll try for the Purple Sandpiper tomorrow before we head to Orlando for a few days at Walt Disney World to celebrate OG's 2nd birthday.  Speaking of OG, he has been learning how to share.  In this case, his new cars with his mentor, Chip the Cat.

With the birding effort being largely on the back burner for now,  March has been a great month to complete one of those 'someday projects' by digitizing our old 8mm films and scanning old family photos.  It has been fun to use AI software to bring some of the old photos to life.  

This is my Great-Great Grandfather Hefner.  He was born in 1820.  His grandfather fought in the American Revolution.  This photo is circa 1897.  The colorized version provides a nice interpretation of the original image.

       

Another interesting option has been the animation of photos.  Here, this still photo  of my Grandparents Jolley and their five children at their 50th wedding anniversary in 1970 has been 'brought to life' through AI animation. 

It's kind of creepy but, they are all gone so, it's pretty cool to see our ancestors' familiar smiles again.

More soon from WDW.  I have been rubbing the rosary beads pretty hard in hopes that OG won't get kicked out of the park again.   And, I'm not even Catholic.  (See previous post)

OG does Disney...

Disney is still doing research to confirm whether OG is the first 23-month old to be kicked out of Walt Disney World.

The cast members at Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride overlooked with some degree of angst the fact they could not convince OG to smile.

The crew at Cinderella's Carousel was shocked by OG's mad equestrian skills.

And, at Pirates of the Caribbean, they watched in horror as OG licked the cannon balls.

The cast members at the Tomorrowland Speedway were freaked out when OG launched his pacifier onto the track, nearly causing a multi-car pileup and the call for a haz-mat crew.

The last straw for Disney with OG was his crawling inside one of the concession stands.

Happily, OG will be allowed back in the park for his birthday at the end of March. 

Henry is currently negotiating a trade that would allow him to celebrate his birthday in March while deferring OG's birthday to Henry's birthday month of July.  We have seen through Henry's ruse as his real objective is to celebrate Henry for both birthdays.

Henry has decided he is afraid of the Little Mermaid and PeopleMover rides.  Too much darkness.  He likes riding the Barnstormer rollercoaster with Grandma.

Henry was having a great time until he found out the Enchanted Tiki Room was closed because of technical difficulties.  Try explaining what 'technical difficulties' means to a 3-year old.

On the birding front, we added 8 more species to the 2026 list bringing the YTD total to 139.  The Burrowing Owls never disappoint at Brian Piccolo Park near Miami. 

And, the colorful but invasive Nanday Parakeets were plentiful at the Celery Fields near Parrish, FL.

Finally, we saw our first owls ever in the Florida Keys when we observed a pair of Great Horned Owls perched about 12 stories high on a communications tower near Key Largo.