2017 Kissimmee Week 7

We're nearing the end of our time in Kissimmee.  Just one full week and one part week left.  The time has gone fast!  Anna and Rylee, if you remember, last week's blog involved only one day - the day we went to the Fair and the Rodeo.  Today, it will cover most of two weeks.  Hope you like it!  I'm going to make you work!

I thought this was kind of cool.  Not only moss growing on a tree, but ferns growing out of the moss.  Did you know that moss usually grows on the north side of a tree?  So if you are lost in the woods, you will know which way you are facing by that bit of information.  
                                                                                       

 
 This fellow looks as if he has been into the "hootch"!   

                                          This tiny little water bird is called a Pied-billed Grebe.  He spends more time under the water than above, and so it is hard to catch a picture of him.  

   One day we drove to a different area to walk.  The paths on the sides of this creek were pretty "rooty", so easier to walk on than bike.  It is called Shingle Creek, and is the northernmost headwater for the Everglades.  The Everglades are also known as a "River of Grass", where the water flows through on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.  #1  Find Gulf of Mexico and Everglades in the atlas.  Hint : The Everglades are in Florida, USA.  

I've shown you pictures before of the Little Blue Heron - one of my favorites.......

  

.......and this is the Little Blue Heron as a youngster.  He is white, but if you look very closely, you might notice that he is starting to turn blue.  

I'm always surprised to see these big birds roosting in trees.  They are sometimes called "Florida Chickens" and I always wondered why.  Now I know.  Natives and early settlers hunted them and ate them.  They said they tasted like chicken!  Now they are protected, and you cannot kill them.  They have become VERY plentiful!  

 #2  I would like you to look closely at this alligator and, using some very descriptive words, give three descriptions of him.

Remember the "Florida Chicken"?  This is called a Glossy Ibis, and is much less common than the White Ibis.







I just love turtles!

 

  Bottoms up!!!     These are dabbling ducks as opposed to diving ducks.  They dabble around in shallow water and eat off the bottom.

                                         This little squirrel was running up a tree, with a nut in his mouth, then stopped and put it in his hands and chewed away on it.  Cute!

     










                                          On my husband Paul's birthday, we went to a "Dinner Theatre" - the kind I like, with horses.  You sit at tables in tiers. #3  Look up tier in the dictionary.  It is in a large arena with sand on the floors, and we are entertained by horses and riders, in this case Knights from the "Medieval Times".  This was the menu of food which we were served, and it was served on pewter plates.  We had to eat it with our fingers.  Fun!

There were so many beautiful horses!

Very talented horses!

 We were in the yellow section, and cheered for the yellow knight.  After each of the "games" they competed in, the knights were given flowers to throw to their cheering section.  I never got one.

There were 6 horses in this group, and one of them actually jumped straight up with all four feet in the air - very difficult for a horse to do!

      This man was the emcee for the evening.  I think his horse is called a Friesian .  They are raised in a province in Netherlands called Friesland.  #4 Find Friesland and Netherlands in the Atlas.

The Mama Sandhill Crane  is still sitting on her two eggs.  She has her eyes closed in this picture.

 #5 Why do you think she has  her eyes open in this picture?  

     This is a Bald Cypress Tree.  It is a "deciduous" "conifer".  #6  Look up these two words in the dictionary.  I have shown you pictures of the "knees" which are part of its root system, but it is also distinctive in the shape that it often takes at the bottom.  It is called "buttressing".  This is caused by the roots sitting in water for long periods of time.  










This is a Florida Red-bellied Turtle.

                                     

     You can never have too many turtles on a log!  

On Saturday, we went to the Circle Bar B Reserve, a protected "reserve"  for wildlife.  In one area we counted 13 of these tiny alligators!  I was a little nervous, because the Mama gator is usually pretty close to her babies, and can be aggressive, but we never saw her.

   



Baby Alligator Collage.  

 You have seen quite a few pictures of an Anhinga, usually drying his wings.  This is what they look like when those wings are saturated with water.  Just the head is out, and some people call it a "Snake Bird".

 There have been some pictures and videos of a huge alligator called "Humpy" eating another large alligator.  (A giant wouldn't do that, would he?)  This is Humpy!

Here's looking at you!  Lucky I had a long lens for this guy!  

Another juvenile Little Blue Heron.

We were so lucky to see a Bald Eagle, even if it was at quite a distance.  You can see the nest at the right.  Big, isn't it?

There are a lot of poisonous snakes in Florida, but it is very rarely that we see one. This little guy was very small, swimming in a puddle.  I don't know if it is a poisonous one or not.  

     

 Finally, I saw a Roseate Spoonville!  #7 Tell me two reasons this is a good name for this bird.  

       
 I actually only saw three of them.  This is a collage of those three.

  I always get excited when I see an Armadillo.  They are just so different than anything else I see.







 

I only saw one that day, but took lots of pictures.  Another collage.

 

UNTIL NEXT WEEK........

