Hiking the Florida trails in early summer!

 

We are definitely feeling the heat and summertime humidity but it's still really nice deep in the woods.

Between camping trips, I head to the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway and on this particular hike, I went down into the diggings.

It's cooler and extends my hike to closer to 2 hours but it has it's own rewards.

On this hike, I went to Josef's table. 

It's a table in the middle of the forest, dedicated to Josef who loved to hike.

I left a seashell from Canaveral National Seashore on the table the last time I visited and it was still there.

Something new was this beautiful little Chinese Zen planter.

It was on the large boulder next to the table.

The tiny plant was pretty too!

And behind the table someone had put together a ladder. It's a little big for the gnomes that live there so I'm not sure who uses it. Any guesses?

Always pretty wildflowers and this caterpillar was colorful!

I wanted to include photos of this duck that showed up in our flower bed this week too.

I think he stopped to take a break on the way to the neighborhood pond. 

I asked him, but he ignored me.

Now back to the hike deep in the forest to find the monsters!

You know I saw some! 

Have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !  

Feathers and Fuzzies

 

We see some unusual sights when we hike and one thing I find interesting is the feathers on the trail.

I don't see one every time I hike, so I've been saving these photos for about a month. 

It's hard to know what bird they come from but it's fun to speculate!

Do you see one you can identify?

And then there are the fuzzies.

I had no idea what this was until I did an online search.

Salt Marsh Tiger Moth

I found a good website for the ID HERE.

It's fun to spot caterpillars in the tall grasses too.

Something just draws your eye to them.

How about these?

Can you spot two of them?

And just for fun, a titmouse flew towards me and I think I involuntarily took a pic! lol

It's a beautiful Fall in Florida, cooler temps and even some much needed rain showers.

Photos taken from Halpata Tastanaki Preserve and the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway. 

"Happy Hiking"

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !  

Holiday Colors at the end of summer!

 

We'll hang on to the summer season for awhile longer here in Florida.

But there have been some pretty holiday colors this week.

Halloween colors in these mushrooms.

And wildflowers are blooming all over the forest after the afternoon showers we've had.

The showers keep things moist for the mushrooms to thrive too.

Most of these photos were taken at the 49th Ave trailhead which is less than 4 miles from my house.

But I've driven to a lot of those trailheads and made one big trip to the mountains of NC and guess what?

I turned over 5,000 miles on my Jeep this week. My boys tease me that I should get out and drive more. But so many of the trailheads I enjoy are very near my house. And yes, I was driving 20 mph on a quiet road and taking a photo! lol

I'll end this post with a Florida Christmas card!

It will still be nice and green when December rolls around and I thought this looked perfect for a Christmas card. It's a big buck that walked across the trail in front of me. (I was walking on a firebreak road that has grown up with grass. They'll till it up soon so I wanted to walk on it before they did)

Tom sent me some beautiful mosaics that he made from my simple mosaic from last week. Thank you, Tom! Here's one of them to share.

I've had a good week of hiking, working on junk journals and baking. 

How was your week?

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

and I like Thursdays HERE !  

Little things might go unnoticed!

 When I hike in the woods, I keep an eye on all of my surroundings! Critters in the forest, birds in the trees, bikes whizzing past and bugs on the path. My attention even gets drawn to the airplanes in the sky!

So when I get home and see that I've captured something tiny in a photo, I'm always thrilled.

Praying Mantis (about one inch long)

The tiniest dragonfly I've seen!

A beautiful orange dragonfly!

Caterpillar that looked translucent!

A fence lizard that was only about an inch and a half long!

A huge spider web....

with a Spiny backed Orb Weaver. ( I think these little spiders look like tiny alien spaceships!)

Which may account for the UFO I saw deep in the forest!

 

Let's zoooom in to get a good look at it! lol

And if that's not strange enough, this is a Green Hover Fly!

Ornidia orbesa  More info HERE.

It was literally hovering at eye level when we walked a trail deep in the woods. 

I was surprised that my camera could see it. I almost walked into it! 

Above : Butterflies and an ant on the sunflower.

Below : Butterfly Pea 

Now let's just hope those little things called dust particles go unnoticed around the house! I don't hike every day so I have time for housework. But then, there are so many interesting things to do that some things get overlooked! We haven't seen a 'new' movie in a long time so I ordered 2 movies on my wish list last week and we've watched and enjoyed them both! The new Little Women with Saoirse Ronan as Jo and News of the World with Tom Hanks. My husband and I both read the book (well both of them now that I think about it) and we were very pleased with the News of the World movie. It was tastefully done and I fell in love with the little girl, Helena Zengel who plays Johanna. I hope she'll be in lots of good movies in the future. 

Have you watched any good movies lately? Or taken a hike? Or dusted your house?

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays and

I like Thursdays HERE too! 

What green eyes you have, Robber Fly!

 

I saw something fly in to the grasses next to the trail and stopped to take pics.

It appears to be a Green-Eyed Robber Fly also know as a bee killer. More info HERE! 

And it definitely has some type of wasp as it's prey.

Do you see how it is hanging onto the blade of grass above it?

Astonishing!

It was very small but the orange color and green eyes really stood out!

And do you see the large grasshopper in the grasses ahead?

American Grasshopper

He really blends in to this tree too.

And this caterpillar stands out on the trail.

Don't step on him, Honey! 

The Warblers are back on the Florida Trails.

Flocks of Pine Warblers and Palm Warblers were darting back and forth and even landing on the trail in front of us.

And isn't this a neat photo of a Red Shouldered Hawk that hubby took! 

Thanks hubby! Sharp eyes!

Showy Rattlebox

It's been perfect weather for hiking and birding this week! Are you getting outside some too?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.