Since last week's blog was only about Flamingo Gardens, I thought I would make this blog about the last two weeks. We did quite a lot of biking both weeks, and of course, that's when I get most of my pictures.
Sometimes, when I'm not chasing bees, I chase butterflies!
I went into a garden to take a picture of this cool statue, and guess what I did? I stepped on a fire ants' nest and got bitten about a dozen times! Not a good thing!
This red-shouldered hawk was keeping an eye on things as we biked by.
You've seen pictures of the white ibis (also known around here as the Florida chicken). Well this is a young white ibis, and he hasn't completely turned white yet.
And this is the mature white ibis.
Almost every day, we take a picnic lunch with us - even if we go to a mall!
This is the kind of bike path we biked on in the city of Weston. It ran beside the road, but not RIGHT beside it.
Ahh, and then back to the pool to relax, read, and have a swim.
Anna and Rylee, I know you like looking at the iguana pictures, so here are a few for you to see.
Take a look at this poor fellow's tail. Here is an assignment for you. See if you can find out what happens if an iguana loses its tail, and write your answer in your notebook for me to see when I get home.
This one was pretty small and green coloured. I think maybe it was a young one.
This very obliging bird is called a Northern Mockingbird. Another question for you to answer - why do you think it is called a mockingbird?
I think the more colourful iguanas are the males, and the dark coloured ones are the females. Could you check that out for me, girls?
They love to lie in the sun!
This was an unusual tree, with lacy kind of leaves, and I liked seeing the sky through them.
This was a swan with an attitude! He was in captivity, and had no mate. Maybe that was because of his attitude!
He was fortunate to live in this lovely area. Pretty lucky, wasn't he?
Such a pretty sky! Tell me, Anna and Rylee, why do you think the clouds look like they do?
We are now in Kissimmee, which is where Disney World is located, and have been here for a week. We plan to be here for 5 more weeks. We are very close to Disney World, and almost every night, we see fireworks from our balcony. Some nights we see 3 different shows - at 8 p.m., 9 p.m., and 10 p.m. It's pretty amazing!
One day last week we went to Tampa to see the Florida State Fair. It's a BIG fair, since it is for the whole state! One of the things we went to see was the circus in the fairgrounds. For some of the performances, we were not allowed to take photos, but I got a few of the others. Here is a collage of the pictures.
There was another place where there were butterflies flying around inside a netted area. That was pretty cool! You can see where one landed on my hat in this collage.
The last thing we did that night before we went home was to watch a rodeo. That was my favorite thing to do at the fair! Here's one more collage for you!
There were lots of animals to see at the fair. I loved this Mama goat and her twin babies. The one on the left was a bit of a rascal, climbing on his Mom, dancing around the pen, etc. Fun!
I don't know how this Texas Longhorn managed to hold his head up, do you?
Does this little guy look familiar to you girls? Who do you think of when you see him?
How's this for ugly? It is an Alligator Snapping Turtle. I don't think I would want to tangle with him!
Notice the purple colour of the giraffe's tongue. Anna and Rylee, see if you can find out why it is this colour.
Now then, do you suppose he is black with white stripes, or white with black stripes?
These beautiful birds hang out in or near the water usually. They are called Florida Sand Hill Cranes, and they take turns sitting on the eggs in the nest. They mate for life, and come back to the same place to lay the eggs and raise their young each year.
We have watched this pair for a few years now, and will patiently wait for the eggs to hatch. Hopefully, we will be able to take pictures of the babies in a few weeks.
I always think it's pretty cool that you can see right through the nostril to the other side! This bird allowed me to be about 3 feet away from him!
This little guy is an immature Little Blue Heron. They are white at first, and eventually become the colour of the bird in the next picture.
And this is the mature Little Blue Heron. They are quite small compared to the Great Blue Heron.
This poor little racoon was resting in the grass. I don't think he was feeling too well.
And THIS guy was feeling just fine at the moment, but I think he was going to become someone's lunch! Anna and Rylee, can you find out what kind of fish this is?
This is the first alligator we have seen this year, sunning himself on the bank. He is just a little fellow.
See the curved beak? This is a type of ibis - like the white one. But this one is called a GLOSSY Ibis. They are pretty rare, and I was pleased to see 3 of them!
And THIS is how this bike ride ended! The ice cream place is way to close to where we are living!
These are two female hooded mergansers. I don't know where the males were, but I hope I can see some to show you later. As you can imagine, they are much more colourful!
I love this small diving bird which is called a Pied-billed Grebe. He's a tiny little bird, even though he is full sized. So cute!
I think this Mockingbird is mocking me for making such a long blog! Hope you have enjoyed seeing the pictures, girls, and I hope you have also learned a thing or two! Have a good week!
Until next time.......
Anna and Rylee, I'm making my blog today just about one day, because I took so many pictures at this place and enjoyed it so much. Maybe later I'll make another one about our whole last week except for this one day. Hope you enjoy the pictures and that you learn a little something as well.
