Day 32 Captiva 2019

Wednesday, Mar 6
We were both up early today....Al at 5:30 and me at 6, but we did go to bed early last night. He said he gets up that early because "he's done sleeping."  Another cool morning.... to be another cloudy and cool day. We ate breakfast of poached eggs, sausage, grits, bagel and toast.  Again ,we stayed inside except for a quick walk to the beach in the afternoon.  Three surfers were out and a few people bundled up  were walking on the beach.

To view video-if you open this post in email, click on link to blog at the bottom, then click on arrow.

 Surfers

 I know this beachcomber!

Made a couple pictures of the eagles nest.

 Again, I spent time organizing and editing photos.  Sounds like a rerun of yesterday's activities.

Dinner: another great Steak grilled by Al, baked potato, Caprese salad with arugula, and roll. Finished tiramisu from last night.

Day 30 Captiva 2019

Monday, Mar 4
Al was up early...I slept until 8:15.  Took a walk on the beach about 9:30. I spotted the eagles. One was fishing over the gulf and landed on top of one of the beach houses and then flew into Austrian Pine tree same as last year.  A second eagle flew by the first one and landed in another tree for short time.

 The fishing boat with cages was back again.  Only a few birds but some terns were flying by and feeding as well as pelicans.  Saw a solitary willet, plover, and turnstone.

 

Today, I worked on editing pictures for awhile.  We had lunch of Grilled Corned Beef and Swiss Cheese sandwiches on Rye with chips.  We went to the pool to relax, read and swim for afternoon.  Made Jalapeno Poppers with cream cheese for Al with drinks.
Dinner was Mozzarella Chicken with fresh Marinara sauce served with sauteed zucchini.  Enjoyed with glass of wine.

Day 32 on Captiva

Day with the Eagles

Early morning with coffee and then a quick walk for me. People are already gathering on the beach but no bird activity.  I did make some photos of the eagle nest.  One adult and one of the chicks were showing in the nest.

I worked on my blog and then we had an early lunch of tuna fish salad and sandwich with iced tea at the pool while we watched the eagles.  There was a lot movement and changing of places by all the family.

Both adults and one chick

Closer look at the adults and one chick

2 Adults

2 chicks...one in the nest and one on a limb

This chick looks about ready to fledge

We spent the afternoon at the pool enjoying the beautiful day and the new gazebo cover.

 

Dinner was panko crusted chicken breasts with stuffing and gravy(leftovers)  and Caprese salad.

Day 21 on Captiva

Another lazy day in paradise.  No blogging without a computer.  Brunch of French Toast, Sausage, and Grapefruit served mid-morning.  Spent afternoon at the pool relaxing and reading.  We seem to have a repeating pattern to our days. And watching the young eagles....one was really flapping his wings today.

Drinks at 4:30 by the pool followed by dinner on the porch.  Al grilled Snapper (purchased at Jerry's) to perfection and I prepared Vera Cruz sauce (recipe by Bobby Flay) made with olive oil, onion, garlic, white wine.tomato, olives, capers, jalapeno  pepper.  Served with green beans and mashed potatoes.   
Great dinner if I do say so!             

Day 14 0n Captiva

I was out to the beach early again to check for shells but found nothing but broken pieces and the birds were very few.  Where have all the birds and shells gone this February?

This is a photo of all the willets that were here last year.

 

2016

 

Our friends and neighbors from home, Mike and Pam,  arrived for a visit this morning around 11:00.  They are spending 2 months this winter in a condo in Naples about one and a half hour drive to here.  We settled in at the pool under the cabana catching up on life in Florida and other events enjoying conversation and the warm, but not sunny day. We had a lunch of sandwiches, potato salad, and ice tea at the pool while watching the eagles in the nearby nest. 

 

 

We spotted 2 chicks in the nest....up to now we had only seen one chick at a time as in the picture above and were surprised that there were actually 2.   The afternoon was a bit overcast with clouds but we took a walk over to the beach about 3:00 and found an almost deserted beach but we did spot a dolphin in the gulf.

 

 

We returned to the porch for gin n tonics and chips with salsa and more conversation.  Mike left at about 6 to meet his brother and his fishing buddies for dinner at the Timbers.  Al, Pam, and I went to Doc Ford's in Captiva for dinner.   The place was busy and we had an 18 minute wait for a booth but the service was friendly and prompt.  Al ordered a half dozen oysters on the half shell and Calamari salad -lightly battered calamari tossed with mixed Everglades greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, a sweet and sour vinaigrette dressing and topped with crispy wontons.  Pam ordered Ford’s Famous Clam Chowder-a rich, creamy chowder chock full of sea clams, sweet onions, carrots and diced potatoes and Captiva Crab Cakes-pan-fried beach-style, served with jicama cole slaw and finished with a  Key lime butter sauce.  I opted for the Chicken Taco Salad-crisp romaine lettuce tossed in avocado feta vinaigrette and topped with Jack and cheddar cheeses, Cuban black bean salsa, grilled chicken and tomato pico de gallo, surrounded by corn tortilla chips.    I liked my salad but prefer the Calamari salad which I nearly always order here.

