Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway

 

I wanted to dedicate this post to the Greenway and share some of my favorite photos from my hikes there.

Of course I spent hours looking at 'favorite pics'!

I've been hiking the greenway for almost 10 years so I had trouble deciding which to share.

Please click on the link HERE to read the facebook page started by the Greenway Guardians. Duke Energy is proposing a project to build high voltage power lines THROUGH the Greenway! As you can imagine this would be disastrous to wildlife, birds, wildflowers and plants. Thanks go those fighting to preserve the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway. 

And join me down memory lane as I share a few of my sightings.

White tailed Deer

Bald Eagle

One of my favorite sightings!

Fox Squirrel

These squirrels can be spotted all through the Greenway. My girlfriend saw one a couple of weeks ago and said it was the largest one she had ever seen! I'm still on the look out for that one!

Barred Owl

Florida Scrub Jay

The Greenway habitat is very important for this rare bird!

Red headed Woodpeckers up on the hill!

I've named this hill the Bluebird of Happiness Hill!

Eastern Bluebirds

Gopher Tortoise

Longspurred Mint

One of my favorite sightings was this Florida Bobcat. I'll include a link to the bobcat story HERE in case you missed it!

Florida Bobcat

What a treasure this Greenway is to our community and to our state of Florida.

49th Ave Trailhead 

I've met people from all over the country (and the world) that visit Florida and walk or ride bikes on the Greenway. It is a treasure worth preserving!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !  

Longspurred Mint is in bloom!

 

I hiked to the spot where I remembered seeing the Longspurred Mint in the past. It's easier to locate when it's in full bloom and it has gorgeous deep pink blooms right now!

Longspurred Mint or Longspurred Balm is a rare species of flowering plant endemic to Florida. This flower is only found in Marion County and possibly Sumter County and there are only 15 known occurrences. It is a federally endangered species.

I was excited to see several plants in a group that look healthy and in full bloom. 

That really was the highlight of the week.

And although the Bluecurls aren't as rare, they are one of my favorite wildflowers.

The bloom is tiny and resembles an orchid.

It's in full bloom now too.

Wildflowers make the prettiest mosaics!

And now for my 'mystery bird'. 

I took several photos of this beautiful little bird but when I got my ID book out, I wasn't sure what it was.

I feel certain it's a Warbler but we see a nice variety of Warblers here and this one didn't look exactly like the ones we normally see. 

We probably see the Palm Warbler and Pine Warbler the most often.

If you can help, I'll add the ID and give you a shout out too!

 Thanks Jennifer...Reflections from Crumbly Acres. I think it IS a Common Yellowthroat, female. I appreciate your help with the ID!

The weather here is gorgeous now! How's your weather?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !  

Endemic to Florida

 It feels very special to come upon something endemic to Florida.

This week we saw THREE things endemic to Florida.

Endemic meaning - Native to or limited to a certain region

The Florida Scrub Jay is found in 2 locations that we hike. 

We can usually see some on a back loop of old Limerock Road from the 49th Ave Trailhead of the Florida Trails.

And we always see them when we hike Halpata Tastanaki Preserve from the SR 200 trailhead. 

Photos taken at HTP

This is a good website HERE but there are others featuring the Florida Scrub Jay if you do a search.

Which bring us to the Longspurred Mint.

Dicerandra Cornutissima

A good website with info HERE.

It is only found in Marion County, FL and possibly Sumter County.

There are only 15 known occurrences remaining. 

I found them blooming on the Florida Trails 49th Ave Trailhead. Photos taken of the plants on Bluebird of Happiness Hill near the hwy 484 trailhead.

They are just starting to bloom right now.

The Garberia is in full bloom all through the forest and it is endemic to Florida as well. 

More info HERE.

How privileged I am to see these amazing things in the beautiful state of Florida.

We are still praying for everyone devastated by Hurricane Ian and I am still limiting my time on the computer to get some things done. The weather is gorgeous now so I am hiking more too.

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.