Walking through the fog.

On May 20, 2021May 6, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals6 Comments

Some of the critters along the trail at Circle B Bar Reserve in late March including that cute little mouse in the bottom pictures. The alligators were out everywhere and making their loud mating bellow. Even if you couldn’t see them you could hear them bellowing all over the marsh.

It was a quiet morning for flying critters.

The trails were covered in fog when I got to the preserve early in the morning. There wasn’t a lot of traffic on the trails and it was a nice quiet morning. I like being here in the fog for a change of season since it makes it seem like winter even if it was mild and muggy.

The bottom two pictures are panos with my phone.

The moon was still up

On April 5, 2021March 6, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was a beautiful morning in late January. The sun hadn’t come up over the trees yet and you could still see the moon across the marsh. It was so quiet and only a few other people farther up on the trail. The black bellied whistling ducks were flying back and forth across the trail, heading far off down the marsh. I took a few deep breaths and was so glad I had set my alarm to get here earlier than I usually do.

As I walked down the trail, birds and ducks were constantly flying overhead.

You could still see the cobwebs along the edge of the trail.

Heading down Marsh Rabbit Run, I heard them calling as they started flying towards me and was able to catch the sandhill cranes flying by.

The marsh was all brown from the cold but the sky was bright blue.

A typical January walk

On March 9, 2020March 9, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Heading out on the trails, something flushed a flock of ibis across the marsh.

A perfect morning in January, cold and clear.

Morning glories along the trail.

The usual birds.

Crazy face hiding in the bushes.

Right over the trail, this osprey was eating fish.

A typical morning walk at Circle B Bar Reserve.

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Bur marigolds and alligators

On February 8, 2018December 31, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, flowers and plants4 Comments

I think late November and early December is the most beautiful time at Circle B Bar Reserve.

A few of the critters. I thought I had found a 2 headed gator but just realized they were just passing by.

Traffic jam on the trails. Some of the trails are heavily populated but there are also some quieter ones as well that you can walk to be alone,

A beautiful start to the day.

SkyWatch Friday

Mueller State Park

On December 11, 2017December 12, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation4 Comments

We stopped at the Visitor’s Center before hitting a trail. View from the parking lot at the center above.

The Visitor’s Center above looked like what you would expect from a Colorado park.

A few of the critters at the top of a trail. I see yellow-bellied sapsuckers in Florida in the winter but this was the first one I had seen in his summer breeding colors. NOW I know why they call it a “yellow-bellied” sapsucker.

Heading down the trail, we only walked for about an hour. It was late in the afternoon and we didn’t want to drive back to Colorado Springs in the dark. There’s over 55 miles of trails here. All have stations to sign in and out when you are hiking the specific trail. It is bear country. The visitor center had a sign that one of the trails was closed for the day due to a bear on the trail that morning.

Staying the Same and Changing at the same time

On December 7, 2017December 1, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants2 Comments

From the parking lot at Circle B Bar Reserve. The reserve had only been open a few days since Hurricane Irma had hit when I made the trip over to walk the trails. It was closed for almost 6 weeks after the hurricane due to so much damage on the trails. The most popular trail is still closed since part of the trail was washed out (they don’t want people wading in the swamp with the alligators, go figure!). The one thing I noticed immediately was the lack of leaves on most of the trees around the parking lot. The wind stripped them all away. The above trees were full of green leaves before Irma. It made parts of the park look like the dead of winter even though the weather had still been in the 80’s.

There was still a lot of moss in some of the trees as the sun was coming up over Heron Hideout Trail.

The big dead trees along Marsh Rabbit Run trail were still standing.

Looking across the marsh, I knew it was going to be a perfect morning out.

The trails had downed trees all long the way. It must have taken them a while to move all of those fallen trees off the trail. The moss still covered the ones that were still standing.

People who come here often complain about the amount of people who now come to the park, especially after the video of the alligator crossing the trial. It is a free public park after all. If you can get here early in the morning, it’s still a magical place. I like to walk the trails when it’s very quiet. As the big families are heading in right before lunch, I’m heading home for lunch so it works out.

SkyWatch Friday

Here comes the sun

On December 1, 2016December 1, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants4 Comments

I knew it was going to be a good morning when I walked out on the trail at Circle B Bar Reserve at 8am and this was the view.

I had not been out here since May so it was great to get out and walk around without it being terribly hot.

The trails were quiet except for the birds making noise. The limpkins and phoebes were loud. It felt like a lot more moss had grown on trees.

A very large bee hive right on the trail.

I only had my 300mm lens with me so all of these were taken with my Iphone. That bee hive was so close that I would have only gotten an inch of it with my longer lens. I’m looking forward to lots of long walks here this winter.

SkyWatch Friday

Fall throwback

On October 27, 2016October 27, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation6 Comments

In 2010 Brett and I went to Atlanta in early November to celebrate his 50th birthday with his family. The weather was perfect and the leaves were at their fall peak colors. We spent a day hiking Amicalola Falls in north Georgia. We took his niece and nephew with us and hiked the main trail and then up the 600+ stairs to get to the top of the falls. We made a lot of stops along the way to take pictures. Nathaniel was taking a break on the stairs and taking pictures of the water. After having a snack and walking around the top of the falls, we headed back down. The color of the leaves were amazing and I look back on this day with awe. Not only for the leaves but did we really climb all those stairs? It would probably be a little harder to do 6 years later. Since Brett’s family moved down here we rarely get to Atlanta. I think I need to plan a trip next fall to re-climb those stairs.

Take a camera photo tour of Marsh Rabbit Run trail.

On April 7, 2016April 7, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants, Tampa bay sights6 Comments

Views from the intersection of Marsh Rabbit Run Trail and Heron Hideout Trail.

Looking down the channels from the blind.

Views from the end of Marsh Rabbit run trail. This was Wading Bird Way trail. The yellow sign says “Do NOT bother the gators, or any other wildlife.” It also says that if an alligator is sleeping on the trail, to turn around and go back the other way (lots of other trails to take instead). You are not to try and wake him up and get him to move or try and step over him. It was a quiet morning in early March. I was the only one on the trail.

Heading back on Marsh Rabbit Run trail, you can see the raised dirt trail with water on both sides. There’s gators in that water so you have to watch where you’re going in case one of them walks up on the trail.

The trees along the trail are full of moss.

A view of one small section of Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland Florida. This was early in the morning. By 10am the trails are usually full of people.