This young Carolina wren was hopping all over the place.
Usual birds: a sparrow, robin and baby mockingbird.
A rare bird for me, one that I don’t see in my area of Florida is the American Goldfinch. There were several in the back of the gardens eating the flowers.
I saw several hummingbirds buzzing around but I could only catch this one.
Lots of little critters at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens during my trip in August.
More pictures from my trip to Sweetfield Farm for the sunflower festival this past summer. So many little critters hanging around the fruit and flowers.
The nanday parakeets are always goofing around.
A male and a female ruby throated hummingbird.
A great egret going by with a snack.
Little critters in the park.
A manatee cruising by the fishing dock.
Big boats going by.
From the fishing pier at Fort Desoto Park.
The Selby Gardens in Sarasota sits right on the bay. It was a warm beautiful morning in late November when I was there for the first time with my sister.
It’s a small botanical gardens and a bit far from my home in Tampa. Not sure if I will get down here again soon. My favorite part was the conservatory that had a lot of orchids. We happened to be there during an orchid exhibit which was pretty cool.
Some of the many plants at Lettuce Lake Park.
I caught a quick glimpse of a black bellied whistling duck family. They were passing through under the boardwalk and headed into the swamp. They paused for a few minutes and I snapped the above. The babies are so cute. They look like little bumble bees.
After climbing 3 stories to the top of the observation tower at Lettuce Lake, I look over at the pine tree to the left of the tower and this guy was staring right at me. He’s looking at me like “What are you doing up here?”. I’ve never seen them up close before. He stayed for a few minutes then took off to catch a fish. I missed the big splash since he was so close near the tower but caught him flying away with a fish.
A great egret flies by the tower.
Turtles and alligators in the water below. The gator was going after that water bottle.
Tiny critters on the boardwalk.
A juvenile blue heron basking in the sun on the boardwalk.
Squirrels were snacking and napping.
Phone shot of the lake.
Critters at the park.
I was standing on the boardwalk looking for birds and heard a noise in the leaves. Thinking it was a squirrel, I didn’t look down right away. When I did, this was staring up at me. She was so close I had to pull out my phone to take a picture.
I stood there quietly and watched the deer roam around for a few minutes. The mom and older baby were having a bonding moment. They kept an eye on me but went about their day.
Chesnut Park on a Saturday morning in November.
Linking to Saturday’s Critters
A cat bird in the berry bushes.
A young little blue heron in the lake. There is water under there.
Tiny critters buzzing around.
A house wren hanging on a Christmas decoration.
This cute Carolina wren was giving me some attitude.
A few flying things at the Florida Botanical Gardens in late October.
In early August I made it to Chesnut Park before 8am. I drove to the back of the park to walk the back boardwalk first before the weekend crowds got there. The parking area was full of deer. I parked and got out of my car and the deer just glanced at me and kept eating. What is it about deer that make you stop and look? They seem so docile and graceful. These deer have grown up in this area and are comfortable around lots of people. As long as you don’t get too close. All of these were taken with my 300mm lens with a 1.4 extender on it so I kept having to back up just to fit their faces in.
I saw this lone lady sitting way back in the woods. This picture was extremely cropped. I ran into a park ranger coming off the trail and he said she was probably pregnant and about to give birth. I was disappointed that I hadn’t seen any babies around this summer. He told me there were several at the park but they were hiding on the weekends.
Other stuff at the park.
Update- I stopped by the park recently after work and saw several fawns. I’m still editing those shots and will post those soon.
Linking to Saturday’s Critters
I think this is a very young red-eyed vireo.
A prothonotary warbler. They nest here in the summer.
I heard whistling and saw the black bellied whistling ducks on the top of the observation tower, only because there weren’t any people on the tower yet.
I snuck up the first flight of stairs and saw them looking down at me. I didn’t want to scare them off so I went back down and headed away from the tower. After a few minutes someone came down the boardwalk and headed up the tower so they flew off.
Some of the little critters at the lake.
Some young limpkins hiding under a tree near the boardwalk.