Florida 2015

Another gorgeously warm day in central Florida!  Wow!  It was sunny, warm - even HOT at times!  So thankful!  After church and lunch at Bob Evans with our friends from Toronto, Peter and Marilyn Cober, we got changed and headed to Celebration on the bikes.

We're thinking of making an offer on this house in Celebration.  Would anyone come visit us if we did?

I got right up close and personal with this guy.  After a bit, he got annoyed, chewed me out a bit, and flew off.

Found these chairs in a nice little park - a good place to drink our coffee and read our books.

These lovely birds serenade us a lot, but they are so elusive!

Snoopy was guiding this dirigible, and it suddenly started to tip down - don't know if it landed somewhere nearby or not.  We lost sight of it.

As we passed an open marshy area in Celebration, this deer came bounding out of the woods and into another woodsy area.  Apparently we just missed another adult and 2 fawns.

The gators were curiously absent today.  We thought they were going to be sunning themselves all over the place, but it wasn't so.  Just this big fellow.

A wood Stork (or Wood Ibis) doing some fishing.

Today was the first day we actually felt like eating ice cream!

We used to see this hawk and its mate regularly in a park in Celebration, but this is the first time this year.  It's easy to see that it is a Red Shouldered Hawk.

He was very patient as I walked around taking pictures from different angles - even watching me as I did so!

Well, maybe not entirely patiently!


.....until next time.

Florida 2015

At last!  A warm day in Kissimmee!  And did we make the most of it!  We biked about 20 miles (not km's) on our little folding bikes with the 20 inch wheels.  :-)  By the time we got back, my legs were cramping, but yes, Jeff, I drank lots of water, then went in the hot tub.

After meeting our friends, Ed and Pat for donuts and coffee at Krispy Kreme, we went on to check out the Sandhill Crane situation, and there are still no sign of babies.

Next, we visited the Shingle Creek Regional Park at the historic Steffee Homestead, which spans this beautiful creek.

We biked on the paths through the woods and marshes.  There was way more water there this year than we've ever seen.

The family's summer cabin was just across the creek from the homestead.

Washing up at the old pump!

There have been a lot of improvements this year, including a bridge over the creek and a place to rent kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards.

And of course, we enjoyed a picnic lunch.

This lovely hawk - red-shouldered?  Harris's? - was kind enough to sit for awhile as I moved around, taking pictures from various angles.  Very patient!

We haven't seen too many young ibises this year.  The brownish one hasn't turned white yet.

For the first time since we've been here, we put on our swimsuits and went to the pool and hot tub.  


.....til next time.

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!

Florida 2015

Yesterday, Valentine's day, we took our annual trek down to the OLD Kissimmee downtown and park area.  Kissimmee was originally built on the banks of Lake Tohopekaliga (AKA known as Lake Toho), and they have made a beautiful lakeside park area.  We love to take a picnic lunch and eat by the lake - and usually bike as well, but this time we just walked.

We were lucky to see 7 wood storks in one place, and they were not the least bit upset at our presence near them.  Some were adults, some "courting", I believe, some seemed younger.

I love the way they rest, with their "knees" bent backwards.  They seem to bend both ways.

This is to show the lovely black feathers that aren't usually apparent.

I was kinda hoping this fellow wouldn't catch a very big fish, or he might be swimming with it!

It was funny to see this little snowy egret put the run on this much larger Limpkin.

A lovely tri-coloured heron in flight.

And a Great Egret in flight.

A Great Egret who just caught a fish.

I love to see the white pelicans who often hang out in this lake, but today, we just saw one, and at quite a distance.

 


This monument is dedicated to the Filipinos and Americans who served in the Philippines during WW II.

Later that night, we went over to see the old cars at Old Town.  I think a lot of the men had been persuaded to take their women out to dinner, because there were way less cars and people than the week before.

But the main one was there - this beautiful little 1967Mercedes 230SL.  It makes our hearts go pitter pat!

Until next time.....