On Thursday, May 17, our family decided to take the King Fisher boat cruise to Cabbage Key.  The boat left Fisherman’s Village in Punta Gorda at 9 am with 40 passengers.  It was a beautiful day for a cruise, partly cloudy and temperature in mid-eighties with a slight breeze.  As we headed south in Charlotte Harbor, we were greeted with several Bottle-nosed Dolphins swimming in the wake of the boat.  After about a two-hour cruise, we arrived at Cayo Costa, where six of the passengers departed for some time on the beach of this island.  We then turned around and headed back to the intra-coastal waterway and continued south to Cabbage Key, arriving at the dock around noon.

We departed the boat and headed up the steps to the restaurant, where we were immediately seated and waited on.  Nice selection of good food and the prices were reasonable, considering we were on an island and everything had to be brought over by boat.  After lunch, we had some time to wander the island.  The boat arrived at the dock around 1:30 to pick us up.  We then headed back to Cayo Costa to pick up those passengers dropped off earlier; and then started back to Punta Gorda, arriving there around 4:30.

During the cruise, I scanned the water and sky for birds; not many were seen.  I did see a Common Loon on the water, some Brown Pelicans, Osprey, and a single Magnificent Frigatebird.  This was a relaxing and fun day at a very reasonable cost of $25 per boat ticket.

After arriving home, I received a Charlotte County Nature Alerts e-mail message alerting people to the fact that there was a pair of Common Myna birds nesting at the Bed, Bath and Beyond store in Port Charlotte.  The next day, I drove over to the store, located in the strip mall on the northeast corner of Veterans and US41.  Sure enough, there were two Common Mynas and a nest was in the "B" of Beyond.  An image of the two birds is attached below.

Yesterday, Saturday, I saw a listing on Bird Brain that two American Golden Plovers were spotted at Myakka River State Park at the end of the Upper Myakka Lake near the Birdwalk.  So, this morning, I took a trip up to the Park to look for the Golden Plovers.  While traveling along SR 72, I did see two Caracara feasting on road kill.  I arrived at the Park just after it opened at 8:30 and headed straight to the Birdwalk.  The upper part of the Lake was dried up, so birds were farther out, definitely requiring the use of a scope.  Eventually, three other birders showed up, also looking for the Plovers.  Unfortunately, we only saw one Black-bellied Plover out on the mud flats.  Other birds seen on the mudflats included Short-billed Dowitchers, Great Egrets, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Black-necked Stilts, Mottled Ducks, and Least Terns.  There were several sandpipers that I could not identify because of the distance.  A Bald Eagle was spotted in a tree on the opposite shore.

I worked my way back to the Concession area where I saw several Limpkins, Little Blue Herons, Snowy Egret, Red-shouldered Hawk, and a juvenile Bald Eagle.  The usual Black and Turkey Vultures were also there.  By the log cabins, I saw a bee hive in a Live Oak Tree.