More pictures from my walk around Davis Islands near downtown Tampa.
Month: September 2016
“There’s no place like home”
I’ve been seeing a little blue heron around the channel behind our house lately. One day he’s on the fence, the next day he is on our neighbor’s mast.
A very young night heron was under our neighbor’s dock at low tide.
I peaked out the bedroom window and saw a hawk eating a frog on our boat lift.
It’s common for the white ibis to take a nap on our boat lift.
I looked out the bathroom window and saw this squirrel hanging out of a hole in our neighbor’s palm tree. I wonder if there’s a nest in there.
Various plants hanging over the fence.
Just a few things in our backyard recently.
Sunset at the fishing pier
This is a pano of north Tampa Bay taken with my phone at the Safety Harbor fishing Pier.
After an early dinner, we walked down to the fishing pier to watch the sunset.
The sun actually sets behind the trees but it was still a beautiful night out. These were taken from the end of the fishing pier looking towards the marina.
The sun was going down on the sailboats.
Growing up in the swamp
I was walking along the boardwalk at Lettuce Lake Park and look down and saw this limpkin family. The Mom was teaching the littlest one how to find the snails and get the food out.
After feeding the last one, Mom needed a break and she flew up to the boardwalk and stood next to me and stretched.
The 3 little babies kept busy by themselves while Mom rested on the boardwalk rail. They were busy preening and trying to find their own snails. Every once in a while they would look up to make sure Mom was still there. Eventually, someone came walking down the boardwalk so the Mom flew back down into the swamp and started to walk off with the 3 little ones behind her.
Assorted critters at the Botanical Gardens
It was very quiet on my walk around the Botanical Gardens in Largo in late August. I did manage to find a few fun critters hanging around in the heat.
Linking to Paying Ready Attention
Hanging out with all of the Bambis’
Only here, all of the mothers are alive and well keeping a watchful eye on the little ones. The park near my house has lots of wild deer roaming around in the park. Most summers I have seen one or two babies in the park. By late August I had not seen any even though a park ranger had told me there were a few there. One day after work I was heading home in the rain. It was down to a light drizzle and I had my camera in the car so I took a detour and stopped at the park. There were very few people there because of the weather so the deer were all over the parking lots. I counted 7 babies in the park. Most of these were taken from the car. I didn’t want to scare them so I stayed in the car and rolled down the window. When they have the park all to themselves, they come out of the woods.
Linking to Saturday’s Critters
Is summer over yet?
Not for us down here in central Florida. September is one of the hottest months because we usually don’t get the afternoon summer rains to cool down. It’s a perfect time to start heading back to the beach since most of the tourist are gone after Labor Day. On a nice quiet Saturday morning, all that’s left are sea oats and ghost crabs.
Lettuce Lake Park in August
Tiny critters at the park.
Creepy critters at the park.
Pesky squirrels at the park (I don’t know who thought that was a “Squirrel proof” feeder. It was hanging next to the nature center.)
Pretty prothonotary warblers at the park.
Just a few things from my walk in late August.
Dirty beaks
Flying back and forth from the nest, the wood stork parents stay busy keeping the nests neat and bringing in food.
The parents of these triplets were busy feeding them. All three of the babies looked healthy. I did notice they all had dirty beaks.
More from the wood stork rookery in north Tampa during my stop in early June.
Linking to Saturday’s Critters
Birds in the city
Lots of grackles and starlings around the park.
For years, loggerhead shrikes have been hanging out along the fences at the airport on Davis Islands. Maybe they like the view.
Pano of downtown Tampa, taken from Davis Islands.
Pretty flowers in the summer heat.
A juvenile little blue heron creeping down to the water. Then he flew over to the sign to remind everyone to slow down in the manatee zone.
More sights from my walk around Davis Islands in late July.