The Roseate Spoonbill, my Florida Favorite

 It's hard to pick a favorite bird when you live in Florida! 

But I fell in love with the Roseate Spoonbill when I first moved here.

And we've only had a few sightings of this beautiful pink bird 'in the wild' over the years.

You would think you could go to the same trails and see the same sights but that's not at all true here in North Central Florida. 

My husband and I went over to the Halpata Tastanaki Preserve and hiked from the Pruitt Trailhead a week ago and looked up in the sky and saw Roseate Spoonbills!

 

It was cloudy and they showed up nicely against the grayish silver sky. Later we saw another one fly over when we were having a snack.

Roseate Spoonbill flock, Cedar Key

I looked back at posts that have featured the Roseate Spoonbill and found the one of our sighting of a flock of them in Cedar Key, back in July 2012 HERE.

That was the first time I had seen them in the wild and I wasn't even sure what they were!

We can see them at Ellie Shiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park.

This is a mosaic I made of photos we took there a couple of years ago and posted them HERE.

Close up of their feathers

So that was our excitement on Hike #104! We also had a really good sighting of an Owl but only one photo. I stood there and watched it fly by without even lifting my camera but hubby got one. It was amazing!

Owl in flight

I went back over to this trail a week later and didn't see any of the same birds. Time and chance!

Roseate Spoonbill

Hope you can get out in nature this week and see something neat. Time and chance...but you have to get out there often for that to work in your favor!

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’. 

The Barred Owl hikes the Florida Trails!

 

Well, maybe he wasn't really hiking! But I WAS and I watched him fly across the trail and land in a tree nearby. I was hoping to see something special on this special day! It was the birthday of one of my sons and I always celebrate their birthdays even when we are miles apart. He is a nature loving son and it would have been fun to hike together but hopefully we'll do that another time. (we texted and talked on the phone)

I saw LOTS of birds on this hike. Flocks of warblers are showing up in here in Florida now but I'll save those photos for another day.

Seeing a Barred Owl needs a post of it's own! 

It's only the third time I've seen an owl on our hikes.

It flew to another tree but I stepped forward a few careful steps to take more photos.

He still sees me!

But he ignores me.

He's on the move! And now he's in a third tree! 

(I'm trying to keep up! lol)

Doesn't he blend into this tree?

He's so well camouflaged. 

His eye might even look like a hole in the tree!

Here's a photo the trail and you can see him in the very center of the photo. This is the section of the Florida Trails that I hike most often!

I'm glad I have a good zoom on this camera!

 BYE BYE

time to FLY!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’. 

Who Cooks for Youuuuu!

Yes, there's been plenty of cooking here at home lately! But more exciting than that was this Barred Owl that we saw on a hike. 

Most of our trails are closed and we are not going out as much anyway.

But this particular day, it was too beautiful to stay inside. We only saw one other person and he was finishing up his hike and we spoke from a distance. (hollered is more like it!)

Isn't this Barred Owl a beauty?

This is actually the first photo hubby took. Doesn't it look like it's looking down at us wondering what kind of critter WE are!

And it stayed on this branch long enough for a few good photos.

We are looking into the trees where it was dark and I changed the setting on my camera.

But some of the photos still look more brown than he was.

It was amazing though and we were both excited to see something so beautiful! 

At least there weren't a lot of limbs between him and us.

He's in the center of this photo!

Well, until he flew! Hubby got this one....

and I took this one with my camera!

Hubby thinks it's funny to take one of me....taking photos!

I hope you've had a chance to get out and walk some. I definitely see more people walking in my neighborhood than I ever see on a hiking trail. I'll sure be happy when they open them back up.

Live Oak Tree

How are you doing this week? I hope you are staying safe and healthy!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Looks can be deceiving....

We walked at Blue Run Park in Dunnellon last week and it was like being put in a snow globe, except instead of snow, there were leaves!

It was windy but it wasn't cool. It was 82 degrees! And the wind was warm. 

But the wind was blowing the dead leaves off the trees and it truly was magical.

All around us the leaves swirled and drifted overhead. I took my cap off to look up and cypress leaves (that resemble evergreen sprigs) caught in my hair.

So beautiful!!!

 There were lots of people out walking and enjoying the warm, 'Fall like' day.

Have you had a chance to get outside this week? It's the best time of year to hike here in Florida!

 So take a walk with me....

the video is less than a minute and we'll walk along the trail and then look over at a stream of water. (where the baby alligators were a year ago) And speaking of neat sightings! If you missed my amazing Barred Owl sighting, click HERE! 

 

FINALLY! I saw an owl on one of my hikes! YAY!!!

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE .