Happy Thanksgiving and camping out!

We are enjoying the beautiful Fall weather to take some camping trips.

But hopefully I can blog a little and visit everyone along the way!

I am sharing photos of the second half of the 'half a hike' I posted a couple of weeks ago.

This hike was along the Florida Trails from the Pruitt Trailhead.

It's a trail I hadn't taken in a long time.

But the weather is nicer now so I'm taking advantage of the cooler temps to get out more.

Summer Tanager

Flycatcher

A mosaic of another one that posed for me.

Hawk perched high in a tree

Wooly worm

Has anyone else every heard that you can count the stripes on the Wooly worm to see how bad the winter will be? I never can remember if more stripes means a harder winter or the other way around! lol

There's finally some water in the horse pond so it's been especially pretty lately!

I stopped on the dirt road to get the horse farm pics.

Grab your sunglasses before you get out! 

I hope you are all having a blessed Thanksgiving week!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !

Out on a limb (or camping out)!

 

This little bluebird has perched 'out on a limb'!

And he's wondering how to get down, or maybe what's down there!

But he's content to perch.

And there are other pretty bluebirds in the woods at this time of year too.

And don't even get me started on the Warblers!

Every year I'm pleasantly surprised at how many Warblers fly into town.

This one just needs a tasty worm before going his happy way.

One more...with an attitude! 

And isn't this Flicker regal up on this old snag?

I enjoyed watching him

and taking photos from every angle.

I love seeing that dark red patch on the back of his head.

These were all taken on one hike along the Marjorie Harris Cross Florida Greenway!

How fabulous to live so close to the trailhead.

And the Long-tailed Skipper was pretty fantastic too.

We have a lot to be thankful for here in Florida in Fall.

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

If I'm slow visiting everyone, I might be perched under a palm tree.....

camping at one of our beautiful State Parks! 🌴

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !

A deer trail, a deer track and a deer tail!

 

I've got them all in this one post!

Two days after I saw the majestic 8 point buck in the previous post, I saw another one!

I was about 10 miles away on a different trail and caught sight of a deer in the brush.

I got off the trail (taking my first photo while walking!) and followed a deer trail.

The buck stopped and took a few steps toward me to warn me to go no farther.

Behind him, was his whole family!

7 deer....which included this precious fawn!

What a neat sighting!

I took a close up of each of the 8 point bucks to see them side by side and they are definitely two different deer.

There goes the tail behind a tree! 

Lots of wildflowers blooming at this time of year.

The Dotted Horsemint is one of my favorites.

It has the best minty scent.

This one isn't quite as pink but it shows the dots better.

It's a beautiful time to get out in the woods here in Florida!

Come on down!

Great White Egret high in the sky!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !

Fairytale Forest

 

Let's walk on Scrub Jay Way today!

It's a trail that I take often and one I named myself. 

And indeed I DID see Florida Scrub-Jays on this hike but they flew past and when a bird flew out of the scrub it was this very handsome Mockingbird.

I also saw the elusive Rufous-sided Towhee and a Dove.

But lets get back to the fairytale part of this hike.

Yes, it's this beautiful 8 point buck in the trail ahead of me.

I was almost back to the Jeep when I saw something BIG in the trail ahead.

So I stopped and zoomed in to see what it was.

I felt honored to see this regal White-tailed deer.

And feel thankful to have walked at a slow pace that particular day, so slow that he wasn't scared away until I decided to start toward him.

And off he leaped into the scrub.

This is a hike to be remembered!

Another wonderful adventure on the Florida trails!

On to the next!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !

A 'Half a Hike'!

 A 'half a hike'? Is that proper English? Or just Southern slang?

I drove out to the Pruitt Trailhead but instead of going down to Halpata Tastanaki Preserve, I parked in the regular parking lot and hiked the Florida Trail.

It was a glorious morning with temps in the 70s and a light breeze.

Out into the sunshine!

And when I got there, I was the only one there! (when I left there were 2 other vehicles with bike racks)
Since the two hurricanes blew through Florida, the birds have flown in!

All summer, I thought there were fewer birds but now they are everywhere in great numbers!

Not sure what this small bird is but I loved it's little feetsies! 

I walked behind some wild turkeys gobbling all the way....I mean THEY were gobbling, not me. I didn't even get a photo! But there were birds in every tree and the Swamp Sunflowers were in full bloom.

One of my best sightings was this female Blue Grosbeak.

She posed....

and posed 

and I was thrilled to get so close to her.

Another beautiful bird was this Northern Harrier.

I'm not sure what this wildflower is but it looks like a bouquet waiting to be placed in a vase!

But of course I'll leave it for the butterflies and bees!

Gulf Fritillary 

Dragonfly

Time to turn around at the FT sign!

We'll save the second half for next time!

I'm going to take a couple of weeks off to enjoy the season!

Are you seeing more birds where you live now too?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !