Wild animals in the Forest?

 Sometimes the small birds we see get missed in my posts. 

There are always the 'one of a kind' critters that get more attention.

Like this 'wild' bunny rabbit. He's sitting on the concrete steps that riders use to get up and down off their horses. Here at the 49th Ave Trailhead there are hiking trails, bike trails, horse trails and mountain biking trails. I've never actually seen anyone get off their horse here but then I've never seen a bunny use them either! 

We are seeing big flocks of Warblers and I don't always know the proper ID. 

I know most of the ones along this trail are pine and palm Warblers. These are Pine Warblers.

Female Common Yellowthroat

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Downy Woodpecker

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Eastern Phoebe

Black and white Warbler

Little Blue Heron

And last and maybe least.....

a lizard showing off his Dewlap. 

Did you know that is it called a Dewlap? Well, you learn something new every day!

And I learned A LOT when I posted this! My bird buddy Wally Jones helped me with the IDs! Thank you so much! That's what friends are for!!! His blog is HERE. And thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes! I'm still celebrating! 🎂

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’. 

Just for fun!

 The cloud formations have been beautiful this week.

What do you see? 

I'll leave my scary banner up one more day to explain how it is really a collage, or mosaic!

"You are in Bear Country"

It started with a sign at the 49th Ave Trailhead, that cautions hikers of the bear activity in the area. And yes, several people have stopped to tell us they saw a bear. But we haven't seen one....yet! 

I took that sign and put a cropped photo of a tree on each side to create a collage. And then put the 'BOO' on it. Were you scared? Just a little? Tell the truth now! Which would scare you most, a bear or an alligator? We see alligators pretty often so I think a bear sighting would scare me more!

And I got some new Wet cloths this week. They have a good sale going on and they even sent me a free one. The link is HERE.

It looks like a little mosaic, doesn't it?

I also ordered some beautiful cards with original art from an Etsy shop HERE.

And I decided to cut some paper and sew it into one of them to create a journal.

 This is my favorite so I'll just have the bunny I made a long time ago, hold it for me!

 Do you love Etsy shopping too? 

Do you have some favorites this week to share?

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays and

I like Thursdays HERE too!

Summertime and the living is HOT!

 It's been awfully HOT to hike (even in the mornings) but I've managed a few this past week. 

And it's been a great week for sightings!

Mr. Bunny and I stopped under the same shade tree. I pulled out my water bottle to get a drink and looked over and he was watching me! 

I'm not sure what this little bird is but he was well hidden in these leaves!

Dragonfly and Swallowtail Kite

The Palmetto Palms are in full bloom and you can smell the sweet scent and hear them buzzing with bees and insects!

I call the hill at the turnaround point, Bluebird of Happiness Hill and we always see a nice variety of birds and critters.

I even heard 2 Bobwhites calling each other at the end of my hike when I stopped to pick a few blackberries. Don't pick this one! It's not RIPE yet!

Is it blackberry season where you live? 

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

Also I like Thursdays HERE.  

When you venture into the WILD....

...you have a chance to see something wild!

And even your imagination can 'run wild'!

This Eastern Cottontail Rabbit rustled in the leaves right next to the trail and made me JUMP!

Not once.....but twice this week! 

He has some straw and sticks in his mouth that he was not eating so we think he was building a nest.

More cute bunnies to scare me on the trail!

I also saw these 4 deer quite a distance away on the trail ahead of me. So I zoomed in!

They were curious about me too and stopped.

And waited...

before bounding away.

It's a joy to walk in the woods but you never know what might rustle in the leaves or cross the trail in front of you! Which makes walking in the woods so WILD....and so much fun!

Swallowtail Kite 

(we're seeing them on every hike right now)

How are you doing this week? Have you been able to get outside and walk?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Hoppin' Down the bunny trail!

I've had some wonderful sightings this week on my hikes! 

I couldn't stop taking photos of this beautiful Sharp-shinned Hawk that I saw on the Florida Trails.

He posed for the longest time in a tree near the trail.

I wasn't sure at first what it was but when I studied my photos AND my ID books I was able to make the ID.

 He flew and that gave me a good view.

 He soared!

We've seen this hawk in the same area before too.

  Oh, and one of the cutest sightings was this rabbit at Halpata Tastanaki Preserve.

 He stayed in the trail for the longest time. I got closer and closer to get better pics.

But hubby was behind me taking a video. So if you want to see me hoppin' down the bunny trail and smiling my happy smile at the end, view the video. 

You'll be smiling too! I promise!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE 

     and I’d Rather B Birdin’.