Florida 2015 - Gatorland Part Two

Here comes part two of our day at Gatorland with Jo and Eric.  It's all about the birds - my favorite!

These birds do not appear to be tethered at all - maybe their wings are clipped.

They come in various colours.

So pretty!

And even in pure white.

Flamingos are a strange looking breed - but such a pretty colour.  Again, they are always in this area, but not closed in, so I assume free to leave if they choose.

Catching a ride.  Trusting, no?

Up-close and personal with a wood stork.  They really are quite ugly!

A pea cock resting in the bushes.

And his lady, the pea hen.

And now we are in the breeding swamp/rookery, where I know for sure the birds are free to leave.  This is the area I love to spend time in.  These are Snowy Egrets.

And this handsome fellow is a Great or American Egret.

Again the Great Egret in his breeding plumage.  So pretty!

This lovely lady was kind enough to stand up and let us see the 3 blue eggs in her nest.

This little Snowy Egret showing off his breeding plumage.

There were a couple of babies in this Egret's nest.

Wow!  I've never seen anything like this!  An Anhinga, showing off for someone!

There were very few Great Blue Herons, and even fewer of the Little Blues.

The green colour on the Egret is unusual - I think it must be because of the time of year.

These black vultures were everywhere - looking for handouts, I think.

And finally, the Black Crowned Night Heron.



......until next time.

Florida 2015 - Gatorland part one - Gators and other critters.

On Tuesday, Feb 24, we went to Gatorland with Jo and Eric Carleton.  Had a great day, regardless of a little rain now and then.  I took a LOT of pictures, and decided to divide the blog into 2 parts.  This one involves gators and other critters.

I'm quite sure that everyone who has ever been to Gatorland has a picture like this one!

Of course, alligators are a large part of this park, and there are hundreds - actually, probably  even thousands of them, throughout the park.

This poor old guy looks a little the worse for wear - has probably been in a fight with another gator or a croc.  He has one "stump" and a pretty nasty looking eye.

This is not a great shot - too much reflection on the glass, but I thought it was a cool house for a snake, and he was curled up in it when we arrived.

We watched a gator wrestling show which was quite entertaining, and well done.

We wondered what kind of turtle these smooth ones were, and when I googled it, it looks like they are "Florida Soft-shelled Turtles", with leathery shells.

About noon, we watched the Gator Jumparoo Show, which was also quite entertaining, and a good time to be under a roof, since it started to rain about then.

Bubba and Cooter made the Jumparoo show fun - a pair of clowns, though very BRAVE clowns!

This is a Nile Crocodile, with the distinction of having killed more people than any other - largely because they are in highly populated areas.

This is one really big tortoise!

This big cat is a Florida Panther - I didn't know they were so big!  There is a brother and sister at Gatorland.

Another show we watched was one called "Up-close Encounters".  One of the critters in this show was a tarantula.

At this part of the show, these 4 people had to stand with arms outstretched and eyes closed.  When this python was laid across their arms, the guy in the purple shirt took off like a shot!  It was hilarious - MADE the show!  They coaxed him back, but I don't think he ever did touch that thing!  And I don't blame him!

 

 There were a couple of bobcats in the Bobcat Bayou.

This is a fascinating creature!  It is a totally white alligator - not albino, but an actual breed.  They are very rare, and are called Leucistic Alligators.

The main difference between an alligator and a crocodile is the shape of its snout.  The croc has a long skinny snout, but the gator has a shorter, broader snout.  This fellow is obviously a crocodile.

There were places to buy food for the critters, and someone was feeding this group.  They were climbing all over each other, snapping up the goodies.

Look out Jo!



....until part two, which involves my favorites - birds.....

Florida 2015

Today was supposed to be a warm, but rainy day, but we took a chance and left for a LONG bike ride, starting with coffee and a hot gooey doughnut at Krispy Kreme.  We missed you, Ed and Pat!

Next, we went to check on the Sand Hill Cranes, to see if either of the eggs had hatched.  If any had hatched, we didn't see them, as Mama never got off the nest.

This is a type of water lily - not my favorite, but pretty never-the-less.

One of my favorites - always close to water.  We're seeing a lot of these now.

Another of my favorites, which also grows by the water.  Today is the first day we've seen these in abundance.

Another favorite.....

.....and yet another.

These tiny ducks, Pie-billed Grebes, were diving in and out of the "duck weed".

And this Tri-coloured Heron was fishing in the duck weed.

The red-shouldered hawk was atop a lacrosse net in the park where we often see him.

There are wild orange trees all through the swamps/woods that we ride through on board walks, but today was the first day that we smelled the orange blossoms, which are on the trees at the same time as the oranges.

This bee liked the smell of the orange blossoms as much as I did!

Back down the path to down-town Celebration........

.....where we sat in rocking chairs and drank some coffee.....

......and had a nap.


Til next time.......