Horses and Cows and Bees....OH MY!

 I always see a lot of birds when I go to the Halpata Tastanaki Preserve but I also see some other interesting sights.

When you drive into the Pruitt Trailhead from hwy 484, the road goes through the preserve to the Florida Trails and HTP trailhead but it also has some private land to the West. 

I love seeing the horses on this horse farm.

They look so peaceful in this setting and the sky was darkening with a shower coming in from the Gulf.

There are also cows grazing....

or cows gazing!

So those were some of the sights I saw when I started my hike.

What did I see when I ended the hike?

A swarm of honey bees.

I've never seen that on a hike but when I went back a week later they were still there.

The bees are right in the center of this photo.

I know they may not be dangerous but I gave them a wide berth and zoomed in for these photos.

They were quite active! Hope the scout finds them a hollow tree or good place for their hive. I guess I'll check on them again in a few days!

So what's buzzin'.... 

or mooing where you live?

Have you had a good week too?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !  

Horses and Cows and flowers, Oh My!

 Even though we have mild weather year round, we still see signs of Spring at this time of year!

At the Pruitt Trailhead of Halpata Tastanaki Preserve we met this group of horses. 

We don't see many on this trail.

Part of the trail is shared...

and then other trails are for hikers only.

At the 49th Avenue Trailhead of the Florida Trails, there were horses getting ready for a trail ride.

They have their own trails from the parking lot so this is my only chance to see them.

And then there are the little calves among the herds of cattle right now.

They are so cute!

Maybe you don't think of Florida having a lot of cows but here's a few facts...

"There are more than 886 thousand head of cattle and 15,000 beef producers throughout Florida. Currently, Florida ranks 13th in overall cattle numbers nationwide."

Another sign of Spring are the bushes in full bloom. 

There were dozens of butterflies and bees all over the blooms!

I hiked this trail twice this week just to see these butterflies.

Beautiful! 

Are you seeing signs of Spring at your house?

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays and

I like Thursdays HERE too!

 

Halpata Tastanaki Preserve

 

We took a hike even though it was 'warm'! The temps are not so high but the humidity is higher than the temp. And we've had a summer of few breezes! 

There's a nice long gravel drive from the highway to the trailhead and we see quite a lot from the Jeep.

And it's easy to pull over and get out if we need a better angle!

We've seen a lot of big birds on this particular tree that is such a good perch for raptors,

but never a Great Blue Heron!

Doesn't it look like the shape of a heart where his neck curves in?

Someone riding their horse,

Cattle Egrets in a tree

and even a juvenile Little Blue Heron on the fence.

One of the funniest thing we saw on the trail was this Crawdad!

What in the world is he doing on the hiking trail?

Trying to make his way to the marshland I guess. We thought maybe a bird flew over with him and accidentally dropped him. We didn't try to capture him and carry him to the water and I felt kind of guilty leaving him there. He was scooting along pretty good though so I like to think he found his way.

And to keep going with 'a favorite thing' (besides my red Jeep).... 

Here's my camera, a Canon Powershot SX 70 HS. I love it! But what I really want to show you is the camera strap. The link to it is HERE! I love having a wider and more comfortable strap and it's pretty too!

God Bless America

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’. 

Let's go for a drive!

 

We drove over to Halpata Tastanaki Preserve to see what we could see, not to hike! 

We've had a very hot August and fewer hikes as a result.

On one side of the gravel drive into HTP at the Pruitt trailhead is a horse farm. I lived in Texas for many years and still think of them as ranches but here in Florida, everyone calls them horse farms. 

Do you see a line of white birds on the fence?

We zoomed in but still didn't get very good photos.

But among the Cattle Egrets, Great White Egrets and Little Blue Herons (white juvenile stage), there was one streaked and splotched bird.

It was big and is probably a young Great Blue Heron. It really stood out, even from a distance.

There were also a few cows on the opposite side with a few Cattle Egrets.

And when we got home, a Red Shouldered Hawk flew onto the roof of the house across the street.

It was smaller than most so maybe it was a younger bird too.

Has it cooled down any where you live? 

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’. 

Cows, Horses and a 'cat'?

 

We drove out to the Pruitt Trailhead to hike and the cows were in the neighboring pasture.

There were so many young ones.

I think there were as many small cows as big cows!

All very curious about our vehicle driving past the fence.

We hiked the other trailhead of Halpata Tastanaki another day and just as we got around a curve, we heard a 'hiyahhhh' behind us!

A rider was coming at a full gallop.

In all the years we've hiked this trail, this is the first horse we've ever seen there. It's nice and wide and horses are allowed, we've just never seen one here. I don't know who was more surprised! It gave us a 'start' for sure!

And the 'cat' is a catbird that I saw in the brush.

We usually hear them make a meow type sound but not this time.

Hubby took a photo of me taking it's photo! lol

(I think I'll leave the photo small so that I look smaller than the cows! hahahahaha)

Have you seen anything out of the ordinary in some of your usual places this week? 

It keeps life interesting, that's for sure!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.