king@cbnewsk.ATT.COM (joyce.l.king) (11/30/89)
We had Thanksgiving outdoors this year, under the Chickee hut at my sister's house on Plantation Key. I was calmly eating my pumpkin pie when my brother-in-law said his funny-looking blue heron was back. There, on the seawall, stood a Wurdemann's Heron. It seems he had been coming by for dinner (my brother-in-law catches grunts and mangrove snappers for the herons and egrets in the area) for about a week. It's a first sighting for me. I even got a photograph! It doesn't appear to know how important it is. I did notice that it was banded. I also found a small flock of wild flamingos on the south end of Key Largo the day after Thanksgiving. They aren't supposed to be here. Perhaps they are escapees. The same day I saw a scarlet ibis that has most of the Upper Keys residents excited. It has been around for a couple of years, but continues to grace us with its presence. Joyce Andrews King (from the Florida Keys via modern communications)