I headed out to Chesnut Park first and saw the usual critters above before heading to Philippe Park nearby.
While waiting for the baby owl to wake up I walked up the small hill that sits on the water. The small hill is a Tocabaga Indian mound and is the largest remaining mound in the Tampa Bay region. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Landmarks. The view is beautiful at the top. While standing there a juvenile eagle flew right over my head.
Some little critters.
Some medium size critters.
A big critter eating a slightly smaller critter.
A few smaller critters out in the marsh.
Fun critters in the fog at Circle B Bar Reserve.
A typical Florida swamp scene (cattle egret looking at a great egret).
A limpkin posing in the moss.
A Carolina wren stops by.
A cormorant flapping his wings.
Another limpkin in the moss. Looks like he was grabbing moss for his nest.
This guy was just cruising down the trail, not caring that he was heading right for me. He kept getting closer and I finally got up and moved back (was sitting on the trail to take his picture). I don’t want this guy to get too close. They are cute but still creepy.
All from Circle B Bar Reserve in early February.
Pretty pelican floating by.
A cormorant sleeping on the top of the light post.
Dolphins were cruising by the pier.
This osprey did not want to share his meal. After a closer look, I didn’t want it anyway.
Climbing a tree.
Great egret getting a snack.
It was a windy morning. The storm clouds had not moved in yet so the kiteboarders were out taking advantage of the wind. The park is pretty limited on wildlife sightings for the summer. Other than the usual laughing gull and reddish egret, there’s not much around the beach except tourists. When is summer over????
These guys have gotten way too tame. I was walking down the trail at Circle B Bar Reserve when I saw this raccoon head towards me. I thought for sure he would leave the trail when he saw me but he just kept on walking right down the middle of the trail. We both kept getting closer and he still didn’t hide. I sat down on the trail and was taking the above shots. These are all cropped. When he reached a certain point I stood up and moved over to the side. We walked right by. I was holding my monopod out in front in case he lunged for me. I wasn’t about to go off the trail into the alligator infested water. I don’t know whether people are feeding them or they just don’t mind us being there.
We saw them walking down the trail and then we lost them. Looking around, we heard some shaking high up in the tree. Looked up and saw this staring at us.
“Yeh, I’m mean. See my teeth?”
“You don’t believe me? How about this?”
“What about if I growl?”
“I’m sorry. Did I upset you?”
“I’m really just chewing on an acorn.”
“These are yummy.”
Later, we saw another one all alone wandering down the trail.
He was much smaller and all alone. He got pretty close before he veered off into the bushes.
It was also armadillo day. We saw three different ones. I rarely see them here.
Instead of going to the mall for Black Friday on the day after Thanksgiving, we headed to the Black “mask” Friday at Circle B Bar Reserve. Pam’s husband, Craig, came up with that name for the day since we saw so many raccoons that day. It was a beautiful fun trip and way better than fighting the crowds at the mall. Who still goes to the mall these days anyway? Shop on-line.
Even surrounding a turkey vulture with yellow flowers cannot make him attractive.
Black vulture convention.
This is the first time I’ve seen a Wilson’s snipe at Circle B Bar Reserve. He was hiding in a small puddle out in the marsh.
The usual limpkin with a snail shot.
Tern. It’s weird to see seabirds hanging out in central Florida. Shouldn’t they be at the beach?
The first great blue heron’s nest of the season at Circle B. The nest is several trees over and much higher than last year’s nest. I’ve since heard there is at least one baby poking his head up.
This was all the way across the lake but that fish the anhinga had caught was too big to pass up and not at least try to take a shot.
Look at those feet!
Cool caterpillar on a weed.
It was right after Christmas on a Friday morning. I had just dropped my sister off at the airport for a 7am flight and headed out to Circle B Bar Reserve for a long hike. I had a few days before my hubby’s family came down for New Year’s week. The weather was cool. The first under 80 degree day we’d had in a week. But, the sun wasn’t out and it looked like it would rain any minute. The rain held off but I had to crank up my ISO to get any good light to take pictures. I’m starting to feel like a jinx on yucky weather there. Cloudy on the last 4 trips. Maybe January will be my month, sunny and 70.
Check out more pictures at Our World Tuesday
Also, check out more birds at Paying Ready Attention for
