Friday turned into a no photography day since I ended up getting the AC fixed in my truck (finally!). It gave chance to learn some new software for managing and editing my images since the little company that made the software I really like was swallowed up by the other behemoth (Adobe). I could plug along with what I have but if I decide to purchase Canon's newest camera I will have to make the change anyway.

For almost as long as I have been "into" birds I have subscribed to the listserv FLBirds to keep abreast of which birds were being seen and where in Florida. For most of that time Noel W. from Jacksonville has posted links to his website Badbirdz during the Spring and Fall where he would post radar images which show flights of birds leaving Cuba (Spring) and heading north or leaving Florida heading south (Fall). Recently Noel decided to join the Blogosphere and I've added a link to his site on my blogroll. His latest is from last night (Friday) and the radar image will be available for 4 days. It's all cool stuff and he has some entries that discuss the weather & wind and how it affects bird movement. Check it out!

Have you ever heard of the North Pacific Gyre? It is a giant mass of garbage -mostly plastic - the as big or, according to some reports, bigger than the state of Texas floating out in the Pacific. Seabirds, including albatrosses and fulmars, and some marine life see this stuff and mistake it for food - killing themselves and/or their offspring (I think I might have written about this before but a search of the blog turns up zilch). This creates a small problem for me: I have a weakness for (soft drinks, soda, pop or whatever you happen to call it in your local vernacular). I go through a 2-liter bottle about every 5 days and have recycled for years. But for the last couple of months I have not been in an RV park that has recycling for bottles. I refuse to just toss this stuff in the trash knowing what I know, but the bag full of bottles is starting to get a little unwieldy. I may have to switch to cans; most places at least have a spot for them. But that opens up another can of worms because they come in cardboard which comes from trees and the box ends up in a landfill. I could (I know Sandy, should ) start drinking more water, I suppose. But I'll go there kicking and screaming. I should ask at the park office to see if maybe the county has a recycling center.