 

We all four  arrived back at the cottage about the same time.  We spent the rest of the evening on the porch until Pam and Mike retreated to the bedroom suite downstairs. 

 

Note:   We have renamed the cottage to "Red Bucket" Cottage since we hung a red beach bucket to the post with the house number so that everyone can find the cottage more easily with this "landmark".

Day 7 on Captiva

Cannot believe a week has passed since we arrived. Another lazy day on Captiva.  Enjoyed coffee and blueberry muffin on the porch.  Finished reading another book A Perfect Life by Danielle Steel.  We had early lunch of sandwiches and chips with fresh strawberries on the porch.  Al has been busy selecting his picks for the races at Northfield Park tonight.  We spent the afternoon poolside reading and napping.  Edgardo and his wife Norma were here to clean the cottage and grounds.

The eagle chick seems about ready to fledge since he spends a lot of time flapping his wings.  The eagles have been much quieter than I thought they would be....not nearly as noisy as ospreys in their nests.

Tonight for dinner, I made Chicken Puttanesca with Linguini, one of Al's favorites.  Served with green salad. Enjoyed on the porch where he watched the Northfield races on the computer. 

Day 42 on Captiva

Today is our last day on the island.  I took a last morning walk on the beach and found a couple of crows making themselves at home at this beach setup of the "yellow brigade".  Also waiting for me was the pair of Bald Eagles in the Australian Pines.

 

A last look at the beach early in the morning before the birds and people arrive...

 

We then loaded some of our belongings in the car before the temperature got hot.

After a lunch of sandwiches we spent our final afternoon on the island at the beach.

It was a warm sunny beautiful day just made for relaxing with the shore birds.

One of the Eagles came back to the tree to say good-bye!

 

For our last meal on the island we went to Lazy Flamingo about 5:30 which was very busy except at the bar where we sat.  Of course, we ordered Oysters on the Half Shell.  Al had Fried Oyster Basket with fries served with cocktail sauce and lemon and I had Caesar Salad with Mesquite-Grilled Grouper, served with Flamingo Garlic Bread.  Excellent dinner!  We shared each other's food so we had the best of everything. The place was very busy by the time we left with people arriving after viewing the sunset.

 

The car was now all loaded except for toiletry bags and our cooler with tomorrow's lunch and food for the trip.  So now for a good night's sleep before our 2 day journey home.

 



Day 40 on Captiva

After coffee, I took a walk on the beach about 9:00am and waiting for me was the Eagle in the Australian Pine near the path to the beach.   A lot was going on this morning.....many people were out fishing, shelling, and walking, even flying kites.   A lot of birds were already flocking to the shoreline including this group of Willets.

On closer look I spotted a pair of Marbled Godwits I in the group.

 

These are some of the scenes that I saw this morning:

 

We had a light breakfast of cereal , toast, and fresh oranges when I returned.  Then we spent the afternoon on the beach.   While we there, a pair of eagles hung out in the Australian tree.

 

The flock of Willets on the beach had grown to about 150 birds in size from this morning.

We had 5:00 reservations at The Mad Hatter for dinner....one of our all time favorite restaurants.   Al ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio to begin our special dinner.  We began by sharing an appetizer Blue Crab Cake - panko crusted jumbo lump crab cake crowned with tropical fruit salsa and yucca chip finished with mango cream beurre  blanc.   Then we shared a Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Frisee, and Walnut Vinaigrette.  Both the appetizer and salad were very delicious.  Al ordered Dayboat Scallops-pan seared and encrusted with Panko Crumbs and Black Truffle finished with a caramelized shallot beurre blanc served with Garlic Mashed Yukon Potatoes and Asparagus.  I ordered a new entree just added to the menu- pan seared  Striped Bass with Tomato Jam served with Spinach Risotto and Asparagus. Great entrees!  Since this was such a special meal we just had to have dessert to finish.  We indulged with Classic Crème Brule-vanilla bean enhanced  espresso  baked custard with a caramelized raw cane sugar crust served with creme anglaise, melba sauce fresh whipped cream & berries topped with a spun sugar design.

 

 

  The sun set as we finished our dinner but it was cloudy so not as beautiful as the one shown here:

 

 

                                                        Sunset at The Mad Hatter