My fitness guru, Cari, invited me to go with her and her mom to a free birding event at a nearby park. The park used to be giant sand dunes until Nugent Sand turned them into two giant lakes. I’ve posted about this park before, which is basically a trail around one of the lakes. There were about 20 people there, most of them members of the group that organized the event. They have a facebook page but I don’t have facebook anymore. I met up with Cari and her mom at a mini shopping plaza so I didn’t have to pay for parking at the city park. The group said over 200 species of birds have been identified in the 3 years the park has been open. Amazingly they even have a ranger that watches over the park. She walked with us and she has a lot of good info about the flora and fauna who live there. The walk was at 9am and went until 11. Already at 8:30 it was 72. By 11 it was blazing hot, even while trying to stay in the shade. Even though I carried a bottle of water, by the time we got back I felt like I was suffering from heat stroke. I think living in A/C has turned me into a wimp.

I told Cari and her mom that I think I found myself a good flock to connect with. These people were SO NICE and knowledegable about birds and local flora/fauna and were happy to let us look through their binoculars and telescoping tripod binoculars. Some species there I hadn’t seen before included red-eyed vireo and wood ducks with their chicks. We also saw something called sweet ferns, which are not really ferns at all. The leaves are perfumed and the lady told us the blossoms are fragrant when they bloom. Deer don’t like them. The ranger said there is a big issue with ticks everywhere this summer so most everybody sprayed themselves with bug spray. This birding group also volunteers to band owls at a nearby park. I’d like to see someone band a wild owl!

I don’t have any pics from the walk today (except for the one the organizer took) but I’ll find pics of some flora and fauna I mentioned.

After we got back to the mini-plaza, Cari’s mom asked me if I’d ever gone to the Great Lakes Mushroom Company. I said no. She said she gets mushroom coffee there and has noticed her mind is a lot clearer after drinking it. They left but I went in and checked out the shop. Who knew there were so many products made from mushrooms. When I got home I checked out the website and was impressed by what they offer. Three things surprised me about the place. 1: no fresh mushrooms for sale; 2: the clerk working there said he doesn’t like mushrooms; 3: the mushrooms are grown in the basement of the place. Wow x 3. I bought some of the mushroom coffee and will report back after I’ve used the bag, which should give it time enough to do its thing.

Lastly, a bonus video. Movement outside caught my attention. By the back tree, baby raccoons! Hope you enjoy watching them as much as I did. Happy Friday!