As I was driving into Circle B Bar Reserve early in the morning, I saw a wild hog family. The little piglets look so cute when they are young. I stopped the car and rolled down the window and they took off into the brush.
Little bunny.
Turtles were everywhere.
And a big fish! Is he coming up for air?
Lots of fun critters at Circle B Bar Reserve.
I had just walked out on the trail and was looking at the big group of people farther down the trail when something caught my eye. One of the rarely seen bobcats was slowing walking right down the trail towards me. When he realized I was standing there he darted into the bushes.
I looked backward and he came out farther down the trail. At first I thought I was just going to get butt shots but he turned around to inspect something for a few seconds then darted back into the bushes again. It was just a fleeting moment. These were all taken with my 300mm lens and are extremely cropped so he was pretty far away.
Lots of slow movers out this morning.
I don’t see many of these big silk orb weavers like I did several years ago.
Empty apple snail eggs liter the marsh. Limpkins eat these.
A fun walk in early December at Circle B Bar Reserve.
The lake at Kapok Park are full of turtles. People feed them and they come close to the boardwalk. Look at those fingernails!
A cute grebe shying away.
The red-winged blackbirds come close the boardwalk as well. Both a male and a female were posing for me.
Moorhens were taking a bath.
A rare sighting at this park. I found a lone purple gallinule under the boardwalk. I have never seen one here or even heard of one near the area.
Great blue heron flyby.
The big old trees at the park. It looks like one got blown over during a big storm. It looks like such a big strong tree. It’s hard to believe wind would knock that over.
On the way home I stopped by downtown Safety Harbor and could just barely make out a juvenile eagle on the cell tower.
Another tower close by had two babies (you can see only one in the picture). One of the parents was feeding them and the other parent was on a utility tower across the street. I’ve been keeping an eye on these nests for a while, swinging by there on the way home from work. It’s great to see these eagles raising families in this busy neighborhood.
I stopped by Kapok Park on the way home from work recently and did a quick walk around the park. I was hoping to see signs of the great horned owls but they either didn’t nest there this year or already nested and left.
The turtles at Lake Morton are usually extremely skittish. If they see me across the lake the dive under water. For some reason they stayed out on the rocks in late December. Maybe they just liked the warm sun too much that morning. There were several on the rocks along the lake. They all have slightly different patterns on their face and neck. They didn’t seem to mind the ducks coming close or even me so I snapped a lot of pictures of them that morning.
The moon was still up when I got to the park that morning.
Plants and bugs along the trail.
The usual gator and turtles.
Little critters (the frog was in the bathroom).
This was the first time I have seen a plane land on the lake.
Fun stuff at Circle B Bar Reserve. 
A Bell’s vireo had been sighted in a nearby park back in November. A what? I had not heard of it and I had never heard of one being here before. I was able to leave work a little early on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving so I stopped thinking it would be a needle in a haystack. I stopped at the picnic table it had been reported at and stood there for a while. I was about to leave after 20 minutes and was looking at my phone to check traffic on the way home. I saw something move out of the corner of my eye and looked up and there it was. I snapped the few pictures above before it took off.
There was a pair of northern flickers in the parking lot.
The resident turtles were having a party.
I stopped by a neighborhood pond to see what was floating around in it. I parked my car and got out and saw two sandhill cranes in someone’s yard. Just relaxing under a tree. They stayed there while I was walking around the lake. When I got back to my car, they were walking around in the street.
Nothing too exciting in the pond. A great blue heron was hiding in the reeds.
My favorite muhly grass was pink and the red berries were out.
A red bellied cooter and a soft shell turtle were basking in the sun.
Not much floating in the pond right now. Hopefully, some winter ducks will show up.
Horses playing and taking mud baths.
Strutting around.
A green heron hanging around the pond.
“Don’t land on me” said the turtle to the great blue heron.
Floating around the pond.
Love is in the air.
Showing off for the ladies.
I think this one needs some sunscreen.
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.
