Was I being watched? I noticed all of the different art faces that are on on the trees at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo.
Pretty things blooming in July.
Little critters.
You can usually find alligators, bunnies and turtles at any park in the area.
It was a quiet morning for birds though. I’ve been working from home since mid-March so I’m still trying to get out of the house on Saturday mornings for a long walk even if the wildlife is scarce this time of year.
I stopped by my new favorite turtle pond at McGough Nature Park in early May. I went there looking for birds but had to stop and watch the turtles napping for a few minutes.
I saw this hummingbird go by in a flash and landed on a branch right in front of me on the trail. She only stayed for a few seconds and then took off.
This black and white warbler was looking for bugs.
A redstart in the bushes.
A red eyed vireo high up in the tree.
My first yellow throated vireo. I watched him for a while as he picked up worms and caterpillars in the tree. This beautiful bird was having a feast. Fattening up before he heads north for the summer. I found him near the closed playground.
Teeny critters at Kapok Park.
There’s always a lot of turtles under the boardwalk.
Great trees at the park including the first one with the roots half exposed. It’s been living that way for years.
Another “just being outside” shot at Kapok Park in mid-April.
Blooming things at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo.
Critters at the gardens.
Baby moorhens are popping up everywhere now.
Yes, the botanical gardens were open during the “Stay At Home” phase. Lucky for me most people must have thought they were closed because there was only a few other people there. Lots of space to move around in.
The snowy egrets were showing off and flirting.
The little blue herons were doing the same thing.
Some of the other birds were also showing off with their breeding faces.
The turtles were watching all of the action.
Even the cormorants were flirting and chasing each other high up in the trees.
Unlikely pair in the same tree, a wood stork and an osprey.
Birds on a wire. Crazy black hooded parakeets staring down at me.
Although we have butterflies all year round here in central Florida, they are rare to find in the winter. Now more are showing up since it was warming up in late February.
Skimming the surface, looking for snacks on the water.
I rarely see Cooper’s hawks. This one was hiding off the trail.
Always fun to see the turtles. People feed them here so they are not shy.
A northern parula signing his heart out.
Limpkin with a snack.
Off the boardwalk, taken with my phone.
After leaving Largo Nature Preserve in late February I stopped by Kapok Park on the way home. It was quiet and not many birds around. I had not been here in a long time. The small lake here is lined with cypress trees which turn orange in the fall. I always forget to come here to get pictures of them. By now all of the cypress trees are fully green again but I won’t be seeing them for a while.
It’s not often you get this close to a shark. Above are some of the bigger things under water at MOTE Aquarium in Sarasota.
The Aquarium rehabilitates and houses permanently injured turtles, manatees and dolphins. The turtle above was missing an eye.
We don’t have crocodiles in the Tampa Bay area, at least not yet. They can be found in areas much farther south including the Everglades. I’ve never seen one out in wild. They look very comical, almost like a cartoon.
Pretty flowers in the water at aquarium.
I love seeing the big sting rays at the aquarium. It’s funny how they have faces underneath. I think that first one was smiling at me.
It’s fun to watch the kids go crazy over the sharks. You get to see them close up.
A turtle cruising by.
There’s something hypnotic about watching the fish swim by.
More fun from my September visit to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa.
Walking out on the trail at Circle B Bar Reserve, the fog was just starting to lift.
On the other side of the marsh, the sun was trying to break through.
Great blue herons in the fog.
A few critters along the trail. That big one always sleeps in that same spot across the ditch.
Lots of the usual birds along the trail.
A bright red flash of fall in the moss. It usually starts to look like fall around here in January.
I had my first real close encounter with a big one recently at Circle B Bar Reserve. I’ve been visiting this park for over 10 years and until recently, I always joked that the gators were fake. They never seemed to move, just sleeping on the other side of the pond. I was at the park early and the water levels along the trails were high. The first picture was taken with my 300mm lens so I wasn’t that close. The second one was taken with my phone. That’s my shadow at the bottom. There were people coming up behind me and once the big guy crossed the trail, we all headed down together. Our theory was safety in numbers. By the time we got to were he had crossed, we saw him swimming half way across the lake.
Another big one on the same morning, taken with my 300mm lens.
A few tiny ones on the trail.
One of the “really” big ones across the lake, on the other side of the bank.
Otherwise, it was a slow morning with the usual turtles and warblers.
It finally looks like fall in late December.
Linking to My Corner of the World.