Hello dear family and friends,

It has been a few weeks since the last update so here we go.....

For Team Kelly, March was a busy month with April looking even busier. The good news is to be this busy I have to feel good, and I do. 

Holly and I flew to Florida for our annual visit with her parents, the trip did not disappoint, the weather was spectacular, in the 70s with blue skies. We did get a couple cloudy days but for the most part we enjoyed wonderful weather and even better company. Since this was a planned trip, unlike our impromptu trips, we were able to plan to get together with family and friends. 

We had a wonderful time at dinner with friends Ward and Andy, Ward barely scratched the surface of his heroics as a pilot in Vietnam - a remarkable man. We enjoyed a dinner and another fun time with Charisse and Seth,  and look forward to them visiting this summer when they pass through enroute to Oregon.

Holly and I drove out to Merritt Island again, found a few birds we wanted to see despite critically low water levels in the wildlife area. We did see some Black Skimmers streaking across the surface of a lake - their lower beak is more robust than the top half so as not to crumble under the pressure of their feeding technique.

Speaking of birds - late one evening I spotted a Barred Owl fly into the tree nearest Tom and Maria's house. Tom and I stood in the yard as the owl flew from tree to tree - it was my first encounter with a Barred Owl and he took my breath away.

The birds in the lake once again became tolerable to my presence, in the floating hide, and walked by me within an arms length. Unfortunately the only bird who was visibly upset about my presence was the Sandhill Crane who was sitting on two eggs. I did all I could to give her space and over a week's time I was able to find that distance where she would not move when I approached the lake.

The female Sandhill Crane is sitting on two eggs, interestingly that is the first time in 50 years a crane nest/egg has been in Tom's yard. Holly and I are headed back down to Florida this coming Monday to photograph the babies, who hopefully hatch this weekend.

When we came home from Florida Holly went to work and I flew to JFK. Our pilot's union hosted a pilot's disability forum at a JFK airport hotel and invited the FAA to listen to our various requests to return to work. There were 36 pilots who had a wide variety of ailments but all wanted to get back to flying. I went with realistic expectations and had a chance to meet with the FAA doc and Delta's newly acquired flight doctor. Delta's doctor is very squared away and may be an advocate for me though I don't think the FAA has the leadership to let me fly. They have approved type one diabetics to fly, even using an insulin pump in flight, but can't believe I am healthy enough, in between infusions,  to return to flying. Believe me this subject is a source of frustration that I will never make sense of.

As I mentioned Holly is super busy with work and has had a couple of firsts this week. While going through security an elderly man, not a gentleman, literally pushed Holly to keep her from encroaching on his space. Unlike me, she was gentle in her reapproach, I would have shoved the man to the ground....lucky for him he was not on her flight because I think he would have been denied boarding. Secondly Holly flew with a fellow flight attendant who had finished training - last week!! Now that's a NEW hire. 

Spring is starting to arrive at our house, we could see the grass for a little while then we got a foot of snow. This week the temps will rise to 70 so the snow will soon be melted. I did put up two bird houses, we'll see if the little birds chose one to raise a family in - we sure hope so.

One morning I was surprised by Wood Ducks being relatively close to me - they are incredibly shy and aloof - I was even more surprised when the male turned and appeared to kiss his mate on the forehead. I know it's wrong to put human emotions onto birds but this sure was a sweet picture. The Ospreys were very active, I suspect the couple had two juveniles they were teaching to fish. One adult was adept at fishing, he would come in, hover and crash dive then come up with a fish, in this case a large fish. Forster's Terns eventually showed up on a windy day so I was able to catch them as they too hovered and crashed into the water. The Barred Owl shot is a fair representation of his body, face and how good my camera is at capturing this picture after sunset. Lastly, two Black Skimmers, looking like the Thunderbirds, skimmed the water at high speed.

We hope you have enjoyed the update, thank you for your prayers and well wishes - we're doing really well and thriving. April will be hectic but I'll try to be better at updating the post more often.

Get out and enjoy your spring!!!

All our love,

Steve and Holly