Saturday, February 26, 2022

"I Spy" something different!


 I remember when one of my grandson's loved the "I Spy" books and I enjoyed looking through them with him. 


It's fun to see a variety of things and find what is different among the ordinary.

We go to a lot of the same trails, preserves, state parks and forests but we are always amazed at how different our sightings can be from week to week. And we usually see something we've never seen before at that location. So I'll hit some of the highlights from our hikes this week.


The Snowy Egrets were the first 'I spy' sighting. We may have seen them before here in Florida but this was the first time we could positively identify them. I was excited...to say the least!

The Withlacoochee Bay Trail has so many beautiful birds and this past week we spotted these for the first time at this location.


Willet


Caspian Tern


Caspian Tern 


Black-crowned Night Heron


Black-crowned Night Heron juvenile


Great Blue Heron in the Gulf of Mexico

On one hike we started walking on the 49th Ave trailhead heading East and turned onto beauty berry lane and saw this...


 Sherman's Fox Squirrel

And then driving back into our development we looked down into a low grassy area where we see wild turkeys frequently but instead, there were 4 deer! 


First time we've seen deer this close to our house.


All Bucks!


Amazing!

And last but not least we saw this beautiful little Warbler at Felburn Park near Phil's Pond.

A rare Warbler that we've never seen before?


No, a Yellow-rumped Warbler...quite common but still oh so pretty!

Have you seen anything 'out of the ordinary' this week? Want to play 'I Spy'?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’. 


51 comments:

Tom said...

...fabulous, but where is the alligator?

Vee said...

No, I am not a keen observer as you are, my friend. I sure do enjoy seeing what you see. The egrets look as if they are having a meeting.

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

I went for a walk on the beach the other day and spied a seagull, an egret and an ibis! How fun to see those deer!

Martha said...

Fantastic captures, thanks for sharing them with us. Have a great weekend!

Marcia said...

All great "I Spies".

eileeninmd said...

Hello Diane,
Wow, so many beautiful photos of the birds, deer and the cute squirrel.
I always enjoy seeing the pretty Egrets and the Herons. The Terns are a favorite too. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a happy weekend.

MadSnapper said...

the only thing new I spied is today at Walmart and yesterday at Publix, I was the only person wearing a mask in the stores.
I love the photos of the Egrets. first one he is saying, hey look you guys, can you do this? the next one is titled "ostracized?" as for the deer that is just really amazing

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

You take beautiful photos!
The egrets are delightful. The fox squirrel is fancy compared to the gray squirrels her in Vermont

Lea said...

Great photos!
What a long tail that squirrel has!
Have a wonderful weekend!

Ed Rosack said...

A wonderful set of sightings! I especially like the Fox Squirrel - I haven't seen one of those yet.

Kim said...

How wonderful to see such a variety of birds. Spring is not far away. Lovely shots! Have a good weekend, my friend!

Breathtaking said...

Hello Diane, :=) Lovely shot of the cute Yellow-rumped Warbler, and that Sherman Fox Squirrel, which I have never spied before. your Snowy Egret and deer images are beautiful.
All the best.

Rostrose said...

Dear Diane,
I am very happy about your special sightings of the last bird watching trip! The squirrel and deer are also adorable and amazing :-) Unfortunately I can't offer any special "I-Spy"-observations from last week, but in my current Italy travel report I also show birds that do not fall under the "usual observations"... :-)
Hugs and happy weekend
Traude
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2022/02/italien-reisebericht-trasimenischer-see.html

Rostrose said...

Ha, I only now saw that you also visited my blog almost at the same time and have already seen the "special birds".
Yes... it's terrible what's happening in Ukraine right now - thank you for signing and sharing the petition... More than a million people have already signed, it connects so much!
XOX

RedPat said...

Nothing unusual sighted here this week. I love seeing the Fox Squirrel that you showed us - he looks quite large.

Susie said...

Hi little nature girl. I loved seeing all your wild things. You do get to see an amazing number of birds. Take care. Blessings, love, xoxo, Susie

Bill said...

Wonderful captures. How nice to see the deer, didn't realize that you had many deer down there in Florida,

Linda said...

I love going I SPY with you!

Cloudia said...

What a collection!

NatureFootstep said...

beautiful birds and bucks. You shots make me wish I could go on another trip to see more stunning creatures. :)

QUILTING IS BLISSFUL, DI said...

I would of loved to have seen the Sherman Fox Squirrel--what a great photo of him--and the little Warbler is so sweet!!
On Wednesday when I came out of a Publix on the sidewalk near by was a very tiny bird--probably just a Wren--but a very small one--me and another lady stood there and watched him/her for a minute --so I did spy something!! and today while outside this morning--I couldn't see them, but I heard lots of the smaller birds are back and they were singing their little hearts out--what a delightful sound!!
Thanks again for all your photos--
hugs, di

Shiju Sugunan said...

These are gorgeous sightings and captures!

happyone said...

You get to see so many different kinds of wildlife!
Always enjoy seeing all you see. :)

Pamela M. Steiner said...

