Birthday Fun!

It’s my birthday! TODAY!

Let’s do something fun!

And make the day special!

So I declare this day a ‘birthday holiday’!

We can still blog but if it’s more fun to get outside and do something special…you have my permission to skip off and have some fun!

I’ll check in with everyone tomorrow!

It’s a ‘play day’ for me!

But can someone tell me WHY all of these photos look so OLD? That’s a rhetorical question my friends. Don’t you DARE answer it! hahahahahaha!!!!

I’m joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE.

The Eastern Meadowlark at Halpata Tastanaki Preserve

I don’t hike HTP from the Pruitt trailhead very often but I took a short hike there the other day and saw this Eastern Meadowlark.

 

I haven’t seen one in years so that was a thrill.

There’s a small airport nearby and small planes were flying overhead and I barely caught one with the Meadowlark.

They were color coordinated! heehee!

A beautiful plane!

I always see fly catchers there…

and Phoebes.

Don’t you love the background in this photo….all the colors and textures!

The Sandhill Crane family was there too.

And happy to pose for photos.

It’s always a great place to view birds! A rough road in, but well worth it!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Let’s do the ‘bunny hop’!

I would still love to share photos of my hikes but I’m afraid you’re going to start recognizing every trail and every tree! lol I go to some of the same trails…over and over again!

But I do see something unusual on just about every hike!

These were taken on the Florida Trails,

the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway.

I saw a baby bunny a few days ago!

I looked up ahead and wondered what was rolling down the trail. (that’s what it looked like)

But when I got closer I saw that it was a baby bunny.

He didn’t know to be afraid of me so he stayed right on the edge of the trail.

And now he’s ‘hiding’ from me!

I can’t see him now! heehee!

It’s funny because on another hike I had seen a HUGE rabbit track!

So now….

you put your right foot out, put your left foot out, and you shake it all about!

(I was hoping to show how big it was with the comparison!)

I see so many tracks. Look at these teeny tiny tracks!

This is SAND not snow!

And how about this Fence Lizard on a stump!

He looks prehistoric, doesn’t he?

Have you seen anything unusual this week?

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays.

Camellias in Bloom at Sholom Park

I don’t walk at Sholom Park as often now. I would rather hike in the forest!

But it’s always a beautiful park to visit so when hubby called to tell me he had driven past the entrance and saw an interesting bird soaring overhead, I headed over there. I happened to be ‘out and about’ at the same time and wasn’t far away. Of course I DID NOT have my good camera with me. The bird turned out to be a Northern Harrier but I didn’t get a good photo so you’ll just have to take my word! lol

But to make up for that….

the Camellias were in full bloom!

They were simply gorgeous!

Lots of pretty flower beds to enjoy.

But the Camellias were the star!

I even love the petals scattered on the ground.

It’s a beautiful time of the year to live in Florida!

Come on down! We’ll go for a walk in the park!

I’m joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE.

Winter Hiking with Fall Colors

It hasn’t felt much like winter here but the trees are loosing their leaves at Blue Run Park in Dunnellon.

It takes a frost and some cooler temps for the trees to change color here in Florida. The Bald Cypress is the tree that looks the most beautiful.

“Although many conifers are evergreen, bald cypress trees are deciduous conifers that shed their needlelike leaves in the fall. In fact, they get the name “bald” cypress because they drop their leaves so early in the season. Their fall colors are tan, cinnamon, and fiery orange.” Quote HERE!

This Anhinga is perched on Cypress trees and you can see the how pretty they look just before they go ‘bald’!

Even the back of his neck looks neat!

We also saw a Juvenile White Ibis on this hike and that was exciting!

He will eventually look like this, all white!

Let’s keep hiking this year!

You never know what we might see!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

You can never go back!

Well, you can….you just won’t see the same thing that you saw before! lol

I take a lot of shortcuts and one day this week I drove on a back road and saw wild turkeys under a Live Oak Tree.

I was happy to get a couple of photos (from my window) but decided to go back the very next day and try to get better pics.

Well….this time there was a herd of about 20 goats under that same tree! (and no, I didn’t get a very good photo of them)

But I did drive down a side road to try and saw an alligator!

Right in someone’s FRONT YARD! giggle giggle!

I’ve had such a good week! The weather is so gorgeous and I’ve been hiking every day I can find the time and energy!

And my Fall Mum is blooming again! We set the pot outside when it finished blooming and look at it now!

AND…strawberries are in season here in Florida!

I’m thankful for so many things this week!

So….I’m joining Thankful Thursdays.

Mushrooms of every description!

I started trying to identify the mushrooms we’ve seen lately and have to admit that I gave up! I might have been able to figure out some of them but I got sidetracked reading all of the neat information. It might be helpful to know which ones you could survive on in the wild.

But I think I’ll stick to ‘day hiking’ near civilization!

So I made some mosaics for you to enjoy!

And if you know what any of these are, give me a ‘shout out’.

This one was gorgeous!

I’ll zoom in to show you a little better.

It was as big as a dinner plate…or platter!

And this one looked like a black leather glove that had been trampled on by a horse! heehee!

I put a little shade on it to see better!

These were super tiny!

And so colorful!

You just never know what you’ll see in the forest!

Maybe some things in Florida you didn’t expect to see!

Thanks so much for the wonderful comments on my Florida Bobcat sighting HERE! It was amazing to see and fun to tell the story! If you missed it, just click HERE!

I’m joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE.