Florida 2015

Today, since again it was very cold - just above freezing, we decided to go to a flea market near Lakeland, just south and west of Orlando.  On our way there, we saw something growing in a field - some kind of small bushy plants, and wondered what they were, because they were all shiny and sparkly.  Then we realized that they were covered in ice - obviously the sprinklers had come on in the night!  After nearly freezing to death at the flea market, we decided to abandon our previous idea to go biking after, and just drove some back roads back to Kissimmee.  We ended up in the old downtown Kissimmee, by Lake Tohopekaliga, so went to the beautiful park by the lake and went for a walk at the end where we didn't walk the other day.  As I'm sure you can guess, I took a few pictures.  :-)

This beautiful bird is called an American Coot.

The Common Gallinule, sometimes called a Moorhen, is often seen swimming with Coots, as it was in this case. Until I looked in the book, I wasn't sure if they were male and female Gallinule.

 

This otter soon disappeared from sight, and try as I did, I couldn't find him again.

After the Civil War, Hamilton Disston (ever hear of the Disston saw?) purchased 4 million acres of marshland in Florida. His land included a small trading post on the north-west shore of Lake Tohopekaliga, which grew to become Kissimmee.  Bet he never dreamed of the huge Disney property that now presides nearby, and the millions of tourists who descend on the area every year!

This tiny little diving duck is called a Pied-billed Grebe.

And this tiny little bird was flitting all over the place, and I think it is called a Carolina Wren.

This will give you an idea how cold it was today!

 We weren't sure til we looked in the book whether this was a Killdeer.  If we had known, we would have searched for a nest on the ground.
 

 
We have seen a lot of these Limpkins on the shores of this lake, and I think I have figured out why.  I think there must be a lot of clams in the lake, and these birds seem to like them.

 Here he is with his feet on the bottom, probing with his long beak in the mud. 

And we have success!

Now to get the clam out of that shell!  There were a lot of shells on the grass where he had been fishing.

Another Coot - just because I like the picture.  :-)

There are about a kazillion Boat-tailed Grackles in this park.  The males are a very shiny black, but the females are this pretty buff colour.

There is a bass tournament in Lake Toho this weekend, and it seems that the participants pre-fish ahead of time.  There were a LOT of trucks and trailers parked here.

These fellows had 5 bass in their live well, and took them in to be weighed.

This was their largest, just over 5 pounds, but they said they come a lot bigger than that!  I guess because they have all year to grow in these southern lakes, they grow bigger than in our northern lakes.

Here they go back into the lake - and very happy they were to do so!

This little beauty, a Snowy Egret in breeding plumage, was hanging around the docks......

.....having a lot to say for himself!

....until next time!