                

2017 Kissimmee Week 6

Hi again Anna and Rylee.  The blog you will see today is actually just from one day's photos.  On Friday, we went to the Osceola County Fair during the day, and the Silver Spurs Rodeo (at the fairgrounds) in the evening.  I took a LOT of pictures!  So here goes!                                                          




This is a fair we go to pretty much every year when we are in the area.  It's kind of like the Port Hope Fair.  

 
  Every year I have my picture taken with the bulls.  

This was a pretty tiny giraffe - a baby, I think. 





These are Asian Water Buffalo from Asia, where they are still found in the wild and in captivity.  They are also raised in North America for milk, and they are the only producers of Mozzarella cheese!  I never knew that!  

                                        
This little cutie is an African Nubian Goat, also raised for milk.  

  

  Landon is a Scottish Highland calf.  #1 Where do you think this breed originated?  The Queen of England has her own herd, and it is the only beef she will eat.  #2  What is the queen's name?  

Sally is a Dromedary.  #3  What is a Dromedary (dictionary)?  

    #4  How many humps do you think this camel has?  It may be a Bactrian, which is much rarer than the Dromedary.  Look up Bactrian in the dictionary as well.  

    Tinkerbell is a Sicilia Miniature Donkey, which originated in Italy.  Because of its short stature, it was brought to the United States to pull coal out of the mines.  Now it is usually just a pet.  I love that these all have a cross on their backs.  I like to think that it was one like this that carried Jesus to Jerusalem the week before He died on the cross.  

    
 When I first saw this kangaroo, I thought he was dead, but then I was glad to see that he was breathing, so I guess he was just sleeping.  

   We watched some pig races, and this group of 5 are siblings, 6 months old, and they are wild hogs, also known as Pine rooters,  which we have seen in previous years here in Florida in the swamps/woods.  Their mother was found here in Florida, and we could have paid $1.00 to see her.  We're too cheap!  

                                         Kids were showing animals at the fair in competitions, and this young man was shearing his sheep to make it prettier for showing......

   .....and this young lady was washing her sheep to make her pretty to show.  

  We always like to look at the poultry and rabbits as well.  This incredible rooster is a kind of chicken called Frizzy.  Pretty well named, don't you think?  

   

Anna, your brothers would have probably liked these.  They were men dressed as transformers.  

    

 These girls a lot taller than Paul.  #5  How do you think they got to be this tall?    

      The Silver Spurs Rodeo claims to be the biggest rodeo east of the Mississippi River!  #6  Check the Atlas and see if you can find the Mississippi River.  

The rodeo started with 16 kids on horses doing a square dance.  It was very cool to see this!  

 These were also young kids with some special titles, but I'm not sure what they were.  







This young lady is Miss Rodeo Canada!  Wow!  I'm guessing she may be from Calgary, Alberta.  # 7 Why do you think that I think that?   








                                        This man was the emcee, who was in the arena for the whole evening, telling us what was happening, and joking with the clown.                               

 When the flags were in the arena, the emcee introduced the rodeo, prayed for safety for the people and animals in the rodeo.  This always amazes me!  Then, of course, we sang the National Anthem.  

This is the clown that got lots of attention, but really, he was just kind of a comedian.  There were 2 other clowns who did all the work.  You'll see them later.  

I think they called this steer wrestling.  The cowboy had to grab the steer and wrestle him to the ground with his feet in the air.  

 This looked really hard, but was fun to watch.  It's called bareback bronc busting, or something like that.  

Some future cowboys!  So cute!  








                                          Team roping involves 2 cowboys.  One must rope the head of the calf, and the other must rope the back feet.  They have to hold him like that for 6 seconds I think.  

     This time, the cowboys are trying to "break" the bronco with a saddle on.  I don't think the bronco wants to be broken.

                                                                
                            

The clown was having some fun, and doing some entertaining.  

                                   Tiedown roping is when the cowboy ropes a calf, the horse backs up to keep the rope tight, and the cowboy jumps off his horse with a short rope in his teeth, turns the calf upside down, and ties 3 of his legs together.  Again, the horse has to hold the calf for 6 seconds.  

    


This little cowboy was running up and down our aisle for most of the night, and then tried this trick.  He managed to fall off, and was hanging upside down by his knees.  

    

   #8  What is it called when a cowboy throws a rope like this over an animal?  

16 adult riders did a square dance for us.  It was very fast and exciting!  

  A calf "scramble" was a lot of fun for a LOT of kids!  They set loose 4 calves with ribbons on their tails, and the kids tried to get the ribbons.  I think if they got one of the ribbons, they got $5.  You had to be under ten to participate.  

This tractor came out and smoothe out the sand for the barrel racing.  #9 If this arena had ice in it, what would this machine be called?                                                                       

    
I liked watching the girls doing the barrel racing as well.  Those horses were really moving!  

They had to ride the horses around 3 barrels, and if one tipped over, 5 seconds were added to their time.  

    For me, the bull riding is the most exciting!  Here you can see the 2 clowns who REALLY do the work!  They distract the bull if the rider is thrown off, so the bull doesn't go after the rider.  It is quite a dangerous, but very important job!  

They saved the best for last, and so did I.  I hope you have enjoyed your visit to the fair and the rodeo.  

                                                                      

             UNTIL NEXT WEEK.......