Pete's Blog

Making Movie Magic

Remember my pal, Keaton Bicknell?  He’s 11 years old and going to be the youngest screenwriter in the world making a movie. That’s so cool!  The movie includes me and the job I have helping you to get to know about nature.
 
Here’s an update on what’s been happening.

January 11, 2009 was one exciting day! Before the sun came up people started arriving at my home in Crescent Beach, Florida–Pelican Perch. There were cameramen, a soundman, grips (they “grip,” move, and set up the equipment), electricians, a gaffer (head electrician), editors, set dressers, wardrobe and makeup people, photographers, caterers, craft service (snack and drink servers), producers, directors, crew, assistants, actors, extras, and parents of the kids. 

I never realized how many people and how much stuff it takes to make a movie!

 It was some big group—like me and my pelican buddies when we gather on sandbars. All the crew were Keaton's buddies who came to help him out. Don't you feel good when you help your friends?

Keaton was the director and most important person in the movie crew. He is one amazing boy! He knows all about making movies. He was able to talk to all the crew about their equipment and what it takes to do their jobs. When he was directing, I heard him yell ”action” and “cut.” Keaton has autism, but that doesn’t let it stop him.

The whole Bicknell family was part of the action. Keaton’s sister Samantha is a photographer, dad Stuart was the camerman, his mom Pam headed craft service, and his grandma, Claire Fredette, was the actress who played the movie Grandma.

My family took part in the action too. Hugh Keiser, my illustrator, was the actor playing the movie grandpa. Frances Keiser, who writes my Pelican Pete books, was helping out wherever she was needed, and team members Jennifer Sellars and Kathy Shea helped out too.

Cameron Sparks and Maggie Widener were the actors playing the boy and girl in the movie. They were awesome! I can’t wait until you see them—and my movie. I’ll send you more information on that as soon as I know more.

 

 

 

Until next time, as Keaton would say,

“That’s a wrap!”

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I wanted to send special greetings for a Happy New Year to everyone from my family here at Pelican Perch...

 

If you haven't already started exploring your neighborhood and nature around you, start the new year out right - GO OUTSIDE AND EXPLORE!!!

Meet Hugh and Learn about St. Augustine

My Neighborhood,Hugh Keiser,St. Augustine,Drawing,Illustration,Discoveries,Bridge of Lions

I mentioned in another post that Pelican Perch is located in Crescent Beach, Florida which is just a short distance from St. Augustine so I wanted to include a picture that Hugh Keiser drew of scenes from St. Augustine.   Hugh does all the illustrations in my books and he is a really good artist, don't you think?

St. Augustine is very old. In fact, it’s our nation’s oldest city. I explored St. Augustine, and learned about it in one of my books, First Discoveries. I visited the lighthouse, and heard about the Bridge of Lions. That was scary because I thought there would be real lions! I learned that we can all be good stewards of the land and when homes, schools, and offices are being built, we can save places for wildlife like me and my pals. You can learn more about First Discoveries here, and you can learn more about St. Augustine here.

I'll be back soon. Until then, keep exploring! 
 

Check out my book on another blog

Wildlife Institute,Pelican Pete,Habitats,Naturalists,Books

Fran got an email from Tom Patrick, of the Windstar Wildlife Institute.  He wanted her to know that he posted a new feature on his blog. It's about my book series and entitled, "Kids Will Love the Pelican Pete Books." He even included a picture of one of the books.  (Here's a link to a page on my website that shows all my books.) I was happy to see that. If you want to see it as well, you can click on this link to the Windstar Blog. You can also check out his main site Windstar Wildlife Institute. He has some great information about birds, animals, habitats and native plants.  He also helps people to become master naturalists and to turn their yards into wildlife habitats.  That way, more animals will live there and visit them.

It's so much fun to see who's visiting.

I'll be back soon with another visitor to Pelican Perch that I want to tell you about.

Keep enjoying the outdoors!

Meet "Mr Crabby"

Hi, I’m back again.

I want to tell you about another visitor that came to Pelican Perch recently and this one is kind of rare for this part of the country. He is a blue land crab (Cardisoma guanhumi) and he actually wandered into the hall downstairs in Fran and Hugh’s house. You can imagine what Tara thought when she walked in and saw this quite colorful little crab. Tara, by the way, is one of the Pelican Pete team members who I will be introducing you to over the next couple of months. (You can see pictures of some of our team here.)
 
“Mr. Crabby” was about 4″ wide across his back and looked a lot like the familiar blue crab that usually inhabits our waters. But unlike the usual local variety of crab, he scrambled towards the rocks instead of heading for the river. (Just so you know, Pelican Perch is located on an island and we have the ocean on one side of us and the Matanzas River on the other side.)
Fran wanted to find out more about him and discovered that he is a “Land Crab”–Florida’s largest.

The farthest north they normally live is about 150 south of us by Indian River in Vero Beach. This is actually the 2nd Blue Crab that’s come our way lately. A couple of months ago, another one tapped on the glass at the studio door. “Mr. Crabby” was quite beautiful but “watch out” for those pincers.

I guess there must be something appealing about Pelican Perch! I know I like it a lot. I’ll be bringing you more news and discoveries as the weeks go by. Until then, go on outside and see what you find in your neighborhoods.

Keep exploring!

A Caterpilar In My Backyard

Hi Everyone,

It’s been awhile since we’ve posted anything here so I thought it was time for me to get on the road.I’m going to fly around the area, visit some interesting people and places (and flora and fauna, as well) and tell you all about who and what I see and meet.In the meantime though, we’ve had some unique visitors right here at Pelican Perch, my special place. It is the name that Fran and Hugh gave to their home and office here at Crescent Beach.They named it after me, isn’t that great? I’ll tell you more about Fran and Hugh as I go along in the weeks and months ahead. For now, the first visitor I want  to tell you about is a Saddleback Caterpillar.   Actually, there are two of them living on a house palm in one of the spare bedrooms in Fran and Hugh’s house. I’ve never seen anything like this. You can see why they are called Saddleback Caterpillars – it looks like they are wearing a saddle on a bright lime-green blanket with a white border.It’s quite beautiful, don’t you think?"  Fran explained that they are about to pupate, so she’s been letting them stay in her house because it’s too cold for them to survive outdoors. They emerge from their chrysalis as a medium sized brown moth. Saddlebacks are one of three species of stinging caterpillars in our area. Believe me, you don’t want to brush your hand against one!

See you soon with more “friends” to tell you about.