We have yo-yo weather here in Florida.  That means it can be hot one day and cold the next.  Yesterday morning I walked the beach in shorts, and wore them all day.  This morning it was watch cap, hoodie and wool socks, temp in the 40s.  This time of year the changes can last for days or flip in 24 hours.  This cold snap, (it’s cold to us natives, anyway) is forecast to last several days, before we see 70s again, with 80s again in about a week.  That’s about as long as we can stand it without seeking some remedy– travel, illicit excitement, food, excessive alcohol, resurrection– but one way or another we always make it.

The migratory birds we get every winter on the beach are affected too.  We haven’t seen near as many as would usually this time of year.  Part of that is due to the crazy weather they’ve been having way north, where our migratories hail from, but I think our topsy-turvy weather has an effect, too.  We should have quite a lot of willets, sandpipers, terns, plover and black skimmers, but there are only scattered willet, some gulls, and a few black-bellied plover.  I came across this little gathering of sanderling, pictured above, all lit up by the just risen sun.  They are wonderful to watch, digging in the sand for small crustaceans, their little beaks working like sewing machine needles.  They are very skittish, and when you approach, they fly off en-masse, circle out over the water and land as a group either ahead or behind.  Most of our migratory species winter in South America, and because it is such a long trip, we have them, groups at a time, as hold-overs, gathering strength for the haul.  They are extraordinarily tough, beautiful creatures.

We have a variety of resident species as well, of course, some of whom like to show off in the front yard.