The place we went to was called Flamingo Gardens, and although there were flamingos there, there were also lots of other birds and animals, as well as trees and flowers. It is not a zoo, but rather a place that takes in birds and animals that are native to Florida and have been injured or for some reason cannot survive in the wild. They try to rehabilitate them so that they can be released, but if that can't happen, then they give them a home in as natural a setting as possible.
We saw about a kazillion flowers, so I thought I would make a collage of some of them.
The flamingo is a very unusual and beautiful bird. They say that they are the colour that they are because of what they eat. Not sure how that works. Anna and Rylee, maybe you could check that out and let me know what you find out.
The other birds that I really enjoyed watching were the many peacocks that were there. This is the male peacock trying to impress his lady friends. The ladies are called peahens.
This is a collage of peacocks. And by the way, the colourful pictures are from the front, and the others are from the back.
I was interested to find out that peacocks and peahens come in white as well. Can you guess which is the male and which is the female?
One of the things I liked doing the most was going into an aviary, a huge screened-in area that had lots of water birds. I liked it so much, I went in twice! This is a wood duck pair.
I'm afraid that, since we moved today, and I left my bird books in the car, that I don't know the names of all the birds, but I do know that this is some kind of a night heron.
And I think this duck pair may be called "Golden Eyes", though I'm not sure.
I really wanted to see some white pelicans on this trip, and I did. In fact, Paul was close enough to touch this one.
I loved seeing the Roseate Spoonbills. They are so colourful and unusual. Guess why they're called spoonbills?
This is a pair of Anhingas guarding a nest. Not sure if they had eggs in it or not.
Paul found some friends. Don't know what kind these are either, but they sure are pretty and friendly.
This pair of Black Crowned Night Herons are building a nest.
And this little Snowy Egret was all alone, and seemed kind of sad.
Here's another collage, this time of the water birds.
Flamingo Gardens has 21 "Champion Trees" - that is, 21 trees that are the biggest of their kind in the state of Florida. It's the largest collection of champion trees anywhere in the state.
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I don't remember what this one is called, but how do you think you would like to climb it? I don't think I even want to hug this tree!
It's hard to hug a tree this big! This is one of the Champion Trees, and it is called a "Cluster Fig" tree. It comes from India.
Something interesting is that some plants attach themselves to a tree and just start to grow there, with no roots in the ground. They take moisture from the air to help themselves live. also, there is a kind of fern that grows on tree branches. It's called "resurrection fern" because during a dry period it dries out and dies, then when it rains, it "resurrects" itself, and comes back to life. If you go to church at Easter time, you will hear about how Jesus was "resurrected" - came back to life after dying on the cross.
This is another plant that had attached itself to a tree with air roots. It's a beautiful orchid, and I saw several of them in the park.
Have you heard of a Christmas Cactus? Lots of people have one in their home, and it usually gets flowers on it at Christmas time. This mockingbird was sitting atop what I think is a Christmas Cactus that was about as tall as a 2 story house!
There were 2 alligators in an enclosure. The male, called Elvis was about 12 feet long, and had been rescued from a house where he was being kept illegally - I hope it was when he was much smaller! The female was called Priscilla - can you guess why?
There was a bobcat in a pen, but he was having a nap. Do you know why they are called bobcats?
This African Spurred Tortoise was huge.....but he had a nice smile. Anna and Rylee can you find out the difference between a tortoise and a turtle and let me know?
The river otters were having a great time, and were such fun to watch!
Have you ever eaten a kumquat? They look like a tiny orange, but you don't peel them to eat them. You just pop the whole thing in your mouth and chew it up. The inside part is very sour, but the skin is really sweet, so you must eat them together. They are so good!
We found a few trees with starfruit growing on them. There were lots just rotting on the ground, so we thought no-one must be using them. So we picked one off the tree and I ate it. It was so sweet, and the juice just dripped off my chin and my fingers. Yummy! It's called starfruit because if you slice it, the slices look like stars.
Here's another fruit we found growing. I think you know what they are. they were not quite ready to pick, though. Bananas take as long as 18 months to grow. That's a long time! And the banana plant only produces one bunch of bananas and then it dies.
Another animal we saw was a Florida Panther. There are very few of them left in Florida, unfortunately. There were 2 male panthers in this large enclosure.
This lovely creature is called a Florida Pine Snake. I'm sure glad I never met up with him outside of his terrarium!
Anna and Rylee, do you remember Petunia 'Possum from the Maggie Muggins stories? Well, this is an opossum. There was an animal encounter show, and this was one of the critters featured. This poor little guy was hit by a car, and because he had some brain damage, cannot survive in the wild, but is very well loved and cared for here. He was very cute!
There was also a barn owl featured in the show. Apparently barn owls are one of the most common birds in the world, found everywhere except the South Pole, yet are rarely seen. God has made them with some very remarkable abilities. Can you find out what they are?
This box turtle was purchased at a pet store by a girl who thought she was doing the right thing by putting him in water. Trouble is, box turtles don't belong in water, and he did not do well. His shell did not grow as it should, and he cannot get himself inside of it, and so cannot survive in the wild. Poor fellow!
Well, that's enough for now. I'll maybe do another blog later in the week. Have a great week! See you next time!
