Friday, February 24, 2023

From the elegant Great White Egret to the rugged Alligator....it's all at Blue Run Park!


 We spent a couple of hours at Blue Run Park in Dunnellon one afternoon and took about 100 photos!


Withlacoochee River

It's easy to do! 


Rainbow River

But I'll share just a few.


Great White Egret


Great white Egret, Little Blue Heron, White Ibis


Cormorant


Too much 'picture taking', he's taking off! 


Moorhen and Pied-billed Grebe going their separate ways!


Wood ducks

It's the one place we can see a lot of birds and wildlife right from the paved trail.

And yes, we saw 4 alligators...every size! 


Small Alligator observed (zoomed in) from the bridge.

We even saw a baby gator but didn't get a great photo of him. We'll go back and try again though!


Always an adventure to hike the Blue Run Park trail! 

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.  

38 comments:

Tom said...

...oh good, gators! Make your weekend a masterpiece.

BeachGypsy said...

I love to see the gators-- ESPECIALLY the cute Lil babies! Have a lovely weekend my friend and let's ENJOY this great spring weather!!

Marcia said...

What a lot of wildlife! You must have good eyes to spy it all.

Breathtaking said...

Hello Diane :=) Super captures of all the wildlife. The Blue Run Park is a great place to go to see such a wide variety of creatures. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the Photos.:=)
Have a happy outdoor weekend.

Billy Blue Eyes said...

Certainly found some critters there though I thought you might have seen more gators

Cloudia said...

Yeah! 😎

roentare said...

Alligators are scary to look at. The nature you have caught are fantastic

Lea said...

Great photos!
Pretty scenery, and lovely birds!
Have a wonderful weekend!

Velva- Evening with a Sandwich said...

Great photos! Great day outside and enjoying Mother Nature

Velva-Evening with a Sandwich

Julie's Creative Lifestyle said...

What a beautiful park to hike in. I loved looking at all of those photos and love those ducks. Have a nice weekend Diane.

Marilyn @ MountainTopSpice said...

You get to see such pretty countryside, and the wildlife is amazing! Such an amazing array of birds, - those egrets are just beautiful! I'm sure the alligators are so interesting to watch from a distance too! So much to see in God's beautiful world! Many blessings to you :)

Ed Rosack said...

You had a wonderful visit!

Irma said...

Beautiful pictures of nature and birds.
I find alligators scary, it was in the newspaper here this week that an 85-year-old woman was grabbed by an alligator, her dog survived.
Greetings Irma

Ann said...

You always find so many wonderful things to take pictures of when you're out hiking. I need a hiking trail like that around here.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Looks like an exceptional place for a walk.

eileeninmd said...

Hello,

This park looks like a great place for wildlife photographers and the bird lover. What a great variety of birds, I always love the herons and egrets, the Cormorant is showing off, love the cute Grebe and Moorhen, the Wood Duck is a beauty. The little gators are cute. Wonderful post and photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a great weekend.

Mae Travels said...

Your park adventures always include such a pretty selection of birds! And ugly gators too. Very enjoyable.

best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

Wally Jones said...

More photographic evidence of how gorgeous Florida's natural places are!

Blue Run Park is such a great place to explore. Thank you, Diane, for sharing a bit of the beauty with us!

Debbie said...

that's an exceptional place to see all types of wildlife and large birds!! i wonder how those big birds escape being eaten by the alligators?

have a wonderful weekend and a great new week!!!

Debbie said...

i left a comment, then i got an error message. hopefully it went thru!!

Rostrose said...

Wonderful, dearest Diane!
I can understand that you took a lot of photos - when we are in such beautiful surroundings and with many animals, it is the same. (You can see the proof of that in my latest Costa Rica post, hihi. There are even baby caimans, but they were very hidden. And a baby sea turtle...)
All the best and happy weekend ❤️ Hugs - Traude
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2023/02/costa-rica-7-kapitel-tortuguero.html

Shiju Sugunan said...

Great sightings of birds that look so similar to the ones we see here.

Jeanie said...

Many lovelies here but that first egret shot is a gem!

Bill said...

Beautiful photos of the wildlife. My favorite is the Great White Egret.

Penelope Notes said...

It's lovely to see the water so clear and blue for the wildlife and humans to enjoy.

RedPat said...

Looks like it was a great hike. The Wood Ducks are my favourite. ;-)

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

I love all the waterfowl you found, the gators are a bonus.

Lowcarb team member said...

Through your lovely photographs I too enjoyed a visit to Blue Run Park :)

All the best Jan

magiceye said...

Beautiful captures and captions. Loved your header!

Phil Slade said...

100 photos for an afternoon is good going. I'm not surprised though with all that wildlife around. I hope the gators are not at eye level though. I would be a little worried if I met one along the trail especially as I read yesterday about the one that swallowed a large pet dog and took a chunk out of the owners leg. Take care now Diane.

Anni said...

I always get jealous when someone shares sightings of wood ducks (I've only seen one!)
Great excursion, as always.
This was a great outing.
Thanks for taking us at I'd Rather B Birdin' along with you.

carol l mckenna said...

Wonderful adventure and marvelous nature shots ~ Wow!


Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)

Barbara said...

All the pictures you took are top-notch, as always. My fav of this collection is the Great White Egret in the green swampy water. Such an interesting setting.

Inger said...

It must be so much fun to go hiking where you are. So many beautiful birds and interesting critters.

Angie said...

Diane - your help me get through the winter with your bird photos, and the views of sun and green, growing things!!! Thank you! (But I wouldn't miss the alligators ....)

A Bit of the Blarney said...

Beautiful photos! The one of the butterflies are certainly gorgeous! The daffodils and trees are budding here already. Very odd for this time of the year in Indiana. We've had a very balmy winter for us! Have a grand day! Cathy

Linda said...

Lovely birds! Gators make me nervous.

Teresa said...

El recorrido me encantó, las aves preciosas, el caimán da miedo pero me gustaría fotografiarlo. Feliz semana.