Monday, April 28, 2008

Sand Island Light house at Fort Morgan


I love light houses, and we are so lucky to have one right out our back door here at Fort Morgan. When I think of a light house the first thought that comes to mind is a movie from my childhood where a little boy who sees an imaginary dragon is adopted by a Lighthouse keeper and his adult daughter. In the end everyone is a big happy family and he has no need for his imaginary friend any longer. It is a sweet story of Family and love and is probably the main fuel for my love of lighthouses now. To me they are romantic and hold all sorts of fun adventures just waiting to happen.
Of course the life of a lighthouse keeper and his family if he had one was far from romantic. They often lived hard, lonely lives spending weeks and months alone.
The light house out our back door is called the Sand Island light house. It was built in the 1800's originally and destroyed. It was rebuilt to exactly the same light house and was actually on a part of the peninsula at one time. It is hard to imagine the land going all the way out to the light house! Now the light house sits on only its ballast rocks that were placed at its base to protect it from storms. It is no longer in commission but it is a popular attraction for the vacationers who are sight seeing by boat. It is also a great fishing spot. We are glad to have this beautiful historical monument as our neighbor at Fort Morgan keeping a watchful eye over us. Or maybe it is our turn to keep a watchful eye over it in it's old age.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Sand Dollars by the Thousands at Fort Morgan


We recently had an unusual experience here at Fort Morgan. I have decided after two years that unusual is the norm around here though. Our winter guests were getting ready to leave and the Spring Breakers were coming in and we had a couple of large storms come through and it stirred up everything out in the gulf. We were finding ancient lumber, possibly off of an old wreck in the gulf, polished smooth like a river stone. Guests found sea anemones washed up on the beach and all closed up like a package protecting the delicate creature on the inside. We set those free back in the gulf.
All of the other finds were fun and new for us, but my favorite was the Sand Dollars. One of our winter guests had a habit of taking walks each morning to catch the sunrise. They came back and told us about what they found. This particular morning they brought back pictures. We started looking at the pictures but we were unsure what it was we were looking at. When we zoomed the photo in the treasure was revealed. It was thousands of tiny sand dollars. They ranged from the size of your thumb nail to smaller that the eraser of a pencil.
Later that evening we took a family trip down to the beach to check out this wonder for ourselves. We collected about a hundred and it would not even fill up a water bottle half way. It was a great adventure for our family and something my Dad who has been on the beach most of his life has never seen. I wanted to share a photo with you. A special thanks to Don and Sue Carrier for this great photo.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Spring Bird Banding at Fort Morgan!!!



Bird banding here at Fort Morgan in the Spring is the time for Humming Birds!!!! You can see them all around the condos checking out the landscaped flowers and the natural ones we have growing here. We try to take turns as a staff and go down with the kids or our family and have an amazing experience learning about the birds that come through our area. We are so blessed to be in a place with an over abundance of natural beauty and then we get all sorts of creatures that migrate through our area at least once if not twice a year.
The bird banding is going on for another week here and we have already had some great adventures and learned lots about our feathered friends. We have met Hooded Warblers (the small yellow and black bird in the photo)and Hummers. Savannah had the neatest experience so far she got to let a humming bird go you can see her photo also. Yes that little thing in her hand is a Humming Bird!!!!!! We are so grateful to Bob Sargent and the rest of the Bird Banding group who allow us to participate even in a little in this important research. If you are here or get a chance to come in the Spring and Fall do not miss Bird Banding.