Florida, 2015

What a fabulous day we had yesterday!  We went with Jo and Eric to a place near Lakeland called Circle B Bar Reserve, a previous ranch, turned reserve, protecting Polk County's Water, Wildlife, and Wilderness.  What a great place for a camera!

The first thing we saw was something I have wanted to see for years!  An armadillo!  They are the most amazing little creatures ever!  And not only did we see one, but probably closer to 8 throughout the day - I was in my glory! 

They are totally armoured, the plates on their backs overlap, and they can curl themselves into a ball for protection.  Even their faces appear to be armoured!  Not that they were the least bit worried about people here!

There were lots of trails to follow, many of them covered with branches of old live oaks, covered in Spanish moss.  So pretty!

This lovely big bird is called a Limpkin.

This Limpkin was trying to crack open a shell.

Much of the still water is covered with a plant called duck-weed, which is quite harmless and normal, but when a creature comes up through it, it tends to cling to its back - like this turtle.

This is the Great (or American) Egret, waiting for a meal.  How they see the fish through the duck-weed is more than I can figure out!

And this little beauty is the much smaller Snowy Egret.

The Double Crested Cormorant, seen here, is common to Florida.  Although similar to the Anhinga, it is different in colouring and in the shape of its beak.  The cormorant has a hooked beak, which he uses to hook his prey - fish.

Whereas the Anhinga has a long straight bill, which he uses to spear the fish.

We saw several alligators, many of them very large, but this fellow seemed especially big!  He looks like he just swallowed a pig or something!  Apparently after they eat, they need to lie in the sun to digest their food.

This was another special treat!  A mama heron guarding the wee one in her nest.

Ugly little sucker, isn't he?

This is a Common Moorhen.  Notice his big feet, which he uses to run across the tops of the lily-pads, etc in the marshes.

Not sure what kind of hawk this is.  I don't remember ever seeing one like it.  Any guesses?

If you look closely, you can see that this heron has just swallowed a rather large fish, which is stuck near the top of his neck.  Meanwhile, Mr. Greedy is hauling another fish out the the weeds at the edge of the lake.

And did he take it home to the nest for the Mrs. and the baby?  Nope!  Down it went on top of the other one!

This is the Osprey, which we see lots of up north.

One of the lovely tree-canopied walkways that we traversed.

We enjoyed a yummy picnic lunch under the trees as well.

And finally, the "resurrection fern" which grows in great abundance on the oak trees.  It can die right out during a dry spell, then come back to life after some rain.  Hence, the "Resurrection Fern".  Until next time.....

Florida 2015

Went for our second bike ride today, this time the whole way from the place we are staying to and through Celebration.  We are tired, but we did it!  It was a cold and windy day, but with brilliant sunshine, and we found a nice sunny bench to have our picnic lunch.

This beautiful mocking bird tricked me into thinking he was a cardinal - sounded just like one!  But the cardinals always hide, and this one doesn't!

I love the little blue herons!

Our usual trek through Celebration takes us on a few miles of boardwalks through woods/swamps.

I think this is called an air fern.  They seem to attach themselves to trees.

 


We heard about this fellow and strayed a bit from our usual route to see him.

I didn't need a zoom lens for this fellow - he was only about 6 feet from the sidewalk!  He kept turning his head to keep an eye on anyone walking by.

Anhingas, like cormorants, dive for their fish, and their feathers get saturated with water, making it hard for them to swim.  So they have to dry themselves to become buoyant again.

Some of Florida's finest spoiling peoples' day with a radar gun!

This big, somewhat ugly bird, is called a wood stork.  He has a head and neck that resembles wood.  We have seen very few of them this year.

What a beautiful creature is the Great Egret!  Many of the birds seem to be dressed in their breeding plumage right now.

As is the Great Blue Heron.

And as is the beautiful, and much smaller, Snowy Egret.

And one more gator, sunning himself by the path.

Until next time.......

Florida 2015

What started out to be a cold and cloudy day, turned out to be quite nice.  After a few hours at an outlet mall, I went for a walk with my camera.

This lovely pair is Mr. and Mrs. Hooded Merganser.  They were very co-operative!

Tommy the turtle.

Great Blue Heron

This bird is just so striking!  I can never resist!

Tricoloured (Louisiana) Heron.

When I first saw this little guy, he was greenish - I think he must have dropped out of a tree.

I love the beautiful flowers!

This young cormorant was thrashing all around.  Not sure if he was bathing or playing.

Until next time.....

Florida, 2015

What a lovely time we had today as we joined with some of our Cobourg friends for lunch in Lakeland!

The Bucks, the Carletons, the Ebbers, and the Lintons (in alphabetical order!) in Cracker Barrel.

And back at Dick and Marilyn's lovely home for dessert.

So nice to sit outside in the sun!  It was a little cool in the shade, but lovely in the sun. 

One of the beautiful  flowers at the Ebbers' home.

Yesterday, we went for our first of many (I hope) bike rides of the season.  Saw this lovely Little Blue Heron doing some fishing.

And this Great Egret (AKA American Egret)  patiently waiting for his food.  

I'm never sure how they can see the little fish swimming under the "duck weed" that floats on the surface, but they do! This Great Blue Heron did!

This little fellow, about 5 feet long, was quite happy to lie in the grass beside the path and let lots of people take his picture.  About a half hour later, when we came back past, he was still there, but in a different pose, so I guess he was alive!

And this baby, only about 3 feet long, was quite happy to pose for us as well.  We have seen bigger iguanas in Fort Lauderdale!

Florida 2015 - first days

After a great and uneventful trip down, with dry roads and plenty of sunshine, we arrived in Florida on Wednesday, Jan. 29, where we made our first stop at Daytona Beach.

 
 This is the first picture we always take in Florida - at the Welcome Station, where we are greeted with fresh orange and grapefruit juice.

We stayed at Daytona Beach for 2 days until it was time to check in at Kissimmee.  Nice to get our toes in the sand and salt water!

I love watching these little birds scurry along the beach.

Now THAT'S what I call a good breakfast!  We visited a chocolate factory in Daytona, and the eggs you see are made of chocolate, the fruit slices are candy, and the bacon is real bacon, covered with chocolate.  The bacon is their 2nd best seller, after chocolate covered Ruffles potato chips.  Yum yum!  Are they good!

Anthony was our excellent guide, after which he generously offered us 3 pieces of chocolate each.  There was no bacon on the tray, so he gave me one to try later.  I loved it!

And then it was off to the beach again - much colder than the day before, so we didn't stay long.

 We were lucky enough to see a group of pelicans right on the shore - something we have never seen there before.

I think this fellow was wrestling with a fish.

Sorry for so many, but just really like pelicans!

Today after church, we checked out the market in Celebration, then walked around the lake.  Saw a few of these ibis (AKA Florida Chickens).

We also saw our first alligator of the season - about a six-footer. 

 Later on, I went for a walk in the area, and came across this little guy.  He didn't seem the least bit worried about me being there.

"Just" a mallard drake, but so pretty!

I saw 2 pairs of hooded mergansers - so striking!

This is a Louisiana Heron, AKA tri-coloured heron.

The sun was shining through a fountain to give this lovely background for the Louisiana Heron.

Until next time.......