-- Steve Miller Band
I have determined the reason I saw so few birds at the sanctuary on Friday is that the avians of Naples feel no need to be protected from humans. They're pretty fearless.
This morning, we went to the Naples Pier. Resting on top of the entrance was an egret. As we walked further in, a sea gull was perched on the railing, posing for photos. Seriously, he was letting people get within a foot or two of him for a picture. And on the way back, I saw a raven fly down and perch on the pier, with a piece of food in his mouth. Pelicans are also extremely common there. So common that they put out signs asking visitors not to feed them, the same way that lakes in New Jersey have signs asking people not to feed the ducks.
While at the pier, in addition to the ornithology experience, I was also stopped by a group of German tourists who asked me to take their photo. Why me, I don't know. Maybe I have a trustworthy face. I'm told, by the way, Germans like visiting Naples. I'm not sure why they find it a popular destination.
The pier would be an interesting historic monument, if it were genuine. The original one was built in the 1880s. However, it keeps getting destroyed by hurricanes and rebuilt.
This evening, we took a sunset cruise. Again, there were plenty of birds flying around and enjoying themselves. My favorite was the pelican who decided to hitch a ride on our boat. He (or maybe she) just hopped on, and stayed there, for 20 minutes of the tour. Like the seagull, he seemed happy to pose for pictures. A very cool bird.
He might have been interested in learning how homes in Naples are built, which the tour explained: if it's along the river, they're constructed by people who aren't aware the real estate market collapsed a few years ago. People are still spending tens of millions of dollars for property there, and often they'll demolish the mansions as soon as they've bought the land. There's one multi-millionaire who bought an island off the coast. He's already build a 24,000 square foot guest house, and he's building 13 more homes of similar size, one for each of his children. The only way to get to them is by boat. Crazy.
I have determined the reason I saw so few birds at the sanctuary on Friday is that the avians of Naples feel no need to be protected from humans. They're pretty fearless.
This morning, we went to the Naples Pier. Resting on top of the entrance was an egret. As we walked further in, a sea gull was perched on the railing, posing for photos. Seriously, he was letting people get within a foot or two of him for a picture. And on the way back, I saw a raven fly down and perch on the pier, with a piece of food in his mouth. Pelicans are also extremely common there. So common that they put out signs asking visitors not to feed them, the same way that lakes in New Jersey have signs asking people not to feed the ducks.
While at the pier, in addition to the ornithology experience, I was also stopped by a group of German tourists who asked me to take their photo. Why me, I don't know. Maybe I have a trustworthy face. I'm told, by the way, Germans like visiting Naples. I'm not sure why they find it a popular destination.
The pier would be an interesting historic monument, if it were genuine. The original one was built in the 1880s. However, it keeps getting destroyed by hurricanes and rebuilt.
This evening, we took a sunset cruise. Again, there were plenty of birds flying around and enjoying themselves. My favorite was the pelican who decided to hitch a ride on our boat. He (or maybe she) just hopped on, and stayed there, for 20 minutes of the tour. Like the seagull, he seemed happy to pose for pictures. A very cool bird.
He might have been interested in learning how homes in Naples are built, which the tour explained: if it's along the river, they're constructed by people who aren't aware the real estate market collapsed a few years ago. People are still spending tens of millions of dollars for property there, and often they'll demolish the mansions as soon as they've bought the land. There's one multi-millionaire who bought an island off the coast. He's already build a 24,000 square foot guest house, and he's building 13 more homes of similar size, one for each of his children. The only way to get to them is by boat. Crazy.
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