Tag: south florida

A visit down south.

On By dinajohnstonIn Vacation10 Comments

In late April Brett and I spent a long weekend down in south Florida visiting family. We had an open morning so we went for a long walk on the broadwalk in Hollywood Beach. We got out early before the broadwalk got crowded but as we made our way back the crowds were moving in. It was beautiful and the extreme heat had not set in yet so everyone was out.

Nothing says “Florida” like a mermaid statue.

Passing by touristy sights.

It was a beautiful weekend.

On Sunday we had dim sum in Fort Lauderdale with Brett’s extended family. The Chinese restaurants are much better here than the Tampa Bay area.

For years we came down here to visit family and I never saw an iguana. Now I see them everywhere when we visit.

Watching the boats go by and relaxing along the intercoastal waterway between walks and meals.

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Fly away, high away, bye bye

On By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, Vacation1 Comment

So many butterflies. I could have spent all day at Butterfly World near Ft. Lauderdale. The best thing to do is to find a good spot to sit and wait for them to land. I’ve heard they don’t flutter around as much later in the day but then the aviary would be crowded with people. We were there when it opened and there were only a few other people there

These black ones with yellow bodies were all over the aviary. I found a few pairs mating.

There were so many different ones. I’m not even going to try and identify these.

One of the rooms had a waterfall and bridge and you could see most of the area from the bridge.

One of the cool things was seeing the rows of pupas in all different stages. They had these plus many more set up in front of windows and you could see the butterflies emerging.

When I see butterflies I think of Elton John’s song –

You’re a butterflyAnd butterflies are free to flyFly awayHigh awayBye bye

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The “No power” road trip

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

We lost power early in the afternoon on the day Hurricane Milton was coming. The next morning after spending the day cleaning up the yard we decided to take a road trip for a few days since we knew the electricity would not be coming back on for at least several days. Local hotels were full from people evacuating the coastal areas and the gas stations were out of gas (and most didn’t have power anyway).  We had a full tank of gas and figured we could make it to West Palm Beach before filling up again so we packed the car Friday morning and headed to Ft. Lauderdale to visit Brett’s relatives. We didn’t see any gas until we got to the other side of the state. We spent Saturday with Brett’s aunt and uncle and Sunday we decided to do some sightseeing. We were at Butterfly World when they opened.

Gouldian finches were flying freely in the big aviary at Butterfly World. The males have the darker purple chest and the females have paler chests. They are beautiful birds and it was fun to watch them chasing after each other.

The budgies were flirting and preening each other.

This couple, with their zebra striped heads, were kissing.

This was a target rich environment with lots of little birds flying close by. The top is a juvenile gouldian finch who hasn’t gotten his bright feathers yet. The middle one is a scaly-breasted munia. I have heard there are some wild ones flying around parts of Tampa. The orange one is some type of canary.

There was a small flock of cockatiels and I wondered if they were former pets that were surrendered.

Some type of guineafowl? There were several creeping around on the ground.

And yes, there were tons of butterflies at Butterfly World but more on them later. A quick video of them fluttering around as I walked into the aviary.

 

Those tiny grumpy owls

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

Brett and I took a trip to the Fort Lauderdale area to visit his relatives for the weekend. Sunday morning we got up early and went over to nearby Brian Piccolo Park to see the burrowing owls. It was early May and any babies should be big enough to be out of the nest (or burrow). The park is a busy ball park with baseball fields, soccer fields, bike tracks and other sports but the owls live among the fields and have been here for a long time. The burrows are all roped off so they are easy to spot. And, there is usually an owl sitting out of each of the them.

These were all taken from the parking lots with my 400mm lens and cropped up. There were a lot of owls out this morning.

I only saw 2 burrows with babies and they were almost as big as the parents. They still had some fuzz around their heads but otherwise looked like adults. We didn’t stay too long since we had to get back and get ready for lunch with the family.

Road trip to the other side

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Vacation12 Comments

In early May Brett and I took a road trip to the Fort Lauderdale area to visit his relatives. It’s just a quick 4 hour drive from our house in Oldsmar. We always pass this old historic spot at Yeehaw Junction. The old Desert Inn Bar was built in 1889 and has been standing in this spot since then. In 2019 a tractor trailer truck ran into the side of it and did a lot of damage. Original word was that it was going to be restored but that hasn’t happened yet. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

The new hotel addition of the Hard Rock Hotel can be see from almost any of the main roads through Fort Lauderdale. We passed it on the way to a restaurant during our stay.

We were in our hotel room before heading out to dinner and Brett was looking out the window and saw this large iguana walking towards the hotel. I jumped up and grabbed my camera and ran down. He was already in this palm tree when I got to him. That doesn’t look like a comfortable spot.

I saw a lot of these lizards everywhere we went. It was the first time I really noticed them around.

A sun halo high up on our way to lunch.

We were checking out of our hotel and Brett went to get the car. I looked over and saw a tiny bird sitting on the sidewalk. I walked right over to this black throated blue warbler and he let me pick him up. He must have hit a window. I put him on top of the bushes and by the time Brett came and we loaded the car he flew off.

Heading home over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. They were repainting the yellow cables. I can’t image being high up in those little boxes painting while cars are whizzing by. The view is probable amazing though.

BLUE MONDAY BADGE

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South Florida

On By dinajohnstonIn Vacation5 Comments

Late afternoon on Hallandale Beach, north of Miami. A quick walk before dinner.

Things on the beach. The beach was littered with Portuguese man o’ wars. I would not want to come close to one of these in the water. They are known to have a painful sting.

Tile on the walkway and hibiscus near the parking lot.

Big boats are common along the inter-coastal waterway.

Heading home before crossing Alligator Alley.

Some parting shots from our quick trip to south Florida to visit Brett’s relatives.

SkyWatch Friday

A trip down south (south Florida)

On By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, flowers and plants, Vacation5 Comments

Every year in the winter Brett and I head down to the Miami area for a long weekend to visit some relatives before it gets too hot. This past February we were looking for something to do with his aunt and uncle and were going to be close to Homestead one afternoon so we stopped at the Fruit and Spice Park.  We were way down south of Miami right before heading to the Keys. Lots of farmland down there. The park is a farm that grows different exotic spices and fruits that you can tour. We took a long tram ride with a guide who explained all of the different plants that are farmed there. We got to taste and smell some of them. It was a nice way to relax and spend the afternoon outdoors and I took a ton of pictures.

The above Rainbow Gum tree was very cool. As the bark peels off, it exposes different colors. It can only be grown in frost-free areas of the country.

There were lots of critters crawling around from the pretty green lizard to the big iguanas. The kids on the tram went crazy over them and we stopped and were allowed to get pretty close.

More to come on this trip down “south”.

SkyWatch Friday