Great Horned Owl - time and chance!

 

We make so many decisions when we get up in the morning. I eat a good breakfast and have a cup of coffee...always! And then I check the weather. This particular morning was supposed to be a little less hot with a bit of a breeze. So I started getting ready to go for a hike. I've been starting at a trailhead near my house so that there's not much drive time to get there. And I didn't even make my bed! I sliced an apple and packed it and extra water in my little insulated bag to have after the hike. I put my water bottle, phone and extra camera battery in my backpack, grabbed my camera and I was ready to roll!

Great horned Owl

This is the firebreak I was hiking. 

A firebreak is a path that is plowed to keep a wildfire from continuing to spread. This firebreak was tilled up about a month ago so some weeds and grass have started to grow but it still serves the purpose.

Of course when I started the hike, there were stops to look at the many deer tracks on the trail and one possible bobcat track. 

There were flowers to photograph and little Warblers flitting about.

I got to a 'T' in the road and took a few steps to the right at the hummingbird tree. (I shared it last month)

And a really BIG bird flew across the trail in front of me. I thought it was a big bodied Hawk! I was so thrilled that it lit in a tree. So being the country girl (at heart) that I am, I trekked through the brambles in the forest to get a better look.

I was so glad I did! It was a Great horned owl.

Probably a young one by the looks of his 'horns'.

We had seen one of these beautiful owls at Pruitt a few years ago so I could see the difference.

All of these photos are of his back.

He swiveled his head all the way around to watch me!

It was an amazing sighting and made me really glad I didn't take the time to make my bed before I left my house.

I would have missed his flight across the trail and not even noticed him in the tree.

Time and chance. 

I hope you can get out and observe nature where you live this week!

Don't forget.....go BEFORE you do any housework!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !

 

A Good year for Hiking!

 It was such a difficult year for us all...

all over the world!

But we were fortunate to have good hiking trails to hike and unusually good weather this year. I feel blessed to have the good health to get outside and enjoy nature.

I wanted to choose a bird or critter from each month to highlight but I didn't realize how hard that would be. We see so many amazing sights here in Florida. 

Join me for hiking through the months of 2020!

January - River Otter at Blue Run Park

February - Bobcat at Blue Run Park

March - Eastern Coral Snake, Florida Trails

April - Fox Squirrel, Florida Trails West

May - Blue Grosbeak at Pruitt Trailhead (Halpata Tastanaki Preserve)

June - Bobolink flock, Halpata Tastanaki Preserve

July - Gopher Tortoise, Halpata Tastanaki Preserve

August - Bobwhite Pruitt trailhead, Florida Trails

September - American Redstart, Blue Run Park

October - Barred Owl, Florida Trails West

November - Barred Owl, Florida Trails West

December - Great Horned Owl, Halpata Tastanaki Preserve

How privileged we were to see so many owls this year! We even saw one early in the year too. 

We've ended the year with 157 hikes. 

Now let's keep going!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’. 

Hoo hoo hoo hoo? The Great Horned Owl, that's hooooo!

 

We had just started our hike at Halpata Tastanaki Preserve when my hubby said, Do you hear that?

So we stopped in our tracks and listened!

 There was a Great Horned Owl nearby!

REALLY close by!

And with his (my hubby's) good hearing AND good seeing, he spotted it in one of the trees right next to the trail

We've never seen one in the wild like this before! And at 1 pm in the afternoon! On a week day! heehee!

Aren't his feathers gorgeous! They look like they have been knitted in place!

It was thrilling. We had to really work to get our cameras to see up into the dark Live Oak tree so the photos are a little odd. But hubby did a better job than I did. Mine were mostly in silhouette. But I got the tree! (I don't think you can see him in the tree though! He was flying away!)

And after a couple of hours of hiking we were privileged to see these beautiful deer at the end of our hike.

They ran alongside us in the tall grasses and then crossed the trail in front of us.

It's been a great week for amazing sightings!

And we are getting close to our goal of 150 hikes this year! VERY close!

What have you seen this week? The bird feeders are very active too now that chilly weather has settled in. 

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.