Fun morning at the farm.

I hadn’t been to Horsepower For Kids (sanctuary/farm) in a long time so I stopped by for a visit at the end of December. All of the baby geese that had grown up in early 2020 were still there making the duck pond a busy place.

They had 2 new canadian geese at the pond. They swam close to the dock and I noticed they both had angel wings. Angel wings is a nutritional deficiency caused by improper diet. It means someone was feeding these geese too much bread when they were young and their wings didn’t grow properly. It can keep them from flying well and that’s probably why they are living here now. At least they have a great home to live in now. That’s why it’s so important not to feed the wildlife bread.

It’s fun seeing all of the different crazy “fowl” running around here.

Some of the other residents.

I was admiring this salad. These guys eat better than I do.

Butterflies are seen all year long here.

A quick stop to see the funny faces

Checking out some pretty white pigeons at Horsepower for Kids (rescue/animal sanctuary/petting zoo/farm) in late June. They weren’t in a cage but they were banded. I guess they know they can get a handout here.

Some of the funny faces.

Looks like this is a baby emu. I wonder where they got this from. They take in all kinds of strays or abandoned animals.

It’s always fun seeing the peacocks running around.

“No, I’m not giving you a kiss” I told him. I was there early so once the kids get there he’ll get lots of attention and snacks. He loves a good scratch.

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Strutting around

I love seeing the peacocks at Horsepower for Kids Sanctuary. They are very comical and have a lot of personality. I probably wouldn’t want a lot  of them running around in my neighborhood since they are so loud.

Where is he going? This one took off running across the cow pasture.

They were pecking around in the tortoise food. The tortoise didn’t seem to mind. He might have liked the company.  They pecked a little and then moved on, cruising around the farm.

The “Show off” birds

There’s a lot of peacocks out roaming around Horsepower for Kids animal sanctuary.

These young ladies were having a dirt bath out in the cow pasture. I use the term bath loosely since they are rolling around in years of dried cow poop dirt. They do this to keep the bugs off.

There were several young males showing off near the ladies but I think they are all siblings. The young males don’t have the longer feathers like the grown up males do yet.

After their dirt bath, the young females wandered over to the chicken coup. I think they were trying to find a way to get in so they can get the feed.

Later I saw some lady peacocks hanging around the tortoise pens. They were also looking for food sitting around. They had babies with them and the babies couldn’t figure out how to get in the pens.

One of the babies made it over the fence but the others kept running along the boards like “Where’s Mom going?” Eventually the babies figured out if they went around to the back Mom was meeting them back there. They were looking at me like “Lady help us over”. It was tempting but I wanted to see what they would do. After they met back up with Mom they headed to the bushes behind the pens for a nap.

Mama goose

Some of the water birds at Horsepower for Kids during my visit in mid-March.

One of these doesn’t belong. An ibis hanging out with the geese on the edge of the pond.

It’s always fun to see the peacocks showing off.

I saw this goose sleeping on the grass in the shade. I was wondering why she wasn’t sitting on her egg, hoping she realized it was there and wasn’t going to reject it.

Later I saw why. She was sitting on a lot of eggs and they all didn’t fit. She did move the one egg closer to her after she got up and stretched. She’s going to be a busy mom.

Flamingo Gardens

Pretty flowers.

Things in the water.

Peacocks had free run of the gardens. They were everywhere. One lady was even taking a dirt bath.

Yes, there were flamingos at Flamingo Gardens.

Egyptian geese also had the run of the gardens. They are also pretty common out in the wild in the south Florida area.

A wild hawk was building a nest near the aviary.

Brett and I stopped in the old Florida attraction while we were in the Fort Lauderdale area visiting some of his relatives.

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The eagles are back on the nest!

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Just a few pictures of the eagles near my house. I finally saw them both on the nest recently. One was on the nest and the other was sitting on top of the dead tree the nest is in. I’m hoping they are getting ready for eggs or there may already be eggs on the nest. I’ll keep you posted.

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The loud peacocks that live on the farm where the eagle’s nest is were looking at me like I was crazy.  They were thinking “That crazy lady is back with her black box on her face”.

SkyWatch Friday

Last day on the farm for a while

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Horses playing and taking mud baths.

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Strutting around.

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A green heron hanging around the pond.

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“Don’t land on me” said the turtle to the great blue heron.

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Floating around the pond.

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Love is in the air.

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Showing off for the ladies.

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I think this one needs some sunscreen.

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This pond has its own “cotton ball” head duck.

This is probably my last trip to the “funny” farm this year, or least until very late fall. It’s already too hot here. It was a perfect morning in early March. All of the animals were very active.  In the summer they’ll be sleeping all day and the farm will be filled with “summer camp” kids. Although, it’s tempting to go back in the summer to see if there were any spring baby animals.

Weekly Top Shot #172