Take me out to the Ballgame . . .

Mini me is not known to be a sports fan, but who could resist a night at Tropicana Field gratis as an appreciation for some volunteering work? Tampa Bay Rays vs Milwaukee Brewers. Tampa Bay lost 0-2, but that didn't spoil the fun!





The field is covered and air conditioned so perfectly pleasant temperature . . .

I recognize some of the music from my childhood. It was baseball at its finest - pure entertainment!

Tampa Bay Rays mascot
guess it is hard to wear a stingray costume!

Pepsi can races

smoothing the grit on the field

The private suite which comes with food!

The utility pole out front of our condo caught fire last Sunday, creating a 2 hour power outage and necessitating attendance by a firetruck, 2 police vehicles and 3 Duke Energy utility repair vehicles. The pole is now a temporary repair.  Since several friends asked for pictures, here they are.

My life is now dominated by sea turtles - loggerheads - to be specific, and here I am making neck coolers for the Sea Turtle Trackers to sell at the August St Pete Beach street fair named Shellebration. Soak one in water and wear around neck for cooling effect.

Hatchling Tracks

Infrequently we see baby turtles, aka hatchlings, during our morning patrol. If you happen across any, please call Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission on 888-404-FWCC (3922) or *FWC from your cell/mobile phone. Do not rescue the hatchlings on your own, you may well just make them fish food!

nest hole from which hatchlings emerge

More often we just see evidence of a nest hatching overnight, like the hole in the picture to the right.

Sometimes the nest hatches whilst a nest sitter was present before midnight, but not always. This year we have had a number of hatches well after midnight when the beach goers have left.

This leaves us detecting what happened with the hatchlings by the marks in the sand the next morning (a bit like finding the momma loggerheads tracks leading us to a nest laid overnight).

disoriented hatchling tracks going everywhere!

hatchling & bird tracks
birds eat hatchlings

close-up of hatchling tracks 

our local Great Blue Heron greeting us on the beach