Thursday, February 12, 2015

Sightings at the Preserve!

We are always so excited to see the Florida Scrub Jay when we hike at Halpata Tastanaki Preserve.

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Here’s a quote from “All About Birds”,

“A bold and curious bird, the Florida Scrub-Jay can become hand-tame in areas where it comes in contact with people. Unfortunately, it is restricted to the rare oak scrub community of Florida, a habitat under constant threat of development, and is classified as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act.”

scrubjayIMG_2107

I wanted to find a way to document our hikes on my side bar so I changed my profile pic and added the number of hikes to the caption. I’ll change it when I have a new hike to add. So far we’ve been on 11 hikes this year. The one we took last Sunday afternoon was 2 1/2 hours long! FUN!!!

Striking a pose…

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Enjoy your day and get outside if you can to enjoy the beauty that surrounds you!

fenceHTPIMG_2067

While we were in the parking lot, getting ready to hike a bicyclist ‘flew’ by us and I managed to get a photo that included a FENCE! lol

So I’m joining Tex for the

Good Fences party.

36 comments:

Diane said...

I'll have to get outside in a bit but am not excited-- it's 12 degrees! Love your pics. Pretty bird!

Linda Kay said...

The jay is quite lovely, and good job with the fence!

ann said...

Jays are interesting birds. We have blue jays that visit our feeders, loud, agressive, pretty, entertaining. They especially love peanunts. If we put out shelled peanuts, they stash them away, hiding them for another time. We will find empty shells when we do yard work-- never peanuts that were forgotten. We refer to the jays that populate the mountian camp grounds Camp Robbers for they will eat scraps of food left behind. Happy Valentine's Day to you and your hubby. I enjoy your hikes and ,reallly, you have inspired me get out and walk some our local trails, dog towing hubby along, too.

Shug said...

Isn't it wonderful when you can capture two topics in one photo. The fence is great and it's nice to see people on the go... The jay is such a beautiful bird and you captured a great shot
Enjoy a gorgeous day..

Unknown said...

Fine pictures of nature!
Wish you many more hikes to come :)
Have a fine day
【ツ】Knipsa

Arlene G said...

Th landscape reminds me of the islands around Savannah, Ga. Pretty birds...and so colorful.

eileeninmd said...

I would enjoy this hike, seeing the Scrub Jays would be awesome.. Great photos and fence shot.. Have a happy day!

Laura S Reading said...

Sitting here in negative temperatures, it is such a delight to hike with you.
Thank you for a taste and hope of spring.

Linda @ A La Carte said...

I'm so glad you are enjoying your hikes! It's amazing what you can see out there...birds, trees, plants and all that God has made!
hugs,
Linda

TexWisGirl said...

beautiful jay! lovely trail and 'splash of red' from the biker. :)

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

Wonderful photos. We have a Scrub Jay here too - also sometimes called a Gray Jay - but they are in the mountains and I don't think under any threat. One time we were picnicking on Mt. Baker and one came and sat on Don's hand. He was really excited. Rain here today - supposed to be clearing for the weekend - so outdoors we'll go.

Jane and Chris said...

It's going to be -32C here this afternoon...think I'll give the hike a miss!
Jane x

Christine said...

How great to snap a photo of the blue jay! I'm sure they are rare to see in real life.
Have a lovely day!

Petite Plangonophile au chocolat said...

It's good that you were able to enjoy a lovely day hiking in a beautiful landscape.
Keep on hiking and taking some lovely photos.
Arlette

Cheryl @ TFD said...

Looks like a wonderful walk! I love nature, but have been enjoying it from my window so far this year. Or car window, haha! Love your shot of the jay!

Linda H said...

A hike here today would be a mighty cold venture... Currently 10F, with wind chill feels like 6F. Brrrrr. Glad you had a good sighting of the Scrub Jay. He's handsome!

Red Rose Alley said...

Diane, I saw your bird on my side bar and had to come over and take a peek. The Florida Scrub Jay is very pretty. He looks very much like the blue jays I see around here. They are such pretty birds, and don't seem to fly away quickly when I get my camera out. I think that's a great idea that you put all your hikes on your side bar. Makes it easier to look at when you want to revisit the hikes.

Happy Valentine's Day, my sweet friend.

love, ~Sheri

Pamela Gordon said...

Nice captures of the scrub jay. I live near Linda H above and can vouch for the cold here today. snowing too.

Ida said...

Pretty birds and nice shot of the biker and the fence.

Rose said...

WTG with the hiking...and also snagging a picture of a fence.

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

Oh, wouldn't it be awesome to have one of those handtamed and visit you in the yard now and then. GOod for you with the hikes!

SImple and Serene Living said...

I hate that so many birds are endangered. Good for you and your husband for all of the hiking you are doing. I can't wait until I can get back out and walk again. Too cold now. BRRRR!!! xo Laura

Celestina Marie said...

Hi Diane, your photos are beautiful and we love to watch the birds here too.
Love your little side bar pic with the number of hikes taken. What a great idea.
Great fence for the trails too.
Hugs, CM

Acorn to Oak said...

Looks like a nice day and a beautiful place to hike! :-)

Betsy@My Salvaged Treasures said...

How lucky you are to be able to get out for so many walks in your area. It's finally going to be a nice weekend here, great for walking and yard sales.

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

You have inspired me to start looking for places to hike. I just told my husband the other day that we need to get outdoors more. I think I will write our hikes down in my journal so I can keep up with how many we take. Have a super weekend!

Primitive Stars said...

Hello, love the bird picture, sad many are endangered...oh nice fence too.Blessings Francine.

Musings from Kim K. said...

Keep on hiking! And thank you for taking us along. Although I'd love to hike along the lake this weekend (we're heading to the aframe), it's going to be -20 or more. I'll dream of your warm weather!

Carla from The River said...

I love how you are calculating your hikes. :-)
I keep a hiking/ski journal. I record how far we went, what we saw, the weather or any other stories.

doodles n daydreams said...

I noticed your new pic on the sidebar before you told us, go me haha. A nice photo of you.
Lovely photo's of the scrub jay too.

Diana

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Lovely Jay and good fence.

kathyinozarks said...

He is so beautiful!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Very nice scrub Jay photos and I love how you're keeping track of your hikes. I want to add all of them to my "Florida things to do list!" The scrub Jay is a common bird in Oregon. But I still would love to see one here!

Unknown said...

Looks like a beautiful place to be out and about hiking.

Happy Friday my friend.

Hugs~

LA Botchar said...

such a pretty bird!! looks quite different from our blue jays. and hopefully less noisy: ours can be a squawking bunch! ha
nice quick capture on the biker... and fence. :)

21 Wits said...

Lovely photos I miss biking!