Birds, Here There and Everywhere!

 

We don't have to leave our homes to see beautiful birds here in Florida. 

This Juvenile White Ibis has been walking through our yard every day this week.

And yesterday he wandered through the flower garden with a friend. These beautiful flowers are across the street at my sweet neighbors' house. (I came back to add that.) I don't want to take credit for her gorgeous flowers! I have roses blooming in my flower beds but the Ibis in these photos were across the street! 

I was hoping they would stay in this area to get more photos of the gorgeous blooms.

We've had a few afternoon showers lately and everything is blooming like crazy.

Oh, a photo bombing Crow! lol

And of course the forest is all atwitter this week too.

I saw this beautiful male Downy Woodpecker on a hike near the Shangri-la trail.

And then on another day I saw a pretty female Downy near the hwy 484 trailhead.

It's been a good week for getting out early and enjoying a hike.

You can see that the female doesn't have a red spot on her head.

But if you need to stay inside one day...look out the window!

I stood in my courtyard here to see what was under the trees in the backyard.

A big Tom Turkey was taking a break and enjoying the cool shade of the oak trees.

Have you seen some birds at your house this week?

 Get outside and enjoy nature when you can and look for a shady place to take a break!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.  

  Mosaic Monday HERE and I like Thursdays HERE !  

***Merry Christmas***

 

We drove over to Sholom Park one day for a nice peaceful walk.

It's beautiful in the park, year round!

And there are always flowers blooming!

I like the imprint of the leaves in the sidewalk.

And the beautiful Koi fish in the pond.

I'm going to take a little blog break but I'll be back after Christmas. Hopefully with more joy and enthusiasm. Thanks to everyone who leaves me sweet comments and boosts my spirits! 

Happy Holidays to you all! 

Holiday hugs, Diane 🎄

I'm joining Mosaic Monday HERE .

Happy Labor Day - Butterflies and Bees

 Thanks to all the hard workers that do so much to contribute to the strength and prosperity of our country.

These are some of the butterflies and bees I've seen this week, on the trails and in my neighborhood.

This is Sumac and the clusters of flowers are fragrant and attracting the honey bees!

What a joy to have so many wildflowers blooming now!

And pretty flowers in the flower beds!

Mosaics to share...

Bees...

and butterflies.

You can even see the rain falling from the sky before the rainbow came out!

Have a wonderful happy day! 

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

and I like Thursdays HERE !  

Wildflowers and Garden Flowers

 Isn't it nice that we don't have to choose? I am enjoying bouquets of red roses in vases from my flower beds right now and every time we hike we see more wildflowers in bloom.

PawPaw

Even the orange Butterfly weed is blooming this week!

I'll share photos without trying to ID them all.

Dandelion 

I learn a few new names every year but I forget a few too! lol

Emilia fosbergii-Florida Tasselflower. 

This is a new ID for us this year. It has a tiny red bloom.

And this flower bed is across the street with a variety of flowers in bloom.

The Easter Lily is especially pretty right now.

And this huge cluster of Lilies is in another neighbor's flower bed. 

Do you have a favorite flower that's in bloom right now?

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays and

I like Thursdays HERE too!

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!

 

Humming right along!

 

We enjoyed some time in the mountains of North Carolina and took a few hikes while we were there too.

The first place we headed was Fletcher Park!

It never disappoints!

We watched this hummingbird while we enjoyed the flowers and art work in this part of the park.

It hovered right in front of our eyes!

I'm not sure what these red flowers were but the hummers loved them!

Our hike was a little stalled while we marveled at these tiny birds.

And around our condo there were lots of flowers planted to attract hummingbirds and hummingbird moths.

It was neat to see these moths every time we walked around outside.

Just one more! lol

It's fun to see different birds and flowers when you travel.

But back at Fletcher Park, I'll get a few photos of the Jeep with mountains in the background. This is Bernie Mt.

Oh and one more moth, a Skipper!

We had a good time but it's also nice to be back in Florida!

 (even though it's too HOT to hike!)

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.