Let's drive out to the Gulf Coast!

 We're discovering the 'real' Florida so we won't see seashells on white sandy beaches!

Great Blue Heron flying overhead

But we might see some fisherman trying to catch something on a hot summer day.

Then again, we might not see anyone! haha!

Did I mention it was HOT!

This was my jeep in the parking lot all by it's lonesome! 

John and I stopped at Felburn Park first and walked on a shady part of the trail to see the beauty of the water ponded up on the canal.

It's one of my favorite spots in Florida but not for a hike in June! We are already in the mid 90s every day with high humidity. 

We had our choice of parking places there too! 

Then we drove down over 4 miles of a dusty white road looking out the window at the canal.

It was so hot, the birds were in hiding.

This is a stretch of the Withlacoochee Bay Trail that ends up at a point on the Gulf.

Happy Birthday John!!!

We were happy looking out at the overlooks. It was windy and surprisingly cool there.

I love exploring the backroads of Florida at any time of the year. But our picnic lunch was eaten inside the Jeep with the AC running! Yes, I know....we are wimps!

A horse on the drive over looks like it has 3 eyes! 

Have you packed a picnic this summer? 

It's TIME! And it tastes even better out on a nature trail!

Happy Independence Day America! 

Thanks again for visiting me and leaving such heartfelt comments. 

Blogger buddies are the BEST! 

Love, Diane 🌴

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE!

Felburn Park and the 'flying fish'!

 

When we drove to the Gulf Coast last week, we took our picnic lunch to Felburn Park. More info HERE.

It's a state park and one of our favorites here in Florida. 

And after we ate, we walked 

the trail to Phil's Lake.

 Then we spent some time looking out at the Cross Florida barge canal.

It was too hot to be out for very long. It was still in the 80s but the humidity was very high and there wasn't much of a breeze. No problem with bugs or flies here thankfully!

I'm generally a happy person and it's not unusual for me to laugh out loud.

And I had a lot to laugh about!

The Striped Mullet or "jumping mullet" were putting on a show.

More info HERE!

Hey! I think I see one over there!

And there's TWO!

It was funny to see them jump out of the water but it was just as funny to try to photograph them.

When you saw one jump, it was too late to focus in and take a shot.

So all of our photos were lucky shots!

We saw lots of beautiful wildflowers 

and this amazing Mississippi Kite!

Mississippi Kite perched in a tree.

And then we saw each other too. 

But don't ZOOM in so much! 

Give me a minute to 'strike a pose' next time! 

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays and

I like Thursdays HERE too! 

"I Spy" something different!

 I remember when one of my grandson's loved the "I Spy" books and I enjoyed looking through them with him. 

It's fun to see a variety of things and find what is different among the ordinary.

We go to a lot of the same trails, preserves, state parks and forests but we are always amazed at how different our sightings can be from week to week. And we usually see something we've never seen before at that location. So I'll hit some of the highlights from our hikes this week.

The Snowy Egrets were the first 'I spy' sighting. We may have seen them before here in Florida but this was the first time we could positively identify them. I was excited...to say the least!

The Withlacoochee Bay Trail has so many beautiful birds and this past week we spotted these for the first time at this location.

Willet

Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern 

Black-crowned Night Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron juvenile

Great Blue Heron in the Gulf of Mexico

On one hike we started walking on the 49th Ave trailhead heading East and turned onto beauty berry lane and saw this...

 Sherman's Fox Squirrel

And then driving back into our development we looked down into a low grassy area where we see wild turkeys frequently but instead, there were 4 deer! 

First time we've seen deer this close to our house.

All Bucks!

Amazing!

And last but not least we saw this beautiful little Warbler at Felburn Park near Phil's Pond.

A rare Warbler that we've never seen before?

No, a Yellow-rumped Warbler...quite common but still oh so pretty!

Have you seen anything 'out of the ordinary' this week? Want to play 'I Spy'?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’. 

Cross Florida Greenway "Felburn Park"

We walk a lot of the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway trails and love finding sections that are new to us. 

This hike started at J. Phil & Ethyll L. Felburn Park and followed the canal.

You could either stay on the paved trail or get off onto the primitive trail.

We did some of both!

Isn't this a beautiful Hawk?

Seagull, Mockingbird, Hawk and Great Florida birding sign.

Red berries and a beautiful flower in bloom.

Isn't this the craziest vine you've ever seen?

And sometimes I think it looks like we live in the wild West instead of Florida! But here we are driving the Jeep along a dirt road with wooden fences, cedar trees and brown grasses as far as the eye can see. (the palm trees might give it away though)

Do you have a nice park near you with walking trails?

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays and

I like Thursdays HERE too!

One more linky party HERE!