Late April in the backyard.

I looked outside the back window one morning in late April and saw these beauties walking around so I had to run out and get some shots. They were heading off the golf course and into the woods before the golfers come through.

Early one morning I saw this guy and went outside to take this. His face was all muddy. He was in the shade and didn’t stay still so it was hard to get a good shot of him.

I took these outside as well. He was napping on the hanging basket.

Squirrels being cute in the backyard. Taken through the window.

A wasp on  the bird bath when I was cleaning it out.

A swallow tail kite cruising along the golf course. I took this through the window as well. I knew he’d be gone by the time I got outside and on the course.

We always have white ibis feeding through.

Several brown thrashers were feeding on the ground for several days.  They must be nesting somewhere nearby.

These crows are very annoying. There are several that hang out in the backyard. They usually stay high up in the oak trees but recently they have been coming to the bird bath. They must have found some trash or someone was leaving food out because they were bringing food to the bird bath to soak before eating it. It looked like mostly bread but one day I ran out and chased one off the bath and he had an open pack of cheese crackers that he left as he flew off. I finally dumped the water out for a few days until they left.

We’ve been getting a lot of woodpeckers at the feeder lately. They grab a sunflower seed and take off. The other little birds usually leave when they are on it.

Inspire Me Monday

Little critters at the botanical gardens

This beautiful hanging orchid plant was blooming in mid-April at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo.

I love these spikey pods that bust open and are filled with fuzz. I still can’t figure out what these are.

A butterfly had landed high up on this silk floss tree.

Tiny critters in the butterfly garden. There were a lot of monarch caterpillars on the big milkweed plant. I think the bottom caterpillar is an orange barred sulfur butterfly.

Usual birds here are the dove and the brown thrasher.

And of course I can’t walk by and not take pictures of the wood ducks floating around. This time I also saw some on the fence.

A crow flying by with an egg in his beak. Probably a turtle egg.

I stopped at nearby Largo Nature Preserve after leaving the botanical gardens and it was pretty quiet there. I did notice some heads sticking out of holes in some dead trees near the parking lot. A screech owl had been nesting in one. I never made it back here to see if there were any babies. A red bellied woodpecker was checking out the other hole. Probably just started to work on a nest.

Little critters at Chesnut Park

Little critters at Chesnut Park.

You can always find cardinals on the boardwalk here. That first one is a very young one. He was hopping around from branch to branch but I don’t think he could fly far yet.

A very young northern parula with a snack.

A cormorant preening on the side of the lake.

Lots of titmouse coming to see if I have a handout for them.

The sun hadn’t made it over the trees yet when I was ready to go home in July. After an early quick walk it was too hot to hang around much longer.

My Corner of the World

Too hot for the birds

Little critters at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo.

Not many birds in early July. A cardinal with a snack and a Loggerhead Shrike

As I was leaving the gardens, I saw this hawk up on a light post. I think this is juvenile Cooper’s Hawk.

I stopped for a quick walk around the boardwalk at Largo Nature Preserve but there wasn’t much there either. I think the smart birds went north for the summer.  I found this green heron creeping around the boardwalk.

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Flying things at Bok Tower Gardens

Little critters in the flowers.

Nothing new but not too common with the exception of the cardinal. The others are a prairie warbler, yellow bellied sapsucker (woodpecker) and the yellow throated warbler. I was hoping to find some other birds but I was a little too early for spring migration.

The best find of the morning was the bobwhite. I never see them where I live so this was a treat. He peaked out behind the bushes for a few minutes as I was walking down the trail and then ran back after a few seconds.

I drove over to Bok Tower Gardens in central Florida early in April for a long walk.

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In Our Yard.

Late summer babies. Blondie came back in August with another new baby.

The usual critters in our yard during the past few months.

One day I came home from work and grabbed the mail from the mailbox that is on the side of our house next to the front door. This guy came out with the mail. I dropped the mail to the ground and was glad he didn’t land on me. I think I woke him up.

The muhly grass blooms pink in the fall. These started blooming in late October.

Different skies in the front and back yards.

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A quiet moment in the woods

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Critters at the park.

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I was standing on the boardwalk looking for birds and heard a noise in the leaves. Thinking it was a squirrel, I didn’t look down right away. When I did, this was staring up at me.  She was so close I had to pull out my phone to take a picture.

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I stood there quietly and watched the deer roam around for a few minutes. The mom and older baby were having a bonding moment. They kept an eye on me but went about their day.

Chesnut Park on a Saturday morning in November.

Linking to Saturday’s Critters