Sep 11, 2019

Advice From Nature, Your True Nature


We happened upon this very striking wooden sign hanging behind the chair in an office. Advice From The Ocean. Always thinking about fishing at the beach, we immediately thought of our Facebook group Florida East Coast Surf Fishing.

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Your True Nature is an uplifting poetic site chock full of feel-good, empowering statements in the forms of large magnets, bookmarks, posters, T-shirts, notepads, wooden signs, books, stickers, greeting cards, and more. 

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This is another favorite of ours from Your True Nature. Take a minute to browse all the animals, sunsets, scenery, and sayings and give yourself a smile.

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CU on the Beach! Wavecritter aka Stephanie Haile




Sep 8, 2019

Turkey Vultures commonly known as Buzzards


Turkey Vultures are the most numerous and recognized vulture and are often referred to as Buzzards. Vultures are raptors.

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Turkey Vultures nest on the ground under some sort of cover like thick vegetation, hollowed logs or shallow caves. They can be found year round in the southern United States with migrations into northern United States and Canada.

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The unfeathered heads and dark brown or black tones on its feathers mark the Turkey Vultures features. The Turkey Vulture can grow to about 2 and a half feet tall with a 5 to 6 foot wingspan.

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Turkey Vultures locate carrion by smell and sight. 
We found these wonderful raptors hanging out in Canaveral National Seashore Playalinda Beach, Brevard County, Florida Parking Area 8.


Visit National Geographic for more on Turkey Vultures.

CU on the Beach! Wavecritter aka Stephanie Haile




Sep 7, 2019

Aftermath of Hurricane Dorian Florida


Hurricane Dorian's affect on Florida was not mainly physical destruction. Floridians watched and waited ... then waited, and waited some more while the storm held over the Bahamas. Only a few thousand in Florida lost power at all and power was restored very quickly. The winds and surf battered the coast. We lost many Sea Turtle eggs to the waves exposure. The silver lining here is just how many more eggs were actually laid this year compared to prior years. The numbers laid were great, nature will even itself out if need be.

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Florida Today

The biggest difference I noticed with Hurricane Dorian compared to other nervous Hurricanes was the people. Floridian reaction was skewed this time. People rattled the News and Weather Stations with their comments, emails, and complaints to a point I have never seen before (I'm 54 and was born in Florida). 

Channels 2, 6, and 9 are central Florida's local news channels. Hurricane Dorian was not a stable, usual, normal, run of the mill type Hurricane. The charts were everywhere, the Hurricane planes didn't even get to check the storm a few times due to plane issues (once, the windshield cracked or whatever a windshield is called in a plane), so they "guessed" at the numbers, the conditions were not favorable at first for this storm to gain Hurricane strength, in short, Hurricane Dorian wasn't supposed to meteorologic-ally exist. Dorian was danger close to Florida and tracks were iffy for a long while. Weathermen report the weather but tracks change, forecasts come and go.

Eric Burris and Tony Mainolfi from channel 2 were apparently being inundated by negative nellies and neds via comments and email. So much in fact that I had to turn it off because I couldn't watch them being so upset anymore by it all. Florida was relentless. This same scenario was happening at news 9.

I began watching channel 6 with 
Troy Bridges (this coverage went on for more than a week mind you, with 24 hour news and weather for about three days straight). Troy Bridges kept his cool with all the nonsense tweets, emails, comments, and calls for regular programming. Kudos for cool under immense negativity Mr. Bridges.

The other weathermen just were not prepared for such an inundation of nasty I think. Floridians do not usually fault the messengers to such a harsh degree. Yes, Floridians are known to complain about the heat, humidity, and if in Central Florida, the traffic, but not so harshly as what happened during Hurricane Dorian. Eric Burris is a joy to everyone he meets and we Floridians bombarded him with ugly. While I was not party to the spew, this is one Floridian who wishes to say "I'm sorry it happened to you".

While most Floridians did not get their homes destroyed or people killed like in the Bahamas, and most Floridians did not get flooded, lose power, property or belongings, Floridians lost their ability to watch regularly scheduled programming on a few stations. THIS they complain about?  Just give it some thought if you get time or patience.

Time for a little levity, This is what Floridians are usually known for ...

Of course, it wouldn't be Florida without the Hurricane Memes

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Florida East Coast Surf Fishing Made a Meme Video


The storm was a slow mover, people make light of Hurricanes "Before" they come in hopes they don't destroy and kill along the way. The destruction in the Bahamas is unfathomable, severely sad, and leaves me at a loss for words other than Prayer for the survivors to find strength, healing, and future life as they rebuild. Praying too for those in South and North Carolina. In Jesus Name, Amen.

CU on the beach! Wavecritter aka Stephanie Haile

Cocoa Beach Pictures