Amazing to see all those four bucks together! Maybe they are brothers! LOL. Quadruplets...that would be odd I guess. those Snowy Egrets are amazing!! So many at once too!! Really special. And that close up of the warbler...really sweet. Oh I love Fox Squirrels. So hard to find anymore. You hit the jackpot this week. We saw two deer this week, our Ring necked ducks came back to the pond, and we've had a lot of tiny little birds all around up in the oak trees, etc. Small warblers I think or something. I can't get a good look at them. It's definitely spring here in Florida!

Karen @ Beatrice Euphemie said...

Wonderful photos - love that little fox squirrel - I've never seen one. I guess that would be my 'I spy' surprise! So many amazing sights. The deer are beautiful. x

Linda said...

Delightful post! Thanks for sharing.

Phil Slade said...

Hi Diane. Yep, Caspian Tern, otherwise known as Carrot Bill. The best thing is that you are inquisitive enough to want to identify all of the birds and animals that you see. So many people lack the desire for knowledge and walk around with their heads empty of any questioning or search for answers. It's must be great to see deer so close to your home - they must feel safe.

Irma said...

What a beautiful catch.
Very nice to see the deer, but the squirrel is my favorite.
Greetings Irma

Anni said...

Goodness Diane, you "struck it rich" so the saying goes!! All the birds, and then a special deer sighting

Thanks so much for taking time to add your link, sharing with us.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

I think that every age in every culture has played the equivalent of "I spy." That an interesting head-on shot of a Yellow-rumped Warbler. It took a minute for it to register on my brain that's what it was.

magiceye said...

Lovely captures!

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

Weird, as Blogger goes, this post appears on my blog reading list as posted an hour ago...on the day after.

Debbie said...

ooooh i remember "i spy"!! snowy egrets are beautiful, i only see them here occasionally...i see regular egrets all the time. i have never seen a squirrel with such a long tail, that's a great picture!!

the bucks are gorgeous, you captured beautiful images as well!! i have not seen anything out of the ordinary this week. enjoy the rest of your weekend, we are having beautiful weather!!

Wally Jones said...

Y'all certainly are good at "I Spy"!

That is a terrific collection of bird images! It highlights the incredible diversity we enjoy when it comes to bird watching.

I had always wondered where "The Bucks Stop" - now I know.

Hope this incredible weather holds for awhile! Cool mornings, warm days. What's not to like?

Have a wonderful new week!

carol l mckenna said...

I Spy ~ so fun to play ~ Love the little warbler and the male deer ` all your photos are awesome! xo


Wishing you lots of love in your days,

A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)

LA Paylor said...

the last bird's expression... that's how I feel too often

Bev said...

Ohh I’ve never seen a Fox Squirrel...

margi said...

Wonderful images!

Ann said...

You never have a shortage of interesting things to see.

Lowcarb team member said...

I can remember the I-spy books.

Thank you for sharing the lovely critters/birds you spied :)

All the best Jan

21 Wits said...

Ahh yes, I enjoy the I spy books still, and sometimes even as my grandchildren are growing up possibly past the I spy something while riding in the car, I will bring it up sometimes! Great critters too, thank you.

Nancy Chan said...

Love your wonderful "I spy" series. I come across birds on our morning walks and also in my garden but I am not able to take good photos of them because they are way too fast for me. Love the pretty birds, cute squirrel and the great looking deer.

Edna B said...

I've never seen a sherman's fox squirrel. How beautiful. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

Carla from The River said...

Here in Wisconsin the buck deer will loose their antlers .. they call it shedding, people actually go shedding, looking for the antlers. I spy one buck deer looks to only have one antler. :-) Maybe you will find a shed.

Jeannie said...

I laughed out loud when I saw the Snowy Egrets playing "I spy" with you.

The "out of the ordinary" thing I saw this morning was the sun shining. We have had rain and storms every day for a week now. Gosh. Seeing the sun cheers up everyone!

Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
PS: Thank you for checking on me. I have read your messages over and over.

Veronica Lee said...

Glorious photos!

The egrets are captivating.

Happy Tuesday!

Lorrie said...

The tail on the squirrel is so luxurious! Gorgeous sightings. Today I saw a skein of trumpeter swans flying overhead. It was so beautiful. Did I have my camera? no.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Wow! That was a perfect day -- perfect hike -- perfect birds -- perfect photographs. Love it all.

Aunt Helen said...

Beautiful blog!! Your journals are so cute! And the birds are wonderful. Thanks to hubby for the link today. It worked! Love, Aunt Helen

Red Rose Alley said...

I remember the "I SPY" game. You saw many unusual sightings on this hike....the snowy egrets, the fox squirrel, and the DEER! And all of them BUCKS! They look like very young bucks. That fox squirrel has the longest tail of any squirrel I've seen hehehe. The second deer photo is my favorite. Oh, how special that is, he's looking right at you. : )

~Sheri

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

I love seeing all the wildlife there! The snowy egrets are amazing!