Monday, January 28, 2013

My heart bleats for you...


 


   Sunday night, the lights over the midway at the Manatee County Fairgrounds in Palmetto blinked off. The fair was over, the food trucks shut down, the tents packed up. Until next year.
   After a decade or so of munching on fried dough and wandering mindlessly through all the displays, IĆ­ve cultivated my own list of personal favorites.
   Way up at the top are the goats.
   Those crazy kids are always fun to watch, and their curiosity and seeming affection has made for some great photos.
   Ladies and gentleman, may I present my annual favorite fair outtake, presented in a haiku. Oh, and Valentine's Day is right around the corner, so it's high time to dust off those writing chops for that special someone -- even if they have more than just two legs....

My heart bleats for you
as two heads are far better than one.
Mere fences cannot keep us apart!




Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Fresh Catch

An osprey holds a fresh-caught fish tightly in its talons as it flies over the north end of Anna Maria Island.

The large raptors are commonly seen soaring high overhead, sometimes up to 100 feet, scanning the water for their next target, then diving, hitting the surface feet first to snag its prey.

Fish make up 99 percent of the ospreys diet.  According to the National Geographic, an osprey will use their feet to direct its catch headfirst into the wind, which causes less resistance as